Daily Digest: LDV COMANCHE files protest against WILD OATS XI, hearing in Hobart at 1500 AEDT (Sydne
SAN DIEGO – Thanks again, Dear Readers, for the warm reception you have given the renewal of these "Daily Digest" posts, with links to current yacht racing articles that may be of interest to our loyal and growing Sailing Illustrated community. As always links below do not include stories we otherwise posted on Sailing Illustrated since yesterday's Daily Digest.
[The protest will be heard today at 1500 AEDT (Thursday) which is 2000 PST (Wednesday). The members of the International Jury are John Rountree IJ (NZL) (Chairman), Peter Scheuerl IJ (GER), Jamie Sutherland IJ (NZL), Jonathon Rees NJ (AUS), and Erica Kirby NJ (AUS). –TFE]
Earlier today Sailing Illustrated held a mock protest hearing on our Facebook Live page. Dick Enersen (St Francis YC, San Francisco, CA) represented protester LDV COMANCHE, and Clark Chapin (Portage YC, Ann Arbor, MI) represented protestee WILD OATS XI. Dick and Clark appeared live via Skype, with your Ed. serving as moderator and mock Jury Chair. Our viewers served as the jury, had the opportunity to ask questions, and then, at the end, they voted on the decision(s). Despite Clark's spirited defense of the mock protest by Dick, dba COMANCHE, the live viewers voted overwhelmingly to penalize WILD OATS for breaking RRS 10 or 13, or both. Various penalties were then discussed; a large majority of the viewers concluded that the appropriate penalty would be to add 30 minutes to WOXI's elapsed time, thereby moving her to second place behind LDV COMANCHE who otherwise finished approximately 27 minutes behind WILD OATS XI. To watch the mock hearing and the lively discussion, and learn more about the reasoning behind the decisions by our viewers during the mock protest, you can watch a replay, and read the live comments, over on our SI Facebook Page here. This is a MUST SEE for rules buffs, and others interested in the process that will be used in LDVC-WOXI protest being heard later today. P.S. The main piece of video evidence in today's mock, that presumably will also be introduced to this afternoon's hearing, can be seen here. –TFE
WILD OATS XI, skippered by Mark Richards, were in the opinion of this humble writer, clearly in the wrong as they approached LDV COMANCE on port and tacked ahead but COMANCHE had to clearly alter course to avoid hitting them.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: WOXI Skipper Mark Richards (AUS) conceded that the protest flag at LDV Comanche’s stern has cast a shadow over this result, but he is adamant it will come to nothing. “I think we were totally innocent at the incident at the start. It is not the America’s Cup, it is the Hobart. The rules are different. I am not concerned at all.” Full story on the RSHYR website.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: WOXI leads LDVC up the River Derwent toward the Hobart finish line after WOXI had taken the lead a few miles before, last (Wednesday) evening. The boats finished just after dark, and this photo was taken as the sun was setting over Tasmania. Another great photo for Rolex by our longtime friend, super snapper Carlo Borlenghi (ITA).