In the scheme of things offshore racers being rescued is a pretty small drop in the ocean relative to the costs of picking up unprepared powerboaters who actually make up the bulk of rescues and fatalaties in Australia.
The anger that was whipped up over the rescues of Bullimore and Elies was more about our media having the opportunity to complain about an apparent waste of money rather than an actual one. When you think about it we have navy ships and aircraft, they cost money whether they are utilised in rescue or not and if they did not have rescues to carry out they would still need to carry out practice drills and training. The crews still have to be paid the equipment needs to be maintained. How much money is spent each time we have a joint military exercise with another country? It's probably classified but I'd be willing to bet that the search and rescue cost pales in comparison.
It's actually something that I'm happy for the government to spend money on just like I approve of emergency services such as Fire and Ambulance rescue. I believe many Aussie's felt quite disgusted with the way our media beat up the costs of the rescues if there are people in need it's our duty to help them simple as that. I do agree though that epirb's should be required equipment to minimise the search time and maximise the chance of a good outcome.
