In my opinion, the Class made a big mistake in allowing people to cut the toe rails off. In addition to damage protection in event of collision as noted by Bill Park, the toe rail prevents tools and gear from rolling in the water at the dock and, as the name implies, it helps prevent crew from going overboard under the lifeline. Also, the toe rail's a handy place to clip snatch blocks, twings, spinnaker turning blocks, etc. In my opinion, it would be a big mistake to cut your toe rails off. That's an opinion from the peanut gallery in Detroit. Possibly the majority of the San Francisco Bay sailors disagree. Although several of the top boats there have not removed their toe rails (e.g. Flying Circus which won the Nationals 3-4 times).