"In addition, at least one of the errant crews had connections on the RC boat. It walked like a duck, it quacked like a duck...."

Your assumptions are incorrect Stephanie. What you fail to post here was the fact that the race was postponed already due to light wind and the boats were not called off the beach yet but some (like myself) went out any way to see what the wind was doing up the course. In the mean time the markers were set and we were too far away to hear the horn blasts. If your so called connections on the committee boat were true, do you think they would have have started the sequence? Yes a few wives and one girlfriend was part of race committee but they know better than to be biased when it comes to running ANY race, let alone an Alter Cup Qualifier. The two reasons for the delay of start were: The Beach Captain could not be reached by radio to confirm that boats were called off the beach and at what time. Also, the wind dropped considerably.
Before you "decide" you will be a PRO, you should brush up on your knowledge of US Sailing Rules, I think you can find them on the website. Lee