Mike

WHY would the PRO want to get into the position of making a decision on the proper number of safety boats required as a condition for running the race?

As you note... you rarely have enough mark boats... much less safety boats. PU authored a policy for mark and safety boats , where to place them on the course, how many for how many boats etc for a SAFE REGATTA in a Hobie hotline. I have never been to a regatta that would have met his standard. As an internationally recognized authority on catamaran race management you could argue that his article defined the standard.... Failing to meet his standard would be negligent on the part of the OA and PRO. We would never have a race!

To me, this is another well intentioned idea that is just wrong. Again, you undercut the skippers sole responsibility to decide on racing or not when you inject this safety boat factor in your decisions on race management.

What happens if you loose a powerboat on the course... now you are below "your safety level"... are you to cancel racing for the day?

Finally, the worst aspect of a safety boat standard is that you shift the burden of safety from ALL the racing sailors to the Safety boats themselves.!

Dave has the right idea... He is following the RR of sailing. He stops at a crash and checks on safety.... AND he expects other skippers to Stop and check crashes where appropriate. The game awards redress for that time spent not racing. ...

If you think that a safety boat will be along to check out the crash and you can just continue racing... not good!

Is race management training changing this firewall?