I have the greatest admiration, appreciation and respect for the USCG. I'm sure there's also a lot of missing information here. But from what I can see, my initial thinking is that they should have let him be. He had an EPIRB but chose not to activate it. He had a radio but chose not to call mayday. He was dealing with his situation and didn't want to be removed. I don't think that his starboard jib sheet being in the water, or his main sail not being neatly reefed, or the size of his boat, or his age, or his visual impairment, or that fact that he was single handed is any justification for forcing him off. He obviously could see enough to operate his boat and to have gotten out there in the first place. Now I think the situation is worse in that his practically unsinkable lifepod of a sailboat is adrift and not under any command. It's much more of a hazard to navigation than it would have been if he was at the helm, even with his visual impairment. She'll probably drift until she reaches some land, or gets hit by another vessel.

I'd like to know more about the phone call to the CG... Did they say they were relaying a mayday? Or were they just relaying a pan pan/no immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself?

I feel sorry for the other guy on the Westail 32 'Satori' that was forced off, but think in that case the coast guard was totally justified. Satori called a mayday, even if the captain didn't know because he was on deck dealing with the situation.