Tuesday 19 August 2008

Olympic Protests | 5 -or- How to apply rule 61.1(b)

Protest nr 76 from the Jury against IRL Star has been withdrawn:
___________________________________________
Event: Star - Men
Race:
Protestor: JURY
Protestee: IRL
Protest details: Measurement Reg. 9(d)
Facts found: No racing on 19 August.
Conclusion:
Rule(s) applicable:
Decision: Protest withdrawn.
Short decision: Protest withdrawn.
Jury:
_________________________________________


The issue is about Measurement Regulation 9(d) which reads:
9(d) Crew weight – in accordance with Notice of Race 12.10 - Star class crews shall present themselves for weighing on each racing day between 0900 and 1100. Failure to be weighed within the times specified shall result in a report to the Jury.

Apparently the crew of IRL did not weigh-in this morning and went on the water. However because there was no racing today - and you can't break a rule if the boat is not racing - there was no infringement and the Jury withdrew the protest. I suspect the original protest was instigated after a report from the measurer, which was written after 11:00 hours; before the Stars scheduled race.

This brings us to 61.1(b): "A protest committee intending to protest a boat shall inform her as soon as reasonable possible"

Directly after receiving the report the Jury informed IRL by publishing the protest. Sooner than that is hardly possible. The crew of the Star did break MR 9(d) whether they went racing or not.

But you can also argue it was too soon. The boat had not raced yet, therefore it was not a racing day, therefore MR 9(d) could not be broken.
What do you think?

In any case, IRL has been given and reminder to weigh-in tomorrow!

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