hang on a second. if we are talking about boats being trashed on the shore, that can happen on any race. it doesn't matter if it is a one day race or a 100 day race. we all start off on the the beach and eventually have to come back to the beach. all of us do things that can be dangerous every day. do you own a car? how about fly in an airplane? would you consider driving a yugo? how about a big ford truck? obviously, the truck is safer than the yugo, but it costs more. it is a trade off. more money for more safety. i'm not talking about jumping on the hobie wave and sailing off on a thousand mile race with a gallon of water and a bottle of sun screen (although sun screen costs money). what i am talking about is a boat that is more suited to the conditions along the way and safety equipment for the entire trip. you formulate a plan and list of things you are willing to do and not do and stick to the list. example: if the halyard breaks, i have a spare and i can keep going. if i fall over and never see the boat again, i have an epirb and someone from the coast guard will come and get me. if that doesn't work, i have a handheld radio to call for help. i have not 1 but 2 strobe lights to aid in spotting me and if one fails, i have a second one.

i agree, you cannot remove all of the danger from anything (including driving that big expensive truck), but you can plan for most possibilities and know what to do if something happens.