CASE 37
Rule 32.1(c), Shortening or Abandoning After the Start
Rule 62.1(a), Redress
Each race of an event is a separate race. In a multi-class
event, abandonment may be suitable for some classes, but
not for all.
Facts
In the third race of an event for each of 15 offshore classes, all classes sailed
the same course on which a reaching mark was found to have moved almost
a mile (1.6 kilometres) out of position. Various boats in several classes
sought redress because of it. The mark moved out of position over an hour
before any of the boats in the last two classes reached it. None of the boats
in those two classes requested redress. The protest committee, however,
abandoned the races for all classes. The boats in the last two classes then
asked for redress, claiming that the abandonment of their races was
improper. Redress was denied. They appealed.
Decision
The protest committee failed to distinguish between different procedures
under which a race may be abandoned. The race committee could have
abandoned the races under rule 32.1(c) because the mark was out of
position. It did not do so, however, and appeared to have been satisfied to
let the races stand.
If the protest committee had taken up the question on a class-by-class, raceby-
race basis, it would have found that there was no requirement or need to
abandon the races for the last two classes. There may have been sufficient
reason to abandon the races of some classes, but the protest committee erred
when it abandoned the races for the classes in which no redress was
requested. Its decision to do so was an ‘improper action’ within the meaning
of rule 62.1(a). The appeals are upheld, and all of the boats in the races of
the two classes in question are reinstated in their finishing places.
USA 1977/200