One final letter regarding the Corinthian Midwinters, then we’re done, promise. This comes from John Navas, tactician aboard Macondo, in response to the protest findings:

“My own assessment:

“WITH REGARD TO THE MARK 4 ISSUE:

“RRS J2.1(5) states that the Sailing Instructions shall identify all rounding marks. The Sailing Instructions did not explicitly do so.

“RRS L9.2 indicates that rounding marks should be listed in the Sailing Instructions ‘unless it is clear from the course diagrams’. There were no course diagrams.

“‘Course 21 as published’ diagram in the Protest Decision makes it clear that mark 4 is a rounding mark in course 21 as published.

“Most if not all comparable races in the San Francisco Bay Area in the past several years have likewise not explicitly identified rounding marks because all marks other than Start and Finish have been rounding marks, with any boundaries done by restricted areas. Racers thus have a reasonable expectation that all marks other than Start and Finish are rounding marks.

“The Sailing Instructions were amended by hand at 1130 with a change in Start, but no change in Finish.

“However, SI 4 requires that changes to the Sailing Instructions be posted no later than 1030. Thus the handwritten amendment to the Sailing Instructions at 1130 was invalid.

“The subsequent verbal announcement changing the Finish to the Race Deck was likewise invalid, not only because of time, but also because it wasn't posted.

“Mark 4 could only become a boundary mark instead of a rounding mark if course 21 is changed by means of a change in the Sailing Instructions. Since the verbal announcement was not valid, mark 4 remains a rounding mark.

“The Race Committee informally notified some boats of a Finish change at mark 4, but not others, violating RRS 41(c).

“Because of these fundamental errors by the Race Committee and the resulting great confusion, the race should have been thrown out. The Race Committee cannot simply ignore its own Sailing Instructions and change courses willy nilly.

“For the second half of the regatta, the Race Committee should ensure that any changes to courses or additional courses are properly posted by 1030 of the day of the race.

“WITH REGARD TO THE PROTEST VALIDITY ISSUE:

“RRS 61.1(1) states that ‘if the other boat is beyond hailing distance, the protesting boat need not hail but she shall inform the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity’.

“There is no exception for windy conditions, and there was not an inordinate amount of wind at the time.

“There is likewise no requirement that notification be done ‘prior to the completion of racing’. RRS 61.1(b) specifically provides for notification ‘after the race within the time limit of 61.3’.

“Protesting boats made no effort to notify other boats as required by RRS, and thus the protests should have been disallowed.” - John Navas Tactician on Macondo

Here is the formal result:

http://cyc.org/files/CYCMWString_Rule_Protests.pdf

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