How would you decide this?

Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes highlights specific aspects of the racing rules in a fun format designed to help you become more familiar with The Racing Rules of Sailing. Here is one of the quizzes:

Quiz 83
Two 25 foot boats, PL and PW, are broad reaching on port tack in 15 knots of wind with no spinnakers up. PW gybes onto starboard tack, giving PL time to also gybe and keep clear of her. After PW’s gybe, PL chooses to head up and try to pass astern of PW. Her bow hits the starboard stern quarter of PW.

PL hails, “I’m spinning!” PW says nothing. PL then realizes that, in her opinion, PW has not given her room to keep clear after gybing as required by rule 15, Acquiring Right of Way, so she does not take a penalty. The collision puts a hole in PW and as a result, her boat speed is greatly reduced. She requests redress. You are on the protest committee; what would you decide? Answer below.

Quiz 83 Answer:
PW’s request for redress is denied. Rule 61.4(b), Redress Decisions, says “A boat is entitled to redress if her score or place in a race or series has been made, or may be made, significantly worse through no fault of her own by (2) injury or physical damage because of the action of a boat that was breaking a rule of Part 2 and took an appropriate penalty or was penalized.”

PL clearly broke rule 10, On Opposite Tacks. And PW was clearly physically damaged by PL. However, PL did not take a penalty, and PL cannot be penalized unless she is protested (see rule 60.5(b)(1), Protest Decisions). Therefore, PW is not entitled to redress.

In order to have been entitled to redress, PW would have needed to protest PL by hailing “Protest!” and putting up the red protest flag at the first reasonable opportunity after the incident, have the protest committee disqualify PL, and then have the protest committee decide that her score or place in the race was made significantly worse as a result of the collision with PL through no fault of her own.

Source: US Sailing