Few competitive sailors can claim never to have seen the following scenario: an incident on the course, say a straightforward Port & Starboard right of way issue. The infringing boat denies wrong-doing, the other cries "Protest" and the dispute goes ashore to be settled after racing.

The offended yacht gathers evidence and a protest form is filled in. Witnesses to the incident are located as both sides prepare their "cases". For the protesting crew, the issue is cut and dried, open and shut, a bankable result. Emotions are often running on knife-edge as the stakes may be high.

And then the Protest Hearing gets under way. Before either side is called in, the Protest Committee will examine the formal protest forms and procedures to ensure it is a valid protest. This is where the trouble sometimes begins. Should there be any error, the action is liable to be dismissed.

It can be a cruel blow to a genuinely aggrieved crew in search of sporting justice.

But it is the arbitrary nature of the rules that often causes the most hurt and anger at sailing events. A protest dismissed without even consideration of the incident encourages ill feeling: one party is humiliated and the other may end the event with a suggestion of unfinished business.

Ultimately, if fault is to be attributed then it must fall to the crew which failed to understand or observe the correct procedure. The letter of the law applies regardless, or else where is the line drawn between tolerance and enforcement? Still, the apparently arbitrary ability of a given protest committee to decide to proceed with a hearing seems unfair.

One recent incident saw two closely-placed boats come head to head over alleged rule infringements. The protesting yacht carefully assembled the irrefutable evidence, flew its protest flag, informed both the committee boat and the other boat and submitted the paperwork in good time and properly completed.

The hearing was held and the protested yacht was found against. However, the day in question had seen two separate races. The full procedures were only followed upon completion of the second race, although the intention had been to cover the first race as well. The result was that only the second race was valid, and half of the intended result of punishing the offending yacht for breach of rules was achieved, significantly altering the outcome of the event.

Such matters are testing the International Sailing Federation's jury panel: the existing procedures for protests are under review and pressure for change is growing. One of Ireland's most senior international judges is Norman Long, of the Royal Alfred YC, who frequently encounters the problem and understands the sailors' frustration first hand.

"I think that we must have rules that are fair to yachts that have suffered because of failure to sail according to the rule," he said yesterday.

"Self-policing is the basis on which the rules were written, and making it easier for sailors must be our prime concern."

But change is still in the future. For now, Long's advice remains as simple as ever: read the rules. Everything you need to know is there.

Weekend fixtures: 1720 National Championship (at Ballyholme YC); ISA National Dinghy Match Racing Championship (at Royal St George YC); Dinghy and Multi-hull Regatta (Swords S&BC); Fireball Munster Championship (University of Limerick); National 18 Championship (Tralee SC); Autumn League (Howth YC); September Series (Foynes SC); September Series (Dun Laoghaire MYC).