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Hi Mark -

You'd have to look at the class rules and the SIs for the event - for the Alter Cup's current structure, provisions were made for "beach justice" (a term I thought we'd coined <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />) which changed the standard RRS for time limits, etc. Beach Justice is neccessary in determining who is in the next heat at the Championship.

I am hoping, and working with the judges for the upcoming Alter Cup, to see a drastic reduction in the number of protests and requests for redress filed at the Championship - we have twice missed out on winning the St. Petersburg Trophy for Excellence in Race Management because of the number of protests filed. People need to stop trying to improve their position through litigation - maybe the A-Class has indeed taken steps to see a return to a higher level of sportsmanship.


This was the first protest I have seen at a championship since I have raced in the class. Several of us urged the two sailors to see if they could resolve the incident without taking it to a protest but Ian felt it needed to be heard.

The protest committee was made up of Pease and Jay Glaser who did not sail the race and Ward Cromwell (sailing coach at College of Charleston) who was sailing but did not witness the incident. All are obviously excellent sailors. I do not know the details of the decision as I had to get on the road home.

We in the A-class do try to stress to competitors to resolve incidents if possible on the water. We've been very successful to date and that makes our race committees very happy.

Bob Hodges