I don't disagree with the length of the boat - it's the point that when a competitor breaks a rule and knows it, intentional or not, protested or not, there is a way to exonerate yourself. Didn't used to be - once upon a time, if you broke a rule, you were required to gracefully retire.

And for protests and hearings, there is a simple, established procedure. In this case:

1 - protest was filed by a competitor against two teams.

2 - hearing was held in which both protested teams agreed they had not sailed the proper course. Protest was not disallowed, facts were found, 20-minute penalty assesed in lieu of DSQ.

To reopen the protest, someone has to file based on new facts that were not brought forth in the original hearing. Then there has to be another hearing with the interested parties present. The stated reason reported by Rick from the beach doesn't meet the procedural requirements and it sounds like there wasn't a hearing, just a reversal.

Also, you won't find too many certified judges these days that are willing to disallow a protest before hearing the whole thing first. If I were at the table, I'd want to know if there were a hail, if there were a flag, if the protested teams were close enough to see or hear the protestor, when the protested teams were notified upon reaching the checkpoint, etc. It used to be that judges looked for a reason to disallow a protest as quickly as possible to end a hearing at the first opportunity - they're specifically taught now to NOT do that. It was engendering a lot of competitor resentment and a feeling of summary judgement without both sides being heard.

Dave and Tami are right - if an interested party at the event decides it isn't worth the trouble to file to reopen the hearing now that the original ruling has been reversed, then we spectators must assume that it isn't a big deal and all the speculation from the cheap comfortable seats doesn't amount to much.

Wish we could get some info on progress, but it's practically impossible to see this portion of the race... I always hated this leg - without a phone call from the boat, everyone on the beach is just in the dark!