On December 11, 2008, a Protest Committee hearing was convened at Tacoma Yacht Club at 1840 to consider the requests for redress from the 2008 Winter Vashon race.

We received six requests for redress all involving the starting procedures of the 2008 Winter Vashon race. ISAF Case 49 states "When two protests arise from the same incident, or from very closely connected incidents, it is advisable to hear them together." The protest committee decided to hear all of these requests together. By the time of the hearing three of the requests had been withdrawn.

All of the remaining requests met the validity requirement by being submitted within 48 hours of the time limit of the 2008 Winter Vashon race. Gary Stuntz was the only protestor who attended the hearing. Gary’s request for redress was a joint request representing approximately 40 boats. The Race Committee representative was the PRO for the 2008 Winter Vashon Race, Skip Anderson. Also attending the meeting as observers were TYC Commodore Don Patterson and TYC Vice Commodore John Dorsey. Mark Lindeman was called by the Protest Committee as a witness.  

Facts found:

• Starting signals:
• All the starting signals were hoisted on the northwest corner of the Tacoma Yacht Club deck.
• There was little, if any, breeze flowing over the deck. As such the flags were hardly flying.
• A breakwater surrounds the Tacoma Yacht Club. As such the starting signals were hoisted at a distance from the navigable part of the starting line.
• The start procedure for classes A through H was as follows:
• Class A:
• 08:55 Warning signal
• 08:56 Prep up
• 08:59 Prep down
• 09:00 Start signal
• From 09:00 to 09:03: No start procedure to accommodate the passing of a Washington State ferry
• Class B/C:
• 09:03 Warning signal
• 09:04 Prep up
• 09:07 Prep down
• 09:08 Start signal followed by individual recall
• From 09:08 to 09:13: No start procedure
• 0912 Individual recall down
• Class D/E:
• 09:13 Warning signal
• 09:14 Prep up
• 09:17 Prep down
• 09:18 Start signal followed by individual recall
• The start of class D/E was at the same time as the warning for class F/G/H
• Class F/G/H:
• 09:18 Warning signal
• 09:19 Prep up
• 09:22 Prep down; Individual recall down
• 09:23 Start signal followed by individual recall
• 09:27 Individual recall down.
• The boats crossed the starting line as follows:
• At the A class start at 09:00: The class A boats started.
• At or around 09:05: A large group of unidentified boats crossed the starting line and commenced the race.
• At the B/C class start at 09:08: A group of four boats from class B/C started.
• At or around 09:10: A large group of unidentified boats crossed the starting line and commenced the race.
• At or around 09:15: A small group of unidentified boats crossed the starting line and commenced the race.
• At or around 09:20: A small group of unidentified boats crossed the starting line and commenced the race.
• At the F/G/H class start at 09:23: A group of five boats from class H started.
• The boats that had been unidentified when crossing the start line were later scored as OCS by the race committee. 70 of the 80 boats in classes B through H were scored OCS.

The protest committee considered the following:

There are three requirements for granting redress in this case:

    1.  A boat's score has been made significantly worse

    2.  Through no fault of her own

    3.  By an improper action or omission of the race committee or organizing authority.  (RRS 62.1)

The committee found four improper actions of the race committee or organizing authority.

    1.  The SI's (Sailing Instructions) state "The warning signal for Class A to start the Winter Vashon will be made 0900. However, the warning signal to start Class A was made at 0855.

    2.  The SI's state " The Starting Signal for one class MAY or MAY NOT BE the Warning Signal for the next start. Watch the Race Committee Boat for the appropriate signals."  There was no Race Committee Boat; all the starting signals were hoisted on the northwest corner of the Tacoma Yacht Club deck.

    3.  The SI's state the start for Class H and I is the "Racing Class Fifth Start."  The SI's state "Individual race sponsors may publish additional sailing instructions to one race only and those instructions shall rank as rules."  There was no Class I and the Race Committee started Class H with Classes F and G.  This change in the SI's was not published.

4. The starting flags were such a distance from the navigable part of the starting line as to make them difficult to be displayed to the racers. The nautical use of the term "display" as in "Display the signal flags" means in the circumstances the flag/s are presented so that their meaning is discernable to the competitors.

RRS 26 states "Races shall be started by using the following signals. Times shall be taken from the visual signals; the absence of a sound signal shall be disregarded."

The committee determined the visual signals were not displayed to the racers in such a way that their meaning was discernable and that as a result 70 of the 80 boats in classes B through H started improperly and were scored OCS.

The committee determined the scores for those 70 boats were made significantly worse through no fault of their own.

As required by RRS 64.2, the protest committee took evidence as to alternative arrangements to abandonment and concluded none were feasible.

The committee is granting redress by abandoning the 2008 Winter Vashon Race for classes B, C, D, E, F, G, and H.

Committee Chair: Joe James, US Sailing Senior Judge

Committee Members: Jakob Lichtenberg & Wil Anderson, US Sailing Senior Judge