It would appear to me it is NOT working. A guy holes a boat and takes another sailor out of a World Championship. Did the culture or the justice in the sand have the wrongdoer offer up his boat as a replacement? "I screwed you up and I feel bad. Here, use my boat for the rest of the regatta." Doesn't sound like it.

Here in the Northwest while PU was sailing, the H-17 class had the same 'culture'. No protests. It was cool for the first year or so. But gradually the mentality moved to "Hey, he won't protest me, so I think I will push the limits on this situation."

Now, ten years later, protests are back in. That is because the racing got so out of hand regarding understanding and applying the rules on the water that the sailors were forced back into protesting. We still have 'issues' and 'people' we are trying to clean up.

It reminds me of my friend back in the 80's. He and his wife had an 'open relationship' -- each was free to see other people. It worked great for the first few years because neither of them were interested in seeing anyone else. Then one of them tried out their 'open relationship', and soon they were divorced! True story.

My attitude is: no harm, no foul. But if you cost me places, then prepare to do a circle or go to a protest. And if you hole my boat, you can be absolutely sure there will be a protest because my insurance oompany won't pay without one!

Protests, I believe, when used discriminately, have a place in our sport. To say otherwise does an injustice to the system and sport, based on my experiences.