Rule 62.1(b), Redress
A boat physically damaged from contact with a boat that was breaking a rule of Part 2 is eligible for redress only if the damage itself significantly worsened her score. Contact is not necessary for one boat to cause injury or physical damage to another. A worsening of a boat’s score caused by an avoiding manoeuvre is not, by itself, grounds for redress. ‘Injury’ refers to bodily injury to a person and, in rule 62.1(b), ‘damage’ is limited to physical damage to a boat or her equipment.
Assumed Facts
Boat B is required to keep clear of Boat A. However, B collides with A, turning
A 180 degrees before she is able to continue sailing to the next mark. Boat
A loses five finishing places because of the incident. She protests B and requests
redress under rule 62.1(b). During the hearing, it is established that there
was physical damage to A but that the damage itself did not affect her ability
to proceed in the race at normal speed. A’s protest is upheld and B is
disqualified.
Question 1
Is A entitled to redress?
Answer 1
No. Under rule 62.1(b), the damage itself must be the reason a boat’s
score is made significantly worse. In this case the damage had no effect on
A’s score.
Question 2
Must contact between the boats occur in order for redress to be granted under
rule 62.1(b)?
Answer 2
No. A boat that suffers injury to a member of her crew or physical damage while
acting to avoid contact with a boat that has broken a rule of Part 2 may be
entitled to redress if the injury or damage is found to have made her score
significantly worse and was not her fault.
Question 3
If there had been no collision because A had been able to avoid B by changing
course 180 degrees, but A lost five places as a result, would she have suffered
‘injury’ or ‘damage’ as those terms are used in rule
62.1(b)?
Answer 3
No. ‘Injury’ in the racing rules refers only to bodily injury to
a person, and ‘damage’ is limited to physical damage to a boat or
her equipment.
USSA 1996/73 and 2007/98