The race is only dead if we stop doing it. Distance races that start and stop the same location can be near maintenance free. A rabbit start or lemans start and snapping an image of the "official" race watch when you finish and texting it to the person willing to score the event eliminates the need for someone to sit there all night waiting for boats to finish. Heck the score keeper could be anywhere in the nation. Hmmmm.... maybe outsourcing isn't all bad :-) It's not perfect but it is a handicap race so lack of precision isn't really a significant impact anyway :-)

Zero paper zero cost.

If you race for hotdogs and trinkets then this format probably won't work.