In all fairness, I should also say that I am not entirely happy with this prescription either. I believe that US SAILING's intent was to make the sport safer (by providing a racing penalty for failure to carry appropriate life-saving equipment). Unfortunately, they did it in the context of law enforcement. That makes competitors, race committee, and especially protest committee responsible for interpreting law - which is not our area of expertise. The USCG regulations are not all cut-and-dried, and I certainly don't look forward to researching state and local laws when I attend a regatta. Likewise, I don't want to turn a competitor over to a LEO just to get a competent opinion.
Sailors will already be upset for getting disqualified - imagine how unhappy they'll be getting fined too.
