How are disqualifications decided, and how do protests and appeals work?

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Disqualifications. The Chief Referee or Sectional Referee may penalise or disqualify a competitor who fails to complete the course, compete fairly or follow a rule. Competitors are told of an event disqualification at the end of the race by the Chief Referee or the relevant technical official, and must stay in the competition area until dismissed. The Chief Referee does not have to announce a disqualification until the event ends. If an official's error follows a competitor's fault, the Chief Referee may expunge the fault. When a competitor is disqualified, everyone below them moves up one place. A competitor or team can also be disqualified from the whole competition, for example for abusing officials, impersonation, discrimination or racism, or breaching the LSA code of conduct. Protests (Section 9.2) No protest against the Finish Judges' order of finish. A protest about the course or conditions must be made verbally to the Chief Referee before the race. A protest against a competitor, team or official's decision must be made verbally to the Chief Referee within 15 minutes of the result being posted or of being told of the decision, then in writing (in English, on the Protest/Appeal Form) within a further 15 minutes. You can only protest another competitor's actions if you were in the same race and suffered direct interference. There is no protest fee. The official result is withheld until the protest is decided. Appeals (Section 9.3). If the Chief Referee dismisses or refuses a protest, the competitor can appeal to the Appeals Committee Convenor within 30 minutes, with the appeal fee. The fee is refunded if the appeal is upheld. Appeals committees normally have three members (quorum two), none of whom took part in the original decision. Their decision is final. Beach flags eliminations are different: the protest is verbal, within 2 minutes or before the next run-through starts (whichever is first), the Chief Referee decides it on the spot, and there is no appeal. A beach flags disqualification follows the normal protest and appeal process.