Claims against Sailing Clubs

Hi, 

It's not so much 'dinghy development' but due to this area receiving the majority of posts, I thought I would start, here.

I won’t go into too much detail but we had a competitor who hit the bottom and then proceeded to claim against the club for negligence.  At the moment, it’s the principle i am interested in.

Is anyone aware of any claims against clubs for incidents such as this, which have occurred at Regattas?

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clubmember Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Newbie Joined: 25 Feb 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote clubmember Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Claims against Sailing Clubs Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 9:50am
	Hi, It's not so much 'dinghy development' but due to this area receiving the majority of posts, I thought I would start, here. I won’t go into too much detail but we had a competitor who hit the bottom and then proceeded to claim against the club for negligence. At the moment, it’s the principle i am interested in. Is anyone aware of any claims against clubs for incidents such as this, which have occurred at Regattas?

SoggyBadger Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 26 Oct 10 Location: The Wild Wood Online Status: Offline Posts: 552	Post Options Post Reply Quote SoggyBadger Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 10:00am
	Yes it's clearly the club's fault that he's a moron
	Best wishes from deep in the woods SB

Telltale Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 03 May 12 Location: Cardiff Online Status: Offline Posts: 169	Post Options Post Reply Quote Telltale Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 10:06am
	Are we talking illegal spanking, rudder grounding or falling into a hole here? I think it would help if we knew a bit more about the "hitting the bottom" or worse still is it a youth colloquialism I am unaware off?

JimC Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6662	Post Options Post Reply Quote JimC Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 10:26am
	It depends if the club was genuinely negligent or not. If the club was holding a regatta for keelboats with 3ft draft and set a mark in an area that they knew was littered with rocks no more than 2 feet under the water, so the chances of getting round the mark without hitting one were pretty much zero then a court would probably find them negligent. If on the other hand the course was "go round the island", the SIs said beware of going too close in and watch out for rocks, and someone went in way too close and hit the rocks, then there probably wouldn't be negligence.

2547 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 11 Aug 11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1151	Post Options Post Reply Quote 2547 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 11:03am
	Depends on the details ... contact the RYA legal department, they are mustard on this type of stuff.

gbr940 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Posting king Joined: 04 Jan 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 198	Post Options Post Reply Quote gbr940 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 11:16am
	Indeed...RYA legal department all the way
	RS400 GBR1321

Contender443 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 01 Oct 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1211	Post Options Post Reply Quote Contender443 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 1:22pm
	RYA legal department or just tell him to claim from his insurers. The insurers can then decide if there is a claim against the clubs insurers. Just have a report ready for whoever asks giving details. When I am RO for an open meeting I point out the hazards in the area.
	Bonnie Lass Contender 1764

jamiepearson Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Newbie Joined: 10 Feb 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote jamiepearson Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 1:39pm
	Ask him who the people that sail on the coast complain to when they hit the ever moving sand banks.....

clubmember Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Newbie Joined: 25 Feb 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote clubmember Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 2:30pm
	It's an interesting one and I am not that experienced, so hence the post, here. I don’t think the case has been settled yet, so should be a bit careful. In brief; This particular competitor hit the ground in the first race which resulted in one of the dagger boards being stuck in the down position. The competitor completed the race. The RO attempted to start the next race on two occasions - first abandoned due to wind stability (lack of) and then after receiving comments from some competitors that they were hitting the bottom in certain areas of the start line, the second attempt was abandoned. The tide was dropping (almost low) and due to the comments, the race area was moved into deeper waters. At the third attempt and in deeper waters, the race was started. The competitor started the race with one of his boards still stuck in the down position and then on the last lap struck the bottom again, in the general course area, causing further damage after a capsize. Ultimately, the damage was sufficient enough to end his race and subsequently regatta, on the first day of three. It was a fleet of about 30 and not all of the competitors struck the bottom – even those with the same design of boards. The competitor had chartered the boat specifically for the event. The competitor asked the owner of the boat to claim on his own insurance but this was refused. The claim has not come from his insurers but by a private ‘legal assistance’ firm. The RYA has been very non-committal and has been reluctant to provide anything of substance other than ‘let us know what happens’.

jeffers Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 29 Mar 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 3048	Post Options Post Reply Quote jeffers Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 05 Mar 13 at 4:37pm
	To be fair had he sustained damaged that did not allow him to retract the dagger boards then some of the blame lies with him for continuing to race in a damaged boat. This will ultimately come down to did the race team know of the depth limits or is this an area where there are shifting sand banks and thus variable depth. The guy who chartered the boat SHOULD have provided his own insurance and this would have been covered as part of the racing risk cover. If I owned a boat and chartered it out I would specify that the person hiring must get their own insurance and is liable for all damage and associated costs. Sounds like this did not happen and the insurance company are kicking up. There might be a clause saying the insurance is not valid if the boat is chartered out. Ultimately the club will have to defend this in civil court, I would hope they go for costs!
	Paul ---------------------- D-Zero GBR 74