It’s the last roll of the dice at the end of the final run to the finish (fig 1) Blue gybes onto port tack, initially looking vulnerable. These foiling cats accelerate quickly though: it looks like the cross may be on. But Green thinks otherwise: initially sailing low to put the pressure on Blue, they luff late, to cross behind, apparently to avoid a collision, “Protest”.
The commentators describe it as a ‘Hollywood’: an unnecessary alteration of course to fool the umpires. But the umpires are in little doubt: the penalty is against Blue, now out of the competition.
Blue feels understandably hard done-by - all their instrumentation and experience suggested they were crossing cleanly. The boat was accelerating, the cross becoming safer with every metre
