Geoffersincornwall
I'm shocked and stunned that you're shocked and stunned. What are you talking about? Where did I say SAR training should be risk free? What a strange post.
Not doing wets training in light winds means not training for the effect of the mega downwash, means getting surprised when Johnny on his lilo/surfboard takes off when you are trying to rescue him, means ever higher hover heights to mitigate the downwash just in case, means ever more reliance on the Hover Trim for rescues, means ever more reliance on the underpaid and non-licensed rearcrew!
Multiply by a factor of about three for not being required to train for these eventualities at night. Experienced guys might be able to get away with it, not the novices and a team is only as strong as its weakest link.