I'd honestly say that 10 feet is too close to another boat not involved in the racing, IMO.

If you were approaching the boat at an angle from astern you may also have been considered to be overtaking, in which case you must keep clear.

Keep in mind here that the boat in question would not meet the definition of a fishing vessel, but...

We're all out there to have fun. Common courtesy should rule in this case. Now there is one adult and two children who believe the worst of the sailing community, only to have confirmed later on the beach. If it were me, I would have tried to figure out a good payment and I would have apologized profusely, and offer to buy the guy a beer and his kids some ice cream. I would hope for the same if the roles were reversed. But maybe that's just me.

But, again, I think 10 feet was too close, fishing lines or no. I would have tacked earlier, or called for room from the A-Cat. Also, and we keep forgetting this, it is a perfectly viable option to release the sheets and stop. If you had time to raise the boards, you had time to stop or slow significantly.

In the start sequence of last Tuesday's race I tried to carry the spin high enough to clear an anchored boat. I ended up snagging his anchor line with the boards, and torqued his boat. Fortunately things were slow enough that we could fend off. I apologized, he said no problem, end of problem. If he said he had dropped his steak dinner in the water I would have offered to buy him one after the race. It was stupid of me to be so close to somebody who was not involved in the race.

And now for the humorous - a couple of years ago the finish to the C-100 was in the dark at Sandy Point. The committee strobe wasn't very visible compared to the group of fishermen's set up 25 yards south. They lights, and coolers, and lawn chairs, and a bunch of lines in the water. A finishing boat (to be nameless here...) saw the lights, thought it was committee, heated up and did a Worrell finish right in the middle of them. Fortunately nobody was hurt, during the incident or in the moments following - lots of apologies went a long way to healing bruised feelings.

Sorry for the long tomb. This is all just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.