Lt Fubar et al
Seems that whichever way you cut it having some way of speeding up the winch-up rate would be handy. I don't quite follow the reasoning behind the assertion that small is beautiful in this context but it would be true to say that (back seat) crew exhaustion could be a factor if you have to lift too many and maybe winch overheating could affect things too.
The elephant in the room is the notion that all is well with the status quo. I have had an uneasy feeling for the last 14 years since first realising that we needed a lot of fuel to feed the hover time needed to pick up a full load of survivors and if you had to do this at extreme range in light winds it made for nail biting stuff. Work out the winch-up rates for assisted lifts and you are looking at a serious issue.
Simply watching the ships go by in the busiest sea lane in the world and trusting to 'modern design' doesn't really fill me confidence.
G