Bring back the Biff

Facts found in the protest decision report. Based on the evidence presented they concluded that Ben didn't punch anyone. Unless new evidence is presented the hearing won't get re-opened and therefore the facts won't change. All that's left now is whether the RYA (and if not then ISAF) choose to take any further action based on the report that they'll receive from the Jury. (Statement on this process from the RYA is on the front page now).

Originally posted by furtive (Statement on this process from the RYA is on the front page now).

yep- they're beginning to distance themselves to create a facade of impartiality....

Originally posted by winging it Much as I sympathsie with Ben I feel he will - and should - take further punishment for this.  No matter what the situation, or who you are, you can't just climb into someone else's boat and give them a fairly robust piece of your mind.  It's just not acceptable.  The RYA and his sponsors have made Ben the 'poster boy' of the dinghy sailing world, and 100s of kids up and down the country will have his picture on their wall.  These kids will know what he has done and they need to see action taken against him, as it would be against any other sailor, and rightly so. What I notice from my morning's perusal of facebook over my ready brek, is how many of my young sailing friends have instantly befriended Giles Scott.  I wonder if Ben is now yesterday's man?

Roger, I'm not going to argue with you, I'm just going to state that I have been sponsored as a sailor myself, so I know exactly how it works, I work for a sports NGB - a fairly major one - under contract, so I know how major sponsorship deals work, and I live with someone who will be on the pitch inside the Olympic stadium as a Field Judge for both the Olympics and Paralympic.  Said person has as part of their duties ensuring that no sponsorship is visible apart from what is allowed, so I have a pretty good idea of that too.

Oh, and yes, I have seen an athlete run into a photographer.  as I said, they're all over the place.

Here's a thought.  I was recently on safety duty for a major inlands, with an entry of around 100 boats.  It was pretty brisk, so there were plenty of capsizes.  My fellow safety boat driver was a complete sailor, so when we had to power up the middle of the fleet to get to a nasty looking incident, I did the driving and had to predict which way the boats were going to go, and try to guess which boat looked likely to tack my way.  I was a last minute stand in, suppose the original crew had also been a non sailor?