This is the issue!

If starts are a big part of the game... We should run events like college dinghy regattas with 20 minute races... and then restart (yeah)!.

We should schedule regattas with 20 races... not 7 or 10.

We should set short lines so that fighting for and holding your place is at a premium in this game.
30 years ago...a regatta was three races... each about 2 to 2.5 hours longs.... winning was based on 2 plus hours of a race to follow and not the 2 minutes before and after a start .... Sailboat racing was about about sailing... not starting.

Racing evolved to shorten the race because, for the most part the finish positions, were set after 45 minutes of sailing. The negative effect was to put more of a premium on starting and the first beat.... Then we started adding all of the starting penalties, Black flag, Around the ends, etc etc.
Then we started with protests of the race committee for some error on their part. Hell, the A cat Worlds in FL heard a protest on the RC from Booth who was called OCS which reversed the RC and affected the final results. Races are settled in the Protest Room over STARTING ISSUES... NOT on the race course.

The 505's are running 90 minute races with 120 boats and they have a score sheet with NO OCS's and no drama at the starting line or the protest room. They are running a sailboat race... not a starting race. The winners are determined by boat speed, handling and sailing shifts and pressure. The Protest Committee does not deal with starting issues. At the local level... they keep the rabbit starts when they can because it's practice for their Worlds...

We should consider the rabbit start for large fleets because it promotes fair sailing over fair starting.