Hey Chet,

Not sure of your point here. Do you mean the SIs allow it to be bigger, or that people's perception on the water makes it bigger than it really is?

I have personally seen SIs that use 3 lengths, but nothing more. Not saying it's a bad idea, just haven't seen more than 3 lengths used. However, it is extremely rare, in the northeast US at least, to use anything other than the standard 2 lengths.

I also think people tend to exaggerate the size of the cirle depending on their viewpoint at the time of the incident, so I'm not sure if it would actually help to open it up.

Mike