CASE 143
Rule 6.1, World Sailing Regulations
Rule 70, Appeals and Requests to a National Authority
Rule 75, Entering a Race
Rule 89.1, Organizing Authority; Notice of Race; Appointment of Race Officials: Organizing Authority
When the organizing authority for an event is not an
organization specified in rule 89.1, a party to a hearing does
not have access to the appeal process.
Facts
The organizing authority for an event was a club that was not a member of,
and had no connection or association with, the national authority of the
venue. The event was conducted on waters within the jurisdiction of the
national authority. The notice of race stated that the race would be governed
by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing. Boat A protested boat
B under a rule of Part 2. Later, under rule 70.1(a), A sent an appeal of the
protest committee’s decision to the national authority.
Decision
Rule 89.1 specifies the types of organizations that are authorized to be the
organizing authority for an event governed by The Racing Rules of Sailing.
The organizing authority for the event was a club, but that club was not
affiliated to the national authority of the venue. Therefore, the club was not
a valid organizing authority under rule 89.1(c), nor was it a valid organizing
authority under any other part of rule 89.
Rule 70.3 required that A’s appeal be sent to ‘the national authority with
which the organizing authority is associated under rule 89.1.’ No national
authority existed that complied with this requirement of rule 70.3, and
therefore decisions made by the protest committee for the event were not
eligible under rule 70 to be appealed to the national authority of the venue,
or, indeed, to any national authority.
For these reasons, consideration of the appeal is denied.
Additional Comments
The following comments discuss issues that, while not directly related to the
Decision in this case, are related to the issues raised in the case.
Rule 75 requires a person who enters a boat in a race an event to be either a
member of a World Sailing member national authority or of a club or other
organization affiliated to such a national authority. Also, if a boat is entered
by a club or organization, that club or organization is required to be affiliated
to such a national authority.
Rule 6.1 requires competitors to comply with the World Sailing Eligibility
Code. When competitors compete in an event organized by an unaffiliated
club, they, perhaps unwittingly, may be competing in an event designated
by World Sailing as a ‘Prohibited Event’. Competing in such an event could
have serious consequences for a competitor’s eligibility to compete in other
events (see World Sailing Regulations 19.19(a)(ii), 19.20(d) and 19.20(f)).
If sailors planning to compete in an event run by a club or organization
discover that the club or organization is not affiliated with the national
authority of the country in which it is located, they should urge the club or
organization to join or otherwise affiliate itself with the national authority
before the event, or at least to seek out an affiliated organization to serve as
the organizing authority for the event.
CAN 2018