Dave Perry’s Do’s and Don’ts For Filing an Appeal

The Racing Rules of Sailing provide for appeals as a mechanism to correct possible Protest Committee errors in interpreting the rules. Dave Perry, Chairman of US Sailing Appeals Committee, presented the do’s and don’ts of filing an appeal at the Sailing Leadership Forum last February in San Diego. Perry is the author of Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing and Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes. He is also a US Sailing Senior Certified Judge.

When filing your appeal do…

• Read Appendix R, rules R1, R2 and R3 carefully.
• Read the FAQ on the US Sailing Appeals page.
• Send your appeal within the 15 day time limit (see rule R2.1(a)).
• Include everything asked for in rule R2.2, including the names and email address of all the parties, and the chairman of the protest committee, and appeals committee if applicable.
• Be sure all documents are dated.
• Keep your grounds (the reason you are appealing) as brief and concise as possible.
• Organize your supporting documents so they are clearly marked, and consolidate any email threads into one well-marked file as much as possible.
• Be patient. The average time from receipt of an appeal to sending the decision is three months, and it can be much longer depending on the complexity of the case and/or the number of times the appeals committee must ask the protest committee for additional facts and information.

When filing your appeal don’t…

• Send your appeal after the 15 day time limit has expired (see rule R2.1(a)).
• Send individual copies of many emails; or a lot of documents with no clear marking as to what they are.
• Copy your appeal to people who are not representatives of the parties or committees directly involved in the appeal.
• Send in an incomplete appeal (see rules R 2.1(a) and R2.2).

For more information, visit US Sailing’s website at http://www.ussailing.org/race-officials/rules-and-appeals/

Source: Liz Walker, US Sailing Championships Director