Rule 60.2, Right to Protest; Right to Request
Redress or Rule 69 Action
Rule 78.3, Compliance with Class Rules; Certificates
The race committee is required to protest only as a result of a report received from an equipment inspector or a measurer appointed for an event. When a current, properly authenticated certificate has been presented in good faith by an owner who has complied with the requirements of rule 78.1, the final results of a race or series must stand, even though the certificate is later withdrawn.
Summary of the Facts
A and B were among boats racing under a rating system in a summer-long series.
After its completion, B requested redress on the grounds that the race committee
had used an incorrect rating certificate for A throughout the series. After
the request was lodged, the rating authority confirmed that there had been an
unsuspected error in A’s certificate since her first hull measurement
some years previously. B then stated that the race committee should have protested
A, as required by rule 60.2.
The protest committee found that the owner of A was not responsible for the
error of calculation in the rating, nor was there any evidence that he had broken
rule 78.1. It decided that no action or omission of the race committee was responsible
for the error or for its remaining undiscovered, and that therefore B was not
entitled to redress. It requested confirmation or correction of its decision
under rule 70.2.
Decision
The decision of the protest committee is confirmed. B claimed that the race
committee’s failure to protest A, as required by the last sentence of
rule 60.2, was prejudicial to herself and the other boats in the class. However,
that rule’s provision concerning rule 78.3 did not apply. Rule 78.3 applies
to a report received from an equipment inspector or a measurer appointed for
an event. In this case the report came from the national rating authority, over
which neither the organizing authority nor the race committee had any authority.
When a valid certificate is found to be defective, it may be withdrawn by the
authority that issued it, but no retrospective action may be taken in regard
to a completed series or any completed races in a series that is still in progress.
Thus, when a current, properly authenticated certificate has been presented
in good faith and a race or series has been completed, the results of that race
or series must stand, even though at a later date the certificate is withdrawn.
RYA 1983/1