Well, there are tons of things that come to mind after reading just the first post, and more after that...

In terms of what were your options as RC, there are many and I certainly am not going to second guess your decision to run a race. If this were an essay question on a USSA exam, I'd probably answer it like this...

The RC was limited to one power boat. I would have made the fleet aware of this at the skippers meeting, and make a point that we would be "extra generous" with redress for sailors that help one another. Can't force them, but we can try to sweeten the pot.

The boat capsized before the first start. The sailor stayed with the boat. At the time of day for the start, one is faced with a limited amount of daylight to be able to run any races if the starts are delayed.

There are three options at this point:

1. Ask a specific boat in the last class to start to help him NOW.
2. Run the starts while keeping watch on his progress.
3. Postpone and help him yourself immediately, with the high likelihood that there will be no racing.

I would have done #1 and #2 in the situation as described. If the boat that assisted was affected in their race, I would have filed for redress for them. No jury in the world would deny this.

If the requested boat didn't render assistance, and the sailor was separated from the boat or appeared injured, I would go immediately to #3.

Believe it or not, my rationale for #1 come from Boy Scouts about 20+ years ago. If you're in a first aid / CPR situation with a crowd of people, never say "someone call 911." Everyone will stand there looking at each other and assume someone else will do it. The better thing is to point to one person and say "YOU, call 911."

Anyway, that sums up that part.

As for the rescue operations, I think you did exactly the right thing. Drag the capsized boat out of the way of the tanker to avoid damaging two boats (and who knows what else)...

If there is imminent risk of collision, get on the radio to the other boat, Coast Guard, or anyone that will listen to slow them down. As you probably know, it takes some boats a few miles to stop or effectively turn. In limited water, this gets very tricky.

Once out of the way, I agree with Brian, dismast the boat. You can pull a pin or just cut a wire. Either way, get the mast disconnected (tie it to something so it doesn't go to the bottom), and get the sails down and stowed. You should be able to right the boat easily now, then pull the mast (it WILL be heavy) onto the righted boat and tow it all in.

BTW, I totally agree with your lessons learned list.

Mike