Paul Cayar
Rob Weiland
Things that go bump
Since the internet a never-ending stream of photos and videos leave little space to escape from the news that somewhere somebody is having a great time yachting. My recent favourite is a photo of a very happy superyacht owner and friends wishing me a happy New Year with broad smiles, glasses filled with bubbly and Cape Horn
clearly in the background. The conditions looking benign… luck or good planning? I will certainly ask them when I have a chance. Whether racing or cruising, it takes an enormous amount of
planning, work and money before these ‘happy shots’ can be sent, though, no matter what size of boat. All relative of course but we tend to underestimate the amount of effort when it gets to boating projects. Possibly why so many sailing dreams are never lived to the full. Then, dreaming of success on the racecourse is the next level, if not the top floor. Magnificent views from there too of course, but rounding Cape Horn on New Year’s Day with your mates, why not? To get a racing boat insured can be less than straightforward.
Never was easy but recently frustrations run higher than usual if I go by reports from owners. I never found much interest from the yacht insurance business to discuss its workings and possible ways to fine-tune for racing because ‘it is such a small part of our total turnover’. Possibly a bit harsh and never fair to generalise but I often felt as if I was talking to casino owners who do not care much how the cards get dealt or the ball spins as long as there is a profit. Over recent years, however, marine insurance has been con-
fronted with some large claims – Caribbean hurricanes, superyacht fires, more hurricanes, a superyacht falling off a ship, as well as the more usual claims – and is, I am told, a sector heading for a loss. The resulting frustration seems to concentrate mainly on racing yachts and superyachts, labelling them exotic and risky, but admittedly these are the segments I have most contact with. Drop the word carbon, whether for rigs or hulls, and alarm bells
ring even louder. Not entirely without reason but mainly based on lack of knowledge of carbon technology, carbon products and their use. The chosen remedy seems to be to refuse these products or arbitrarily demand large premiums rather than research better and come up with tailored solutions. So frustration and undeniably also some abuse where the insurance companies do open up to this.
32 SEAHORSE Looking back over the past five years at the high-end racing I
witnessed in the Med, the majority of claims have been ones connected to rig failure. Nothing new, I reckon – generally carbon rigs are more resilient than aluminium ones but I would not make the same claim for composite versus steel rigging. Carbon rigs are a lot more expensive than aluminium and, with
the main supplier in New Zealand, shipping costs are high. It might be worth starting to look into racing rigs for better insurance detailing? Apart from that I have always been puzzled by the ‘new for old’
arrangements facilitated by most insurers – in a way these encourage you not to replace equipment in a timely way? Similarly how to read ‘avoidance of loss’ or ‘recklessness’ clauses when racing? When does ‘shaving rocks’, ‘dodging the tide’ or ‘close combat’ become reckless or a risk one should not take? Time for a chat, I reckon. Also in 2020 rating rules continue to be a topic, I am afraid. On
the one hand, I am pleased to see some enthusiasm for the joined up IRC-ORC scoring experiment in the US for the 2020 worlds. Combined scoring has also been introduced in this summer’s NYYC regattas, as well as the Storm Trysail-organised Block Island Race Week (its 75th edition). Storm Trysail, proud to be a member, is a club always looking
to put deeds where the mouth is. To quote its Commodore, AJ Evans: ‘Class size dilution from race organisers offering too many rules has become a real problem. We think that using combined scoring will lay the groundwork for the club to streamline a VPP rule and class options for 2021. It might seem counterintuitive to utilise two rules when competitors tell us they want only one, but it is our expectation that by the end of 2020 boat owners will be in a better position to see how their boats actually fare under one rule compared to the other and how each is used in practice by race committees.’ On the other hand, I was puzzled to see ORC, apparently without
much warning given the time it takes to plan sails and boat opti- misation for the new season, recently announce in their words: ‘improved aerodynamic treatment of Headsails set Flying with SHW/SFL <75%, with a gradual rating transition from “Code Zero” headsails to small asymmetric spinnakers up to a ratio SHW/SFL of 85%’. My first thought could have been ‘long overdue’ but actually was ‘oh… this will affect how to optimise for the combined scoring events in the US, like the IRC-ORC Worlds!’
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