As one of the ‘guilty’ boats involved in the issue at the start of this thread, I’ll put forward my case.
On coming ashore,another competitor said I had missed the gate.
I did nothing, fully expecting to be called to a meeting or disqualified.
I was informed the following morning of a protest against me by another competitor, and retired straight away.
My only defence would have been that the SI said (from memory) that the start / finish line would be a gate on every lap.
Well it was the finish line, but no where near our starting line !
So to answer the initial question , YES , put in the protest.
We lost a top 5 position, but rules is rules. and no hard feelings
Roger