It is good to know that there will be some scrutiny placed on the boats and sailors. The one thing that most people are overlooking here is the potential damage to the reputation of this event should something go horribly wrong. "International Incident" hazard aside, if someone were lost on this race, it would make a lot of headlines with unneeded (negative) publicity

I think it would be nice to share the selection criteria especially if there are those organizers thinking of new and challenging races/venues who might benefit from the shared wisdom...

Good question on the EPIRBs. The CG is now using the new frequency now, right? with the GPS and owner information?