The beacon requirements for sailing to Hawaii, and sailing to the Farallones are different.
If I'm in the Gulf of the Farallones, I want the Coasties to know *exactly* where I am as fast as possible and if the beacon only broadcasts for 12 hours that's fine, 'cause if they (or another competitor) haven't gotten me in about 2-3 hours, I'm dead anyway. I want the fastest data transfer possible to the Coasties...and that means a PRB with integral GPS. It would sure be nice if that sucker floated.
If I'm 1200 miles into a race to Hawaii, then if it takes the Coasties 2 more hours to figure out exactly where I am, it really doesn't matter, since it will probably take many, many hours to divert a ship to come pick me up. What I want is an EPIRB that's pretty darned accurate, but broadcasts for a LONG, LONG time so that the Coast Guard knows where I'm drifting to. In other words, I want a full fledged, floating EPIRB, with or without GPS that pumps out signal for two bleedin days..
1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"