Wellllll.. I think for safety they would start the fastest boats first.. Cutting one way thru a fleet of a hundred dead slow boats wouldnt be nice.. (Although lifting a hull above the mast tip of a maxi would be fun )

Add to the congestion issue is the spectator fleet.. Maybe a few thousand of various sizes and abilities (and when talking about abilities I mean the skippers with the booze content approaching 0.1%)..

Starting the big cats/tris a km or two down or upwind would be the best option.. But the spectator fleet is a huge issue and Groupma3 being cut in half by a drunk on his 75 foot palace isnt worth thinking about!!..

S..