A night leg checklist you will actually run
Order the items by when they must be true, not by how important they sound.
Order beats completeness
Long checklists get read once and abandoned. Twelve items grouped into before launch, at dusk and on final approach survive because each group is read at the moment it applies, when there is nothing else to do.
The turnaround line
Every night leg needs a declared time after which the group turns around regardless of position. Writing it before launch converts an emotional decision at 22:00 into an arithmetic one. Tell someone ashore the same number.
Light discipline
Charge, mount and test lights before the boats are loaded. A head torch that works in the car park may not work after two hours of spray. Carry one spare set of batteries per boat, not one per group.
Debrief within a day
The checklist only improves if the gaps are written down while the leg is still memorable. One line per trip is enough: what was missing, what was never used, what slowed the launch.