Rolf, have you seen Russia's safety record? No thanks!

But getting back on topic, that of preparation, the FAA requires EVERY aircraft registered in the US to have an inspection once every 12 mo. or every 100 hours of flying time, which ever comes first. The mechanic that performs this annual inspection has to fill out a log book and sign it, with his license number. He makes sure everything is good to go or he will be talking to the FAA if there is a mechanical failure, and it could cost him his license, so they are usually very thorough.

If you take this same approach with your racing boat, inspect it every so many races, and at least once a year, you will find things that need to be replaced sooner, rather than after failure.

Yes it will cost you money and take some time. But every flight hour usually costs 10 hours of maintenance, that's the rule of thumb in aviation. Luckily when something on your boat breaks it doesn't lead to a sudden and violent death, usually.

But if I had a nickle for every time I stepped my mast with the spinnaker halyard on the wrong side...well, I'd still have a fast boat!

Robi, you see, I was "Born to be a Pilot!"

http://www.utube.com/watch?V=xkWnV29Vcxo

Well, I couldn't get it to post properly but if you go to UTube and search for Born to be a Pilot, you too can live the dream. Not the reality of course, but the dream.