Rules Disputes and Hearings

The Club needs a friendly, easy to use way to resolving Rule Disputes.

• The Racing Rules of Sailing and RYA Rules Disputes Process define a range of options that a competitor can use. For many, who do not understand these options, deciding on their best path may need some advice on the choices available.
• For all competitors, there needs to be an easy way to engage with their chosen path.
• Having engaged with the process, the competitor expects some actions offered which will progress their Hearing request.

There are two primary levels of resolution offered:

An Advisory Hearing

Competitors requiring an Advisory Hearing need only verbally request the hearing, no hearing form is required. It is designed to improve rule knowledge as well as resolving disputes between competitors.

A Protest Hearing, often preceded by Arbitration

Competitors need to complete a hearing form within the time limits. In most cases Arbitration will be offered prior to the Protest Hearing. An Arbitrator offers an opinion on the likely outcome at a protest hearing and allows either of the competitors to accept a lesser penalty that disqualification should they wish, otherwise arbitration will be followed by a protest hearing.

The Post Race Penalty

A post race penalty may be accepted by a competitor following both the Advisory or Arbitration hearings. This is a 30% scoring penalty. It is not available following a protest hearing

Further Information

There are a number of documents available which describe the Rules Disputes Procedures at Exe Sailing Club. These cover the procedures from a number of different view points, being a general overview, the competitors viewpoint and the Club’s Hearing Team who deliver the procedures. These documents can be found using the submenu to the left of this page.

Last updated 12:33 on 30 April 2024