- ing been no court of last resort like the
Y. R. A. of Great Britain to appeal to. I am proud to say that very few unsatisfactory decisions have come under my notice.
As yacht racing is a gentleman's sport, it is needless to lay stress on the yacht owner's obligation to live up to its ethics, to observe the racing rules in spirit and letter, to be sparing in the use of the protest flag—indeed never to display it unless he is convinced that there has been an undoubted violation of the rules. After he has made his protest he should not withdraw it, but allow the race committee to adjudicate upon it. The protest must be made in writing.
A writer in the Yachtsman some years ago, while discussing the whole subject of protests, suggested that a good way of checking the unsportsmanlike habit of hoisting a protest-flag without sufficient cause, would be to compel a competitor displaying the flag to deposit the sum of £1 with the sailing committee, which should be forfeited to the club fund in the event of the protest being withdrawn, and only be repaid in the event of the protest being decided in favor of the protesting party. This, in my judgment, is a capital suggestion and should be adopted whenever the time is ripe for it. The upholders of the maxim, "When in doubt, hoist a protest-flag," should be brought up with a round turn. A better maxim is, "Be sure you are right, and then go ahead."
