Attaboy, Howie.

What Dr. Sutter fails to mention in his Protest form is critical: how his finishing position in the race was made "significantly worse"by the action of the race committee.

Right on Howie.  Keep it safe, keep it simple and keep it FUN.

Richie

On 5/16/19 6:04 PM, Howard Rinehart via Wednightracing wrote:

Wednesday night racers,

As mentioned by Howie and Eric, this request for redress came too late.
Also, I believe the RC properly announced the change in course.
Explanation is below.  I also wrote a little speech about  racer conduct on
VHF 78.

Protests, including protests against the Race Committee, must be made
within one hour after the RC boat reaches her mooring.

Course changes
Our SIs allow the RC to announce course changes on VHF Channel 78.  The RC
did this properly, since the change was announced before any boat rounded
Mark C.

I was fortunate to be corresponding with a representative from US Sailing
about our SIs, so I asked about last night's situation.  Here is their
answer:

Technically, the current SIs allow the PRO to verbally change the next leg
of the course.  Verbal changes are NOT recommended for many reasons we can
discuss in June.  The verbal change MUST follow RRS 33 – the announcement
MUST be made to ALL boats before they begin the changed leg. The hail
should include bearing to the new mark and an indication if the leg length
has been changed.  IF all of this was not properly done (the hail was not
done in a timely fashion and all of the required information was not
provided) AND a boat was significantly disadvantaged, that boat  can
request redress.

While US Sailing isn't in favor of verbal changes, Howie and the RC met the
above criteria, and properly changed the course.

Racer conduct on VHF
The purpose of VHF 78 is for checking in, RC communication with racers,
alerting racers of emergencies or potential danger, and perhaps asking RC a
question which they have no obligation to answer.  It is not a format for
racers to give running commentary and recommendations to the race
committee.  I think that some of last night's behavior on VHF could be
deemed misconduct, defined by 69.1(b)(1) as ". . .conduct that is a breach
of good manners. . ."

So let's conduct ourselves with good manners on VHF so your fellow
competitors don't feel compelled to turn it off.

And let's file protests on time, and have fun!

John Sheehan
Chair, Race Committee
Nyack Boat Club

On Thu, May 16, 2019 at 6:03 PM John Ivan Sutter, MD, MS via Wednightracing
wednightracing@maillist.nyackboatclub.org wrote:

Thank you John.
Interesting subject.

The NBC wednesday  SI 18.4 State: 'All boats must have a working VHF radio and monitor it for announcements from the RC, OCS, abandonment and change of course will be announced by VHF.
The same SI at 19.1 state: "All communications to and from the RC shall be on VHF channel 78."
It appears that the sum of the two rules (one VHF +  request  to monitor channel 78)  induces  racers to disregard Coast Guard Regulations which state:
Radio Watchkeeping Regulations
In general, any vessel equipped with a VHF marine radiotelephone (whether voluntarily or required to) must maintain a watch on channel 16 (156.800 MHz) whenever the radiotelephone is not being used to communicate.
Source: FCC 47 CFR §§ 80.148, 80.310, NTIA Manual 8.2.29.6.c(2)(e), ITU RR 31.18, 52.244
I see the logic of the CG and  FCC  regulations beyond the legal requirement  and I can imagine  the danger of following the SI as it pertains to "communication"  while racing: What would happen, for example, if a tug-barge coming down the channel has a breakdown, its captain sends a Pon-Pon to all station on channel 16 and makes an unexpected maneuver in front of a bunch of sailors blissfully ignorant of the issue while they are monitoring CH 78 for "Changes" and other inconsequential communication? 
I reflect upon these issues as I am getting ready to coach two new members of the club  to race in our fleets, hopefully in the safest way possible.  The hailing frequency on the Hudson and the rest of the world is Channel 16. I think the inducement to monitor anything else  is potentially imprudent.
My two cents.
Thank you and regards.

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On Thursday, May 16, 2019, 10:23:58 PM EDT, John Sheehan via Wednightracing <wednightracing@maillist.nyackboatclub.org> wrote:  

Wednesday night racers,
As mentioned by Howie and Eric, this request for redress came too late.  Also, I believe the RC properly announced the change in course.  Explanation is below.  I also wrote a little speech about  racer conduct on VHF 78.
Protests, including protests against the Race Committee, must be made within one hour after the RC boat reaches her mooring.
Course changesOur SIs allow the RC to announce course changes on VHF Channel 78.  The RC did this properly, since the change was announced before any boat rounded Mark C.  
I was fortunate to be corresponding with a representative from US Sailing about our SIs, so I asked about last night's situation.  Here is their answer:
Technically, the current SIs allow the PRO to verbally change the next leg of the course.  Verbal changes are NOT recommended for many reasons we can discuss in June.  The verbal change MUST follow RRS 33 – the announcement MUST be made to ALL boats before they begin the changed leg. The hail should include bearing to the new mark and an indication if the leg length has been changed.  IF all of this was not properly done (the hail was not done in a timely fashion and all of the required information was not provided) AND a boat was significantly disadvantaged, that boat  can request redress.
While US Sailing isn't in favor of verbal changes, Howie and the RC met the above criteria, and properly changed the course. 
Racer conduct on VHFThe purpose of VHF 78 is for checking in, RC communication with racers, alerting racers of emergencies or potential danger, and perhaps asking RC a question which they have no obligation to answer.  It is not a format for racers to give running commentary and recommendations to the race committee.  I think that some of last night's behavior on VHF could be deemed misconduct, defined by 69.1(b)(1) as ". . .conduct that is a breach of good manners. . ."
So let's conduct ourselves with good manners on VHF so your fellow competitors don't feel compelled to turn it off.  
And let's file protests on time, and have fun!
John SheehanChair, Race CommitteeNyack Boat Club

On Thu, May 16, 2019 at 6:03 PM John Ivan Sutter, MD, MS via Wednightracing wednightracing@maillist.nyackboatclub.org wrote:

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