Section B — General Limitations

(a) The protest committee shall consider the evidence and decide what weight to give it. It shall then find the facts based on the balance of probabilities (unless an applicable rule requires otherwise), and then apply the rules to those facts to make its conclusions and a decision. (b) Decisions shall be made by simple majority vote. When there is an equal division of votes, the chair of the hearing may cast an additional vote. (c) If there is a conflict between (1) two or more rules that must be resolved before a decision can be made, and (2) those rules are in the notice of race, the sailing instructions, or any of the other documents that govern the event under item (g) of the definition Rule, then the protest committee shall apply the rule that it believes will provide the fairest result for all boats affected. (d) If the protest committee is in doubt about the meaning of a class rule, it shall refer its questions, together with the relevant facts, to an authority responsible for interpreting the rule. In making its decision, the protest committee is bound by the authority’s reply.