International 14 Worlds

I would think this is different to what Ben did in Sydney - he used match racing tactics.

This looks like team racing tactics, this is not on in fleet racing. Getting a friend or friends to hamper another competitor is not sportman like. If this is what happened then they deserve what they get. After all this is what the rules say is it not.

On the other hand it must have been a very difficult thing to prove and I would not like to have been on the protest committee for that one. 

The 'team racing' protest by aussies http://www.takapunaboating.org.nz/SMLogo/PROTEST.doc

The redress http://www.takapunaboating.org.nz/SMLogo/PROTEST%20No%203.do c

was the series 7 races, discard 2 ? (or discard 1)

If discard only one then does this not apply :

As AUS631 is discarding a 27, if they could be sailed down to 29th they would need to count it and then be down the pan ?

And if so was not GBR1516 valid in trying this (all-be-it too late as it was probably (rightly?) seen as an attempt to help GBR1513).

Any one know how many discards were available ?  

Sure I am missing something here ?

Discard 1 by the look of it. The way I read it, that is implicit in the protest committee's report. Also the NOR http://www.takapunaboating.org.nz/SMLogo/Int%2014%20NoR.doc doesn't say anything special about discard, and the default arrangement in RRS Appendix A is one discard. The SIs don't seem to be on the website.

Personally I think GBR1516 was lucky to avoid a rule 69 protest. 

It does seem as though something like the "professional foul" has come to a major sailing event, and that if the need to show a return on their sponsor's money hadn't been involved,  the incident may not have happened.