On the first point, I`m going to assume the following :
- The race organisers would have required the necessary safety equipment to be carried by all competitors.

True: see www.sailcrac.com for the NOR with the required gear. We are always open to suggestions. Please remember... this gear is a race requirement not saftey gear. (The coast guard specifies those requirments) We could required a dancing hula girl statue on the spin pole for eligiblity! Skippers assume all responsiblity for sailing and or continuing to race.

- The competitors concerned did have those, ie flares etc.
True!

- They had not yet reached the situation where either of them believed they required the use of them, or they would have used them.
True!

- A passing yacht / powerboat saw them & offered assistance, which, given the circumstances, was fortunate since a crew member was injured, and the skipper may not have been able to catch up to the boat, in which case the crew would probably have used his flares, so the situation could have become serious.
True!

We need to accept that our sport does carry some risks, and come up with ways to minimise those risks if possible, We wear PDF`s, carry flares etc, sometimes we could do more to prevent a situatuion, but until we become aware of the potential of danger, we don`t think of these things.

Well said!

Anyone else have any comment on how to prevent crew separation, please advise ?

Bill's drogue chute solution sounds like a very good idea.... pulling the spin out would have worked as well in this situation.

Without the freak accident resulting in injury. ....this situation would have been no big deal for these sailors.

Note: We have had instances when sailors did not carry the required gear and a sailor was seperated from the boat. In that case, another racing cat rescued the skipper and returned him to his boat. The skipper was DSQ'ed from the race and suffered no end of crap about his poor judgment.

We have had sailors out at night and one launched a flare generating a coast guard response for a non emergency. This was a another case of poor judgment and we now review the Coast Guard rules before the race.

Mark Schneider
PRO, C100 2003.