Being Lucky is not a policy or a program!

I don't know about boards... but the Y flag is about wearing the pfd... not leave it on the beach... since she won the event in the end... I assume the board rules are different since I now realize that she was not DSQd,
(would love to hear the reasoning behind this rule for boards)

Even so.. They have junior classes on the water... The safety standards are higher. How the RC would not fly the Y flag is the specific issue. If she is happily bobbing out to sea in a 4 knot current with her jacket on ... this is still a major problem for the RC.... assuming they figure it out before it is too late. (Two A cat sailors faced similar circumstances... one swimming... the other drifting.)

Obviously, the patrol boats on the course did not get the job done since she was rescued by the board sailor and the fishing boat. So... stuff happens..despite the best plan.

Perhaps we should consider hand held radio's being required for buoy racing. They are now much cheaper then back in the day.

Why a rule addition... Yes it's overkill for a protected lake... but like a blanket rule on life jacket wearing... it eliminates having to make a decision. Oh.. I want to race... I wear the PFD and have a radio in the pocket and make sure my boat is class legal. For the OA... they can know what each sailor has available to them on the course or to and from the course.

In the tradeoffs... wear the jacket and carry the handheld is better then trying to guess; how many, what kind of boat, and how well trained the patrol and mark boat people on the course need to be.