It wasn't nearly as dramatic as it may have sounded, ronald, but thanks for the feedback.

I guess I was confident of my self-rescue ability and was not injured so I didn't feel too much drama. I also knew that the driver was still on the boat and conditions were far from terrible.

That being said, in any distance race (point-to-point) I sail with at least:
- GPS
- VHF
- personal strobe light (attached to PFD)
- Cell phone
- Emergency kit (mirror, whistle, air horn, small flares, dye marker, inflatable dive "sausage")
- peanut butter sandwich & energy bars
- up to 3 liters of drinking water in a hydration bladder

All fits in a 'Camelback' backpack with integrated hydration system. I have dry pouches on the electronics with lanyards attached to the pack.

This pack fits over my PFD and has both waist and chest straps to keep it secured in place on my person.

As long as I am conscious, I can use the contents of the pack to summon help or assist with others finding me.

One thing I would add if I went all "super-stud distance guy" and participated in any serious coastal or offshore sailing (like Tybee, GT-300, or when the plan is to go more than 10k offshore) would be a personal EPIRB and perhaps a second inflatable PFD stuffed in my pack to use for additional flotation if I felt it was up to me alone to get back to shore.

All of these items are useful if I remain on a boat (say after a dismasting out of sight of land, etc.) as well, but they are best on my person in the instance I were separated from the boat.

Personally, I would not be comfortable single-handing a boat beyond sight of land unless it was an emergency. Within site of land (and therefore swimming distance), I would worry that I'd never see the boat again, and have thought of rigging some sort of "kill switch" on the boat.

This "kill switch" might be a lanyard attached to me that would pull on a snap-shackle at the bottom of the mainsheet block, thereby disengaging the mainsail if I were overboard.

My only concern would be possibly having the spinnaker up if I were to fall over (single-handing). Would activating this "kill switch" damage the mast? Perhaps not, as the spin sheet would likely be running free since I'm not holding it ?