US SAILING Knowledge Base

US SAILING Requirements for an Area Semi-Final Reopening

The following material shall be placed in both the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions in the
Rules sections. (If this material is not placed in both the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions,
then the right to appeal shall not be denied.)
Under rule 70.5(a), there shall be no appeal of the decision of a protest or request for
redress. However, a decision following a hearing under rule 69.1(a) may be appealed.
E‐mail and phone contact information for each boat entered and for the chairmen of the
protest committee and the race committee shall be posted on the official notice board at all
times during the event.

Rule 65.2 is changed as follows:
65.2 A party to the hearing is entitled to receive the above information in writing,
provided she asks for it in writing and hand‐delivers her request to a member of the
protest committee no later than the protest time limit on the last day of racing or
one hour after being informed of the decision, whichever is later. The committee
shall then, within two hours, hand‐deliver the information to the party, including
when relevant, a diagram of the incident prepared or endorsed by the committee.

Rule 66 is changed as follows:
66 REOPENING A HEARING
66.1 A hearing may be reopened when the protest committee decides that it may have
made a significant error, or when significant new evidence becomes available within
a reasonable time.

66.2 The protest committee may reopen the hearing. A party to the hearing may ask for a
reopening no later than one hour after being informed of the decision. When a
hearing is reopened under rule 66.2, a majority of the members of the protest
committee shall, if possible, be members of the original protest committee.

66.3 Area Elimination Reopening
(a) A party to a hearing of a protest or request for redress may request an Area
Elimination Reopening. The request shall be in writing and include the
significant error that the party believes the protest committee made or the
nature of the significant new evidence that is available. The request shall be
made no later than 24 hours after the hearing or 24 hours after the protest
time limit on the last day of racing, whichever is later. The request, along
with copies of the original protest or request for redress, the facts found, the
decision of the protest committee, any new evidence that cannot be
presented verbally, and e‐mail and phone contact information for all parties
to the hearing as well as the chairman of the protest committee, shall be
sent by e‐mail to the US SAILING Championships Director,
LizWalker@USSAILING.org, and the US SAILING Championships Chairman,
wrigs@earthlink.net.

(b) The protest committee for an Area Elimination Reopening shall consist of the
chairman of the original protest committee plus four certified judges
appointed by US SAILING. A majority of the committee’s members shall be
Senior or International Judges. US SAILING will appoint its chairman.

(c) An Area Elimination Reopening will be conducted by telephone conference
call. The time and date for the conference call shall be established by the
chairman as soon as practicably possible and no later than seven days after
the request for reopening is e‐mailed. The chairman will e‐mail to the parties
to the hearing the request for reopening, the facts found, the decision of the
protest committee, the time and date of the hearing, the process for joining
the call and any other relevant documents

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