As MICREEK indicated, this sort of damage and the discussion about the two skippers involved not working this out amenably will tend to drive off the new entries into distance sailing for fear of having to cough up big money to fix things that may not have been all their fault.

Sure, scuffs and bumps are to be anticipated in racing, but I think this damage is well beyond this threshold and should fall under general seamanship rules (first rule is avoid collision, second rule is to step up and do what's right).

All of us armchair skippers love to analyze what happened and point fingers, but the folks out there that morning didn't have the benefit of multiple points-of-view, slow motion, and instant replay.

I actually feel for both parties involved and hope it is resolved amicably as it would be sad to sully the reputation of fine sailors as well as the Steeplechase event itself.