Easier way of maintaining safety on small boats in races
I gave up racing a long time ago. Too many rules made by people that have no idea how boats work, or what is safe. Too much money going to organizations that exist only to make money for the people that run them.
The results of this accident will be to further increase the amount of $$$ you have to spend to be in races here. To further limit and reduce the number of people that will now or ever race sailboats. The accident was a tragedy and I feel deeply for those that were lost, and those that are left to morn the loss. The cause of the accident was human judgement, it happens every day. A lot more people die on the freeway, a lot more people drown on the beach, more people are killed as innocent bystanders in Oakland and San Fransisco gun fights than are killed offshore racing.
This accident will result in more safety equipment that has to be aboard, more money spent on buying a solution to a problem that is not a material problem. The issue is that we as people are fallible, there is no way to remove human fallibility from anywhere that there are humans. It doesn't matter if we are on the offshore race course, or in our own bedrooms, humans frequently make bad choices.
US sailing and the coast guard are going to come up with some great nanny state rules for the next race. Increase the cost of participating in a yacht race in the US, and drive more and more people out of the sport with greater and greater costs for participation. This will come in the form of more "safety" gear required, more fees for participation, increased restrictions on participation, and more $$$ given to US sailing. This will happen every time there is an accident.
The spiral downward continues.
