As a casual, community-focused sailing organization with the mission of encouraging participation in the noble art of sailing, we discourage protests on principle in favor of working out disagreements amicably. However, a protest may be filed in the case of damage or an egregious foul. In the case of damage or injury, this filing may be required for insurance purposes.

Our protest process is as follows (as found in our standard sailing instructions):

The protesting boat shall immediately hail the fleet on VHF channel 72 and announce their protest – who they are protesting and why. Protest forms are available at the SPSA website [see below] or from any SPSA officer. Protests and requests for redress or reopening shall be delivered to the Vice Commodore or, if unavailable, to an SPSA Flag Officer within the appropriate time limit. For each class, the protest time limit is 2 hours after the last boat has finished the last race of the day. Notification will be sent by text or email no later than midnight of the day of the race to inform competitors of hearings in which they are parties or named as witnesses. Hearings will be held at the St Petersburg Sailing Center or another appropriate venue, beginning at 19:30 on the Thursday following the race, unless all parties agree to another time.

SPSA uses the US Sailing protest form.