Did any of these guys even look at one of the small boating courses offered at almost every port, ocean or inland, in the USofA? If not, they had (obviously) no business being out of cell-phone range of land in calm conditions. Darwin in action, I fear the star jock egos may have played out here.
GREAT BIG SAFETY BOO-BOO!! Any distance from land and ONLY the specific individual you call on your cell phone will hear your call. RADIO must be used, and that guy just over the horizon, out of sight, may well hear your call and come to your aid.
Some time ago, I witnessed the DEATH of a man who, having suffered a heart attack, died while his frantic wife called on a cell phone for assistance. At the time there were MORE than two dozen boats within vision range and, as it turned out over half of THEM had their radios turned ON.
While on MY boat, I find the water a delightful playground, but you live with the knowledge that things CAN go to hell awfully fast and bad.