Who can protest?

Here's a thought......
Heading toward the finish with two boats clear in front of me - unsure if I'll catch them by the end to be fair but hey, i'll give it a go.
The two ahead are locked in a tacking duel with me, as I said clearly behind - 5 boat lengths maybe?
Going in to the line, boat A is on starboard, boat B on Port. Boat A calls 'Starboard!' quite clearly but boat B doesn't budge and A takes evasive action. Straightforward Port / Starboard.
However, A doesn't protest - the 'evasive' action saw them remain ahead(even though it was a considerable manouvre).
Now, B - in my mind, should have taken a 720 anyway, but didn't. Carrying on to the line ahead of me by around 2 maybe 3 lengths.
If B had carried out the required 720, I'd have gained a place and a point and, quite possibly, a higher place overall.
My question is, even though I wasn't directly infringed, could I have lodged a protest against B for not taking the required penalty?
I did discuss this at length with the infringee post-race, the answer being: "Well, I'd have had nowhere to go" My reply being: "Tough, then you shouldn't have been there"
Would I have been able to protest ands on what grounds? - is it as simple as I see it? -Straightforward Port/Starboard and no penalty taken?

60.1 A boat may (a) protest another boat, but not for an alleged breach of a rule of Part 2 or rule 31 unless she was involved in or saw the incident;

So as you saw the incident you may protest provided you have immediately hailed protest at the time. With the rules as they are waiting until its obvious that neither boat is going to do turns is too late for the protest to be valid.

But if they were in the middle of a tacking duel then the result may not be a straightforward as one might think though. When A tacked onto starboard she acquired right of way. RRS15 says that when a boat acquires ROW she must initially give the other boat room to keep clear. If A didn't feel confident that she had given B room to keep clear after tacking then A was required to take evasive action and no rule was broken. It all depends on how long it is since S tacked.

Another scenario where S might me required to evade port would be if the wind was shifting rapidly and a big lift put A on a collision course when sh was clear before.

Edited by JimC - 01 Jul 15 at 4:07pm

Originally posted by fleaberto I did shout to B that they should do turns - (not 'Protest').

Doesn't cut the mustard. Protest must be the first thing you shout. Dumb rule, hopefully it will get changed some time.

Yes, pretty sure if the first words are " ouch, that was my head, yout**t", protest could probably follow. Of course, these days you might get done for swearing, or something?