Source: Alinghi Team
WHO FLIES A PROTEST FLAG AND WHEN ?

There is a lot at stake in each battle of the America's Cup. The match racing between these yachtsmen gets heated, tempers flare, rules are broken and powerful competitors are penalized. It's all in a day's work for the umpires, whose job is to ensure the on-the-water action remains fair.

To begin with, each boat is designated with a coloured flag: the blue flag corresponds to the port-entry boat and the yellow flag corresponds to the starboard, and right of way, boat.
When an infraction occurs during the race, the umpire flies either a blue or yellow flag to identify the penalized yacht.

When a boat is penalized, it must complete a penalty turn. If a team has one outstanding penalty, they may take the penalty at any time after starting and before finishing the race. Often, the boat will choose to "keep it in the bank" and continue sailing until they are in a better position to complete the penalty.

The competitors are also able to protest during the race. If a competitor believes their opposition has broken a rule on the water, they protest by raising a "Y" flag. In response, the umpire will make a ruling. If the competitor protests the other team for an off-water incident, they raise a standard red flag. In each case, a hearing is held after the race to adjudicate on the incident.

If the protest is invalid, the umpire flies a green flag to indicate that no rule has been broken. (The green flag is actually checked with white, because in the bright sunlight a solid green flag appears to be blue.)

If there is an intentional foul, or a boat gains a significant advantage as a result of a foul, the umpire will fly red flag. This is when a boat is "red-flagged" which means they must take and complete the penalty immediately. Umpires can impose double and triple penalties, according to the gravity of the infraction or advantage gained. Because you can only keep one penalty in the bank, when a team incurs a second penalty, the boat must take and complete the second penalty immediately. Alternately, if both boats incur a penalty, the two cancel each other out.

The rules state that a spinnaker cannot be used on an upwind leg, basically to negate the option of using reaching Code 0 sails, except if the umpire flies the Purple flag indicating that it is legal to do so. This occurs if the wind changes direction dramatically, spinning around so that the windward leg becomes an off-the-breeze leg, or downwind leg. In this instance the boats can fly a spinnaker to the "windward mark."

The deadly black flag is reserved for extreme situations. The umpire uses it to tell the infracting boat, "game over." A gross breach of sportsmanship results in being disqualified. Of course, this makes it an easy win for the opponent, who claims the point without sailing the race.

Elsa Butler