Start Line Collision

Incident on the start line of a recent race.

W & L both on Starboard, approaching pin end of start line.
L accelerates and gains an overlap on W from clear astern.
contact ensued between the two boats and W protested.
L claims gave W had ample room to keep clear but failed to do so, in order to avoid starting prematurely
W claims L failed to give room to keep clear.
Q1. In the absence of independent witnesses, where does the onus of proof lie?
As a secondary issue, after the collision W made repeated loud hails to L, using foul and abusive language. This was witnessed by many other sailors some of whom were juniors (including L's crew). No separate protest was made about this at the time
Q2. Would it be appropriate for L to bring this to the attention of the protest committee, in respect of the original incident?
Any case law and guidance on appropriate penalties would be fantastic. Protest has not been heard yet.

Originally posted by ohFFsake  using foul and abusive language.

Edited by kneewrecker - 15 Apr 14 at 1:18pm

the fact L came from clear astern and went to leeward of W after the start lead to a no right to luff, so in theory the rules apply from the prepartory flag as L came from clear astern she had the option to go to windward therefore no right to luff W

Yes it was ore start so no proper course requirement, the question is simply that in a "my word against yours" situation over whether sufficient room was given, which boat has the burden of proof.

Regarding the bad language, perhaps I could turn that on its head by asking what would constitute sufficiently bad for a pc to consider it actionable.

Pretty sure that w did hail protest at soonest opportunity

Originally posted by ohFFsake Regarding the bad language, perhaps I could turn that on its head by asking what would constitute sufficiently bad for a pc to take action

That's a good question, but considering Ainslie effectively got away with decking someone on a media boat, I think we can probably take our chances in calling someone a c*nt if we really feel it necessary in the heat of the moment.

(Although I've never met anyone on the water who would fit that level of verbal description personally, that delightful term would be reserved for far lower life form than fellow competitors, even those considered a bit of at**t...)