Your are the Race Officer and have just called a boat OCS at the start. The skipper replied that you are wrong and need to get your eyes checked. What do you do?

You say "RO protest (sail number), Rule 2. I am offering you a 720 penalty turn."
If the boat sails clear of the fleet and performs a 720 turn, then all is good. No more action.
If the skipper declines the penalty, you note down the sail number and what the skipper said. Be as exact as possible.
Immediately after the heat you form a Protest Committee consisting of three people. They can be competitors. You may not be part of the committee.
The Protest Committee will decide if the skipper broke Rule 2 and if so, will decide on a penalty as per RRS E7. In short, either penalty points added to the race just finished or some number of penalty turns to be taken immediately after the start of the next heat.

This applies at any time a skipper breaks Rule 2 and includes rude, insulting or intimidating language against another skipper. Only the RO may offer a 720 penalty. The RO may take the matter direct to a protest.

Why?

Why would an RO do this? Why not just keep on sailing? Because to ignore bad behaviour is to condone it. Bad behaviour makes the sailing less fun and exposes the club to the risk of a member of the public complaining to the council. This is especially true at Tiranna Way where we sail in front of playgound.

By addressing bad behaviour immediately on the water we hope to get all skippers to improve to the points where no Rule 2 protests are necessary. Until then we ask all ROs to use these instructions.

Rule 2 - Fair Sailing

Rule 2 says that skippers shall adhere to sportmanship and fair play. The ARYA Race Management Manual 2017 defines in section 26 the principles of sportsmanship and fair play. Breaches include dissent against an race official decision as well as use of language that convey incompetence, prejudice or insult against a race offical.

When deciding whether to protest or not, Rule 2 states that the breach must be "clearly established". The phrase "You've gotta be kidding" for example could be directed at the RO or it could be the skipper venting his misfortune at no one in particular. In this case a protest is not justified.

Any form of dissent or argument against the decision (correct or not) of an RO is grounds for a Rule 2 protest. Even if the skipper performs a penalty while arguing. A skipper may ask the RO to repeat the decision, but must not dissent.

720 Turns

Only the RO have the option, but not the obligation, to offer the offending skipper to do a 720 turn right there and then. The skipper may decline, in which case the RO may protest the skipper.

Arbitration

While arbitration is often used before a full Protest Committee is formed, Rule 2 breaches cannot be arbitrated.

Protest Committee

The RO decides when a protest is heard by the Protest Committee. This should be immediately after the heat.

RRS Section E7 overrides the prescribed penalty in Rule 2. Possible penalties are:

Disqualification that cannot be excluded;
Penaly points added to the score of the just finished race. The scores of other boats shall not change; or
A number, to be decided by the Protest Committee, of penalty turns to be taken immediately after the start of the next race.

It is recommended that the first incident of the day yields three or four penalty turns. Subsequent incident on the same day should result in increasingly severe penalties.