Are you saying you used to stick your bollard out of the cockpit window of the Sea King to maintain a visual reference?
Well, that has been done...
How many hours flying are included on the aircraft?
Everything I have seen (and I admit I haven't followed every twist and turn) suggests that training hours will be in much shorter supply with Bristow than has been the case in RAF SAR. Is this a surprise? No. Will this limit the ability of crews to carry out varied training at a variety of locations, thereby reducing somewhat the crews' proficiency? Probably. Will this make a show-stopping difference? Probably not.
Much like the outcome of today's referendum, noone knows precisely how it will turn out yet. Time will tell, at which point some people can bang on about how prophetic they were and others can prepare to wipe Edwina Currie's salmonella-carrying foodstuff from the front of their heads.