Claims against Sailing Clubs

Originally posted by 2547 ..... What I mean is his peers should apply pressure to withdraw the case.

Should they also apply pressure to the owner to pay for the damage, rather than the bloke who chartered it?

I am open minded about all of this, it all depends on the details of the circumstances, I can see scenario where I would lay the blame in different directions.

All we can take out of it without hearing the detail, is that both race teams/organisers and sailors need to a) check their insurance and b) think about their responsibilities.

I would have hoped that this could be sorted amicably, if not avoided in the first place, but the rest of us should see it as a reminder.

Hi All,

Many thanks for your comments.  There have been ‘some’ salient points. 

Having read through them, I would like to add the following;

-The RO is RYA qualified and very experienced/respected sailor

-The club is very experienced at running events

-The RYA and ‘Legal society’ have confirmed that disclaimers are almost pointless

-I believe there was no protest from the claimant regarding the incident

-I personally suspect the claimant was not adequately covered and if true, in this case, the claimant should have known better.  They probably had 3^rd party but that would not be sufficient to make a claim in this type of scenario

 One of the tests will be if our insurance company ask the claimant to manage the claim through his own insurance

It’s a very interesting situation as there are clearly implications regarding club sailing and further complications regarding responsibilities etc.  They’re manageable, maybe necessary (having learned from the episode) but very unfortunate.  It’s left a rather unsavoury  taste and one that may not even be able to be resolved i.e. I believe the insurance company will pay out which in short, doesn’t really help the situation.

I’m not excepting a resolution through this forum but was interested in whether this is a unique case, happened elsewhere and is/or likely, to increase.  I’m sure there will be a resolution that does not cost the club a great deal more than the excess but it’s just a little unsavoury.  We support the RO unreservedly and although the cost implications are not huge, it’s the outfall from such events that’s the worry e.g. a club that may not wish to offer regattas and may spread to others if incidents like this occur, further

A lack of willing volunteers, refusal to hold events for certain classes and increased insurance costs are all possible outcomes.  All will lead to higher costs for all competitors and possibly limit opportunities to race.  As clubs, I’m sure we are all aware of the responsibilities we hold when delivering events but should clubs that rely on volunteers really want to operate with in such tight and regulated frameworks – maybe a necessity in today’s litigious society.

If the club was genuinely at fault, then so be it – you must learn from it.  Unfortunately, it just feels more like a last resort from an embarrassed, maybe not quite as insured as he should have been and tried all other avenues to recover costs, sailor.

As soon as I am aware of the outcomes, I shall let you know.  If anything, it would be good to warn other clubs of this type of scenario and hopefully enable processes to be implemented that protect us, if some are not already doing so and to share them.

I totally agree Pierre. This would set a precedent that just about any damage to a boat not caused by another competitor can be reclaimed from the club even if the boat has an all racing risks policy because why claim on my insurance if I can sue you/claim off yours instead?

Originally posted by RS400atC Or maybe it will just mean people don't run events for dagger board boats at shallow venues? There is a lot of deep water around the UK, and plenty of pivoting foil classes to choose from.

But to get to the deep water you need to sail through shallow water first. And it goes much wider than just dagger boards. What about fixed rudders? Masts in the mud? Burgees?

Originally posted by Contender443 So what is a RO supposed to do?