Actually, this discussion isn't that much off topic, because SibLim in many ways, represents everything I feel about sailing.
My fundamental objection to "Cat 1" is, as David W says, that it's all about rescue: it's not about safety. I don't want to be rescued and I don't want the Government to assume that I do.
The filter I would choose, assuming that evolution in action is considered unacceptable, is that if you have a radio you carry full insurance. If you don't you - literally - sink or swim according to your capacity to learn in a hurry.
And I don't want a life raft. If my big boat has sunk, I'm damn sure it's not going to be much fun in a little one. Moreover, the kindest and most broad minded of inspectors is not going to pass my 5ft dinghy as a life raft. And I don't want to convert a boat into one and then have something that is to heavy for me to carry up the beach on my own.
Regulations have to complied with? Why do we need the regulations in the first place, is my question. Lots of countries manage perfectly well without them. All I'm asking for is to be left in peace to do my own thing, without inconveniencing others.
I used to have third party insurance, but now it's almost as much as full insurance. So I've built a light, small boat that, handled with care, can't really do too much damage.
I should like to do as i did when I was 20, hoist my country's ensign on the back of my totally unsuitable boat, and sail off on an adventure. But I can't, because the authorities in this country control my sailing offshore far more carefully than they control me on the road, where someone dies just about every day.
I don't want to talk to people ashore when I'm at sea and I don't want them to talk to me. What's the point of being alone on the ocean if you still have an umbilical attaching you to the land?
I don't want to burden my boat with man overboard equipment when I sail single-handed.
I don't want anyone else telling me how I should fit out my boat. Sailing is one of the last truly free adventures on the planet. Or should be. What difference does it make to Kiwi bureaucrats if I sail off and don't arrive anywhere? They should be happy that they won't have to pay my pension or end-of-life medical bills.
This is my thread: these are my thoughts. I don't expect people to agree with me in the 21st century, but I do expect to be allowed to live my own life the way I want to, as long as it's not adversely affecting other people.