Sam, That NACRA story is an example of what I was thinking when I started this thread. That's a lawsuit that almost never gets filed unless there's a deep pocket (insurance) to go after. No sane lawyer is going to do that one on contigency. Someone would have to pay by the hour, and not many would pay that kind of dough up front on such a shaky case.

I've changed my mind about having regatta ins., however.
The US sailing policy is a good one to have. What moved me to start this was a policy that was used at a Laser Reg. last year (Allstate) that was so full of holes that I had a hard time dreaming up a senario where they would acually have to pay anything. Having a policy like that does nothing but incourage the type of lawsuit you mentioned.
I've come to see there are a few situations that could result in the RC being liable, like a chase boat hitting someone and the boat owner not having his own ins.

An aside note: Changing the designation of the "Crash" boat to "Mark" boat would, in court, do nothing for the defence. It would go like this:

"So you had NO safety boats Mr. RC?"
" That is correct"
I would then re-phrase the question four or five times to make sure it stuck with the jury. Either you have to repeat that you didn't make an effort to get safety boats over and over, or you attempt to change the story. (DROOL)
Then I would provide evidence of past regattas that had "safety" boats. SLAM DUNK.

Anyway, Mark was essentially right and I was wrong. We should have regatta insurance, but not just any old policy.
Remember, the large print giveth and the fine print taketh away.

Later, Mark L.