Your second guess was the right one, sending someone below to look for
the flag. Being the Corinthian racer that I like to think that I am, I
feel I would owe a 720 if I committed the foul. The issue will come
down to whether or not the protesting boat violated rule 16.2,
sometimes called "Hunting", because we filed and won a protest against
him a few weeks ago that involved safety due to a flagrant violation.
I still am interested in the appeals number so that I can cite it as a
reference.
Thanks