When to Appeal

Provided the right of appeal has not been denied under RRS70.5 (International Jury), a party to a hearing may appeal a protest committee’s decision or its procedures, but not the facts found. A protest committee may request confirmation of correction of its decision.

How to Appeal

With the exception of events that are run with an International Jury, sailors who are not satisfied with the results of a Protest Committee decision in relation to a local Hong Kong sailing event have the right to Appeal to HKSF. The appeals process is set out under RRS 70,71 and Appendix R.

While the Appeal procedure is well covered in RRS Appendix R, the basic process works like this:

• Appellants have 7 days in which to submit an appeal.
• HKSF will then contact the parties and protest committee who has 15 days to make comments.
• The HKSF RR&AC will then meet to review the appeal and make a decision.
• This decision will be given in writing to all parties and the protest committee, who shall be bound by the decision.
• While sometimes the decision may be final, it may equally involve a reopening of the protest hearing.

To initiate an appeal, an appellant should complete an appeal application form and submit it to HKSF together with a fee of $250. This fee is refundable unless the RR&AC consider the Appeal to be frivolous.

The appeal process is open to any sailor in Hong Kong, provided they are a member of HKSF, an affiliated club or association.

 A list of past appeals

As a reference to sailors considering making an appeal, a list of past Appeals including the decisions is available.

RR&AC Committee

The Racing Rules and Appeals Committee (RR&AC) is made up of up to 8 members of HKSF. The volunteers who form the committee are experienced sailors, drawn from as wide a range of the local sailing community as possible.