Davi wrote this about the A class Midwinters on the Class Blog
Ian Storer filed the first protest in the event's seven year history, alleging that on the first leg of the last race of the day his "tiller extension hit" a boat to windward of him within two boat lengths of the windward mark and he "had to drop it". He requested redress as he "lost about 11 places, and finished 9 or 10 places" behind the boat he wanted to protest. A group of four other competitors was quickly assembled to act as "instant justice in the sand", including two who were in that race themselves. The instant jury did not give Ian redress. Instead, despite the fact that the jury said he did not properly hail the other boat, they disqualified the boat that Ian Storer said was the reason he dropped his tiller extension as he approached the mark.
Interisting issues raised here...
Is the game better or worse if you dispense with the rules and structure of a protest committe?
Why do regattas recruit a judge to chair their committe if we can just solve any dispute on the beach as above... or...by scheduling the protest meeting the third thursday following the regatta at three AM.
Is "instant justice in the sand"... back to the wild wild west of sailing? Nascar rules? Does it matter if the jury was in the race..
So... if you get DSQ for not doing your circle but were not properly hailed... were you screwed over... or were you pushing the rules and justice was served.
Davi seems quite please that the A Class culture does not look favorably on protests. Is this a good thing for a class? What other classes have this unspoken culture? What classes have the opposite culture ?.. E.G. willing to battle over the letter ... screw the spirit of the rule.
