Whoah... single handing without a PFD or jacklines? Balls of steel man.
I was thinking the same thing.
I am surprised the race did not require them.
I am paranoid about being attached when I am singlehanding a big race. Same attitude I take when climbing. Basically in the race across the strait I do if you fall off, you die. I always have a handheld VHF and GPS attached to me so I would at least have a chance of being found by SAR in the 10-20 minutes before I freeze to death in the middle of summer.