and an able bodied sailor would have been permitted to go about their voyage. Too bad he didn't demonstrate it by fixing his goose neck, repairing his little engine and heading off the CG by VHF before they made contact. The CG did not drop out of the sky to intercept him--they were sent. Does it make sense to anyone that the CG doesn't try to make audio contact repeatedly to verify the nature of the distress. This sounds a bit overripe for a good PR piece ( a Google search shows the sailor is not adverse to publicity before his voyage). On the merits I'm with the GC for both public policy and factual reasons. Moral: Have insurance.