The rule book says a report from the measurer to the race committee is not a protest. The RC must then proceed by protesting that boat (RRS 60.2). The title of the post on the official notice board reads:
'PROTEST BY THE RULE MANAGEMENT GROUP'
Didn't know we has such a beast in the rules... I hope this group is part of the race committee, otherwise it's an invalid protest. You can read the report by following this link: http://noticeboard.volvooceanrace.org/wp-content/uploads/vor01rmg_rev1_.pdf
The two protest are a little more straightforward:
One about not sailing the course from the RC against Ericsson 3. Apparently they missed a mark near Sri Lanka:
Protestor: Volvo Ocean Race; Race Committee (RC);
Protestee: Ericsson 3 (E3) ; SWE 3
Rules RRS 28.1 and Leg Sailing Instruction Addendum 3, 2 (e).
Description of the incident: From evidence supplied by E3 at 0556 UTC 3rd January 2009 the RC, believes that E3 did not round the Sri Lanka 1 mark on the southern side as required in Leg Addendum 3.
The other protest is from TELEFÓNICA AZUL against (again) ERICSSON 3
Boat Protesting: Telefonica Azul ESP 12; Represented by: Bouwe Bekking Skipper
Boat Protested: Ericsson 3 SWE 3
Description of Incident:
- 21 December 2008, approx 1800 UTC (0200 local time - UTC+8) at the location 03 11.158N 101 00.033E (1 Fathom Bank).
- Telefonica Azul on starboard tack, VMG running. Ericsson 3 on port tack on a converging course.
- When boats less than 1 boat length apart, Telefonica Azul bore away in order to avoid contact with Ericsson 3.
- Soon after Telefonica Azul bore away, Ericsson 3 crash gybed from port tack onto starboard tack.
The Jury will meet on Thursday to conduct the hearings and decide the issues.
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Volvo NoR amends rule 60.2 to allow the Rule Management Group to protest. Refer to NoR at the Volvo Noticeboard
ReplyDeleteDoesn't anyone else find it somewhat amusing to see a Rule 10 protest in an OCEAN RACE? Geeze, they have the whole ocean to sail in and they still got in each other's way.
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