Shambie, thanks for all your thought and input. The veteran Worrell sailors have all these safety issues well covered, and they share their knowledge with the more novice entrants. But there are always new emergency situations that arise unforeseen, and there are always new "what-ifs" to prepare for. It is good that some of this safety thinking is filtering down to the cruisers and buoys racers and short-distance racers.

And, don't worry, nobody wants to ban women from the Worrell 1000. It's actually not much of a problem, because very few women have ever sailed in that race.

Regarding a few of the things you addressed:
I, too, am familiar with jack lines on big monohulls and with clipping on from a safety harness. Catamaran sailors have a trapeze harness, and I have always assumed that they clip their tether line onto something on their trap harness, but nobody has answered my question about that yet. Guess I will have to call somebody and ask.

And regarding boom vang on Hobie 18. It is allowed on the Hobie 18, and we always had one on ours (although we did not use it for vanging). Not sure whether it would work for hauling somebody aboard the boat.

And, finally, as far as I am concerned, in an immediate emergency situation, nothing works better than brute strength. I'm a big fan of using mechanical advantage, and if you have something that can be deployed instantly, that's great. But otherwise, if it's a beach cat and you are the only other person on the boat, give yourself a shot of adrenaline and drag him aboard.

It's funny, but all the years I sailed with my husband, it never even occurred to me that I might have to rescue him instead of the other way around. And it never occurred to me to wonder how I would be able to right the boat if he became separated from it and the boat capsized. After all, the captain is supposed to stay with the boat, go down with the ship, protect his crew.....right?