[ricki]

There was substantial liability for the organizers. In our legal system it takes very little to get rowed aboard for litigation.

The logistics in such a crossing are huge. It couldn't or perhaps shouldn't be undertaken casually, i.e. a bunch of guys just doing it. For a handful, well equipped, funded and experienced, why not and have fun.

Doing this event for a bunch of guys with northerly winds with seas up to perhaps exceeding 15 ft. is dangerous. Not only for the riders but even for the support boats. Boats could be lost in such seas, whoops! Keeping track of everyone is essential, riders and boats. Even with just two riders per boat and 17 boats scattered across the Straits, keeping track of things as originally approached was infeasible. Line of sight VHF radios wouldn't maintain reliable contact between riders, support boats and the committee boat. A full scale USCG search could result with liability for the participants and any organizers that might be identified. Then there is general civil liability which I could go on about for quite a while but choose not to. Good thing.

This isn't a minor undertaking in any sense. There is a lot of risk for participants and organizers. If it could effectively be done as a casual get together you might be able to dodge some liability. In this case the organizational demands for reasonable safety and odds of successful completion take things beyond that approach in my opinion.