I was a judge when this took place.
We took a quick look at Cole's 3 ball and agreed with the calls of 2.5 without stopping the boat for a formal video review. There was also an angle up that made it look okay.
After closer inspection during the Video Challenge, it was deemed he center punched the buoy and submerged it.
We had just come out of 3 rain delays and were trying not to hold the boat on calls as to have daylight for the finals... there were several other close ones that we did indeed review.
No excuses though, we missed it; this was indeed a good challenge by JT.
13:01 reads that a Protest must be filed no later than 30 minutes after the results of the events are announced.
But 13:02 states that a Protest cannot be made on a judgement decision, except noted in 13:04, which is a Video Challenge for Gates and Buoys.
Here's the sticky part. 13:04 states that a Video Challenge must be made prior to the next skier going out.
JT was on the dock getting ready to ski. He arrived right after his set, still wet.
Judges do their best, but there will be always some subjectivity in calls, and mistakes. I think giving skiers the ability to throw the "red challenge flag" (NFL) is a good thing.
But we still need to figure out the best process to this I think.
I wonder if 13:04 should read more like 13:01 and give the skiers more time to challenge prior calls.
FYI both Cole and JT were gentleman to me. My apologies for the long post.