Karl, You are correct as to the added threat of the rig being down in the water. However, I simply asked it that option were viable as a
possible solution
. By not having the racing resume of others, I'm not privy to those experiences. Therefore thought a simple offer or solution would have been met with more explanation than a hammer. I can see why other new folks shy away from a site such as these. At least you and some others on here are the saving grace.
Thanks
(To the boats not the egos.)
I would expect so. We drove in hard into the back of a steep wave in our first tybee 500 and it put enough of the spinnaker under water that it broke the spin pole and ripped the kite irreparably. It wasn't my boat/insurance but a claim ended up with a quick settlement for a new spinnaker and pole. Frankly, I'm rather surprised at how much racing related issues insurance does cover.
State farm and a family friend for an agent didn't hurt
Jake,
You are correct your boat policy would cover for this type of damage. Mind you there are two different types of coverage on a Home Owners policy and boat policy. As a whole, your own HO policy will cover for third party liability (when you damage someone else's property) as a result of your negligence. This would include RACING. I know some will argue this fact but racing is excluded for power boats, but is a give back in the HO policy for sailboats in a race under 27'. You would need to read the liability section thoroughly for complete understanding.
As to your boat policy it not only covers for the liability section and or damages caused by you, but also the first party damages. First party are the actual damages to your boat regardless of cause unless excluded. The easiest way to determine what is covered in the boat policy as to first party damages, are to read the exclusions. If not excluded then its covered.
2 experiences for me in large, large wind, one on a G-Cat 5.0 where a squall came through so fast there was no time to react. The boat turtled and I rode it out in between the hulls in hail, lightning, and 40+ winds. I would certainly do it again if needed and if the conditions(water depth) were agreeable. If it were too shallow then I would stay with boat and try to not get tangled up.
Second time was in an evening race on a C&C 24 with 3 catsailors and 2 small children. A large cloud that had loomed and grew all day truly fell from the sky in a matter of seconds. it grew so large and so high it collapsed sending a doughnut shaped cloud towards the race course. We saw it happen dropped sails hit the motor and were almost back to the club when it hit. bare poles still caused the boat to heel so far we couldn't keep the kicker in the water. All 3 of us got on the back of the boat and were close to shore when we passed another competitor on a 21 ft boat who were screaming at us to help them. We debated for a few seconds and decided we needed to turn around and help them. Bad idea, good thought, but bad idea. We were left going in the wrong direction(back into the storm), we couldn't get to them, and we now were in so much wind we couldn't keep the kicker or the rudder in the water so we couldn't steer down or up and were now headed for the rocks at the dam. At some point we got just enough steerage to point into the wind but with motor at full throttle we were still backing up towards the rocks.
we threw out a large Danforth and watched it skip across the water as were going so fast in reverse, but it finally dove down. We dragged it about 100 ft until it caught approx. 15-20 from the rocks. we then rode out the storm with motor WOFT and the Danforth in place facing the wind.
Bottom line I felt safer on my turtled cat than on that 24 ft monoslug.
I'm not angry in the least just tired of the BS that passes for knowledge.
What!? Todd saying you're not angry is like Karl saying he doesn't have dark sense of humor. And yes I know, it does take one to know one. You're an a$$hole and from one a$$hole to another accept and embrase it it's wonderfully liberating. Just keep in mind with freedom there is a cost you will take a lot boots to the nuts and everyone of them will be earned.
My only thought viewing that video was if I were that boat and I saw the boats closer to the storm getting wiped out, I think I would scuttle the race and drop sails to prepare for it.
Not sure if I'd continue downwind like they did or turn into/hove to with the motor on. Guess would depend on lee shore or other things like that.
The one video of the boat with the furled sails seemed reasonable, but not having PFDs on when the stuff hit the fan seemed a little silly.
I do enjoy these post-incident discussions, and even a little armchair skippering in some cases. It might trigger something in my head at some point in the future if I'm unlucky enough to get into a situation like that.
Personally, if I were in that mess with my three-legger, I'd hope to have the ability to furl the sails and possibly toss the anchor (you said it was about 10' depth there? I have about 80' of anchor rode but it would probably drag) in the hopes of riding it out facing the blow rather than run downwind in the white-out conditions.