If a sailor breaks a Rule during a race they can take a penalty before they cross the finish line to clear themselves.  The penalty is either a 360 or 720 degree turn on the race course, during the race.

If however, there is a dispute over who has broken a Rule the sailors may protest and the decision about who is at fault will be made after the race has finished by a panel of Rules experts called the Jury.  The scores therefore may change, for example if the Jury decides a boat should be disqualified.

If a boat retires, is disqualified or does not finish a race they will receive a “letter score” e.g. DSQ and they receive points on their score that are equal to the last place score plus 1.