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Racing yacht and regatta insurance
Short answer
Standard hull cover excludes racing. On a boat built for the racecourse that removes exactly the cover most likely to be needed.
A racing yacht is not a faster cruiser, it is a piece of sports equipment. Hull and rig are calculated for weight and performance, not for reserve, and they are deliberately sailed at the limit. That is not carelessness, it is the purpose of the boat, and a policy has to cope with it. Most standard wordings do not: they exclude racing or include it only at club level.
The racing endorsement is therefore the first point. With us, club regattas are included from the Basis-Plus tier. For scored races, one-design classes and championships you declare it when you take out the policy and the cover is built around it. Without that declaration, the collision at the mark, the dismasting in a gust and the damage at the start are not covered, which is precisely what happens on a racecourse.
The second point is valuation. A carbon rig, a set of carbon sails and a canting keel cannot be written down by year of build; they are either intact or replaced. So an agreed value with documented components belongs in the policy, otherwise the argument after the loss is about market values that do not exist in this market.
Questions and answers
What owners of these boats ask
Is racing automatically covered?
Club regattas from Basis-Plus. Scored races, one-design classes and championships you declare when taking out the policy, then we adjust the cover.
Is dismasting covered?
Under full hull cover yes, carbon included. What matters is the agreed value with documentation, because a carbon rig cannot be valued by age.
What applies to the crew on board?
Personal accident cover makes sense for the crew. Liability covers injury to third parties, not your own crew.
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