Protest hearings

I suspect there has been a thread on this before, so apologies. (Link?)

How are clubs dealing with protests (or lack of them) arising from routine club racing? When was the last time there was a protest hearing at your club from a club (not open) event? If protests are relatively frequent, is that a reflection of the numbers sailing and club resources to run Protest Meetings?

Is anybody using the RYA recommended Advisory Hearings and Exoneration Penalties?

I made one a couple of weeks ago but then the protested party retired so did not have the 'joy' of a protest meeting. Prior to that I went for redress against the race committee in respect of delay in finishing our fleet compared with another fleet on a day with vvv little wind but that was probably 5 or so years ago. No protest hearings in between - most protests get sorted out on the water.

Some days it would be virtually impossible to raise a disinterested protest committee.

2 points:

1. There are very few limits on who can be a member of a protest committee. The PC is appointed by the organising authority or the race committee. There is no mention of how many may sit as members of a PC (in theory 1 person is enough). Whilst a member of the PC may not be an interested party (which does allow someone sailing in another class to sit) unless on of the parties objects at the start of the hearing then the composition of the PC cannot be contested afterwards. For instance, in club racing a leading member of the fleet may be accepted by both parties if the incident occurred in the tail end of the fleet.

2. There is no problem with turning a protest hearing into a social occasion. If the parties agree why not hold the hearing in public, not in some secret location, so that all club members can enjoy the spectacle. This helps to demystify the whole process.