Hurricane Katina-Sails up?

[Paceño]

The sad photos coming in on CNN news show many sailboats piled on each other typical of hurricane damage. Just about all of them had their sails on the boat with roller furling and sail cover on the mainsail. I don't understand why one would leave the sails up with a named storm coming. Quite obviously many of the sails had become unfurled, torn, and probably added to the windage running the boats together. I sure would want my dockmates and moored boats to take down their sails to protect others from their running loose. Does FEMA pay boaters for loss of sails and damage from hurricanes? Does insurance cover boats that are not adequately prepared for these storms. Don't get me wrong, these are sad pictures and we hope for the best for the boat owners. But couldn't some more preventive measures be taken (like removing dodgers, sails, etc)?

 

[Nimbus]

Sails Down

Fortunately for those of us who DO prepare, our boats are , most of the time ,not in those pictures. But sometimes even properly prepared boats don't make it. The only way to positively avoid damage is to get your boat out of the way of the storm, which most of the time is not an option. By the way FEMA does not pay for anything that is concerned with a pleasure boat.