Come on Mike

Who has a greater interest in keeping my butt safe... you as the PRO/OA and US Sailing or ME?

Why don't you leave ALL the safety decisions up to me.
Don't shift responsibility from my choices in gear and my decisions to race, require safety boats, liability insurance etc etc to the OA, USSA and the PRO.

The life jacket issue is indeed a performance issue. A better jacket improves your performance and so for fairness we need to enforce the stupid rule or find a work around. Putting a small orange jacket in your hull is a workaround that is a viable silly solution to the existing law.

Compressing a grade IV throwable and forcing it into your hull where you will need glass work to get it again is stupid and probably illegal. Is this a protest that anybody wants to file or hear? Does it serve fair racing?

In this case... we all agree that we are not going to have any organization thumb it's nose at the US Coast Guard and Federal Law.

So... The solution is to NOT say anything about personal safety gear and let each skipper choose and take full responsibility for their boat. If the coasties want to inspect me on the water... OK... I will pay the fine.... It's the same as a seat belt law!.... We don't need to include it in the Racing Rules... It doesn't help the game and the BS needed to manage this imposition of the nanny state is silly.

Where are all the civil libertarians when you need them?