Legal - yes.
Gopher got her first SH leg with the water setup run the blind first down the middle of the pond, then run the double to either side of the line to the blind. Then honor. Absolutely no way the judges could have set up a double and blind on this particular piece of water with the blind outside the marks. Technically, if the marks have not gone down yet, then the blind is not "between" them. As designed, the test ran very smoothly.
Her second leg was on a 100% legal water setup. Water double. Then moved to another part of the pond, and ran the blind across the line to both birds of the double, with water entry point very close to where the AOF for the right-hand bird was. Again, no other way to set this up and fall within AKC regulations.
Now, which do you think ate the dogs up? Hint: not the one "between" the marks.
IMHO, both sets of judges did very well with the limitations placed upon them. They set up solid tests, and judged accordingly (expecting and carrying SENIOR level work). Unless you are running #1, you are going to have dragback regardless. Again, IMHO, this simply should not even enter the discussion.
Lisa