Re-opening a Hearing
Reopening Procedure
The following language must be in the Sailing Instructions and Notice of Race of all semi-finals for US Sailing Championships. This will apply to all protests involving those sailors moving on, not just those sailing for the finals because any party can be party to a protest. (In other words, a sailor who is not sailing for the championship qualifier protesting against someone who is because it could change the results.)
1. PROTEST AND APPEALS
1.1. 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.
1.2. E-mail and phone contact information for the helm of 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.
1.3. 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.
1.4. 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.
1.5. 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.
1.6. 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.
1.7. 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.
1.8. Area Elimination Reopening
(a) A party to a hearing of a protest or request for redress may request an Area Semi Final 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, swmadero@aol.com.
(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.