Protest!! Announcing SailEvent Hearing Management

Sailing is a self-policing sport and the long arm of the RRS law is the protest form. It’s often said that in club racing nobody reads the Sailing Instructions and nobody protests but, as you climb the ladder via open meetings and championships to the top, so the number of protests increases reaching, at times, dizzying heights.

But, at whatever level, sailors have the right to protest, or request redress, when they believe they have been wronged. The process starts with requesting a hearing and continues until a decision is published and, when warranted, scores are updated.

That’s where SailEvent Hearing Management comes in. It takes hearing requests through the flow from form submission, via initial vetting, scheduling hearings and notifying parties, to recording and publishing decisions. All online and all with the minimum hassle.

Starting with the Racing Rules of Sailing Part 5, Hearing Management adds Rule 42 and combines them with SailEvent data for maximum effectiveness. 

Here are just some of the features 

• Online protest and request for redress forms readily available on the virtual ONB.
• Initial vetting to filter out, for instance, results queries and invalid requests.
• Hearings scheduled to time and place, published on the ONB and all parties informed by text or email.
• Decision recording and publication.
• Scoring update checklist.

RRS Part 5 underwent a complete rewrite for the 2025-2028 edition. Its implementation in SailEvent has been thoroughly tested during 2025 with events up to European Championship level. However the Racing Rules of Sailing are always subject to interpretation in the light of experience and even personal preference. Consequently the SailEvent development team is open to all suggestions for improvement and fine tuning so, please, try this exciting new feature and let us have your feedback.