Possible Insurance Claim?

[Rob Hessenius]

Wow, did I have a wierd Saturday afternoon. I went out in a moderate breeze. I was motoring out, unfurling my head sail and the Harken Roller furling let loose and back came the whole mast and rig! It all happened in seconds, but played out in minutes in my head. I saw the furler head fly up and the mast start to fall. It fell right at me, I tried to catch the mast as a way of self-defence. I believe I saved the mast from damage. Somewhere in those seconds a wire caught my ear and cut me, I also have a bruised shoulder, but thats it. I was alone and evaluted my condition and called a friend for some help to load up all the fallen pieces. I also asked for assistance from the Sheriffs Dept. They towed me in to the Marina and we filled a Incedent Report out. Inspecting the furler, it just plain unscrewed itself out. On the launch I personnally made sure the furler was screwed to the red dot and the retaining nut was tight! I just dont know what happened? I'm a safety freak and maintain all things with high reagards.My question to you all is this a possible claim issue or am I wasting my time. I'm quite sure I'm not the first person that this has ever happened to. I'm wondering since it was a failed part or possible poor inspection on my behalf an not an "accident" would it be covered? My damage is to the furling foils and a severely torn head sail and some other minor items. I plan on having the mast completely looked at and I'm replacing all the standing rigging. Thanks for the advice in advance. I am very happy that I am here to ask this question, because I know how this could have turned out and I am greatfull that someone was looking out for me. This could have been much worse, but I'm O.K, just a little shook up.I know, I will have to read my policy in full, but I have not done so as of today. Just looking for some thoughts or folks with past similar issues. Rob Hessenius

 

[Bob V]

High interest loan

You would think that you could use insurance for something like this and they may even allow the claim after your deductable. But unless you are almost done insuring a boat, I would suggest you save claims for truly serious occasions, like when you hit the guy in the Hallberg-Rassey. You will pay back that claim and it won't take very long and then you'll continue to pay for a long time to come as a high-risk client (that would be one who files a claim).Been there, done that.

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Bob V

Thanks you made me laugh today. You're right, strange that I had not thought of it that way, till you brought it up. Thanks Rob

 

[CalebD]

Ditto what Bob V wrote in more detail

I have an old Tartan 27' and my sailboat is even older than yours being from 1967 (as opposed to your 25' Ericson, 1973). We had sustained some damage due to (ultimately our own negligence) the mooring pennant chafing through on a $.10 screw and the boat having a wild ride on her own and we filed a claim with BoatUS which they processed and help recover our loose cannon. The damages to our boat were more than the 60% (some limit which is their 'policy') insured value of $7K so they 'totalled' the boat which meant that they technically owned it. We decided to fix our boat up (RF, bow pulpit, some fiberglass damage) so they offered to sell us back our damaged boat for $800 and we got a $6200 check. We replaced the genoa, RF and I did the fiberglass repair myself but the insurance policy was also 'terminated' as of the point of issuing a check. Next season when trying to get insurance on our boat: No takers. Too old, recent claims and similar platitudes were offered even from BoatUS. We spent over a year without insurance which made me quite nervous and conservative when out sailing. I suspect that we could have been more aggressive in trying to find a company like our own homeowners carrier or lying about our claim history but we did not. Ultimately we got insurance from my boat partner's (new) homeowners agent (not sure if he mentioned the previous claim as most applications I have seen have a question like: 'Have you filed a marine claim in the last 3 years?' on them). I suppose we ended up ahead monetarily having only actually having paid $4K for said Tartan 27' and maybe $800 (+ survey cost) to BoatUS for insurance that year with a resulting check of $6200 to fix it up. I just worried a lot about our lack of liability insurance the next year on what was then a new boat to me (now 4 seasos). Those are my experiences with filing a marine insurance claim. Your mileage may vary.On the rigging failure front I can only say condolences and I am glad that you survived to post again. Stuff happens and it sucks when it happens to you. As a wannabe surveyor I can only guess that you pulled the standing rigging off the boat for the winter last year. Why do I surmise this? Because I have had a mast come down for the same reason as yours did and it turned out that the owner of that MacGregor 26S had not put a cotter pin in the (undersized) turnbuckle that sits under the furling drum. When we furled the sail for trailering the mast came down on the trailer at the ramp injuring no one and damaging very little (read light standing rigging on MacGregor 26 whatever letter).My other insight into your stick drooping incident is that we too had a Harken RF unit on our boat when some extrusions were damaged/bent and filed a claim. We ended up replacing the Harken with a Furlex (my jury is still out on whether this was a trade up or down) and the new system came with owners manuals that described the places where the furler needs to be lubricated on a yearly basis. It is possible that when you let the head sail out that something was not lubricated well enough near the drum and something became unscrewed or lacked a cotter pin. Glad you are alive and still talking to us.CalebDWannabe Surveyor

 

[Alan]

Rob Hessenius

Could you please explain in a bit more detail about what exactly failed on your rigging? Did the turnbuckle crack to allow the thread to slip through or did it spin off because there was no cotter pin to keep it in place?BTW this issue came up recently in another thread about headstays blowing out. One of the respondents suggested that the rig would not come down because the sail would hold the rig up. I guess you put that baby to bed for certain.

 

[Waffle]

Yes you can

One of the guys on my old dock lost his mast on an O'Day 25. The fiberglass was damaged on the deck step. His insurance company paid for the damage.Of course you know what is going to happen if you file a claim. You rates are going to go through the roof!

 

[Rob Hessenius]

A Couple of days to reflect.

After spending a good amount of time with Harken and my rigger. We came to the conclusion that the star washer bolt was not properly tightened and the furler simply unscrewed itself. I also read my policy to find out the range of coverage that I had. In my interpration it would have been covered. With some wise advice and deep thoughts I have come to believe that it would not be in my best interest to file a claim. I think Bob V hit it right on the head as it would be just a high interest loan from Travellers Ins. Co. My headsail was getting tired and I planned on a new one next year anyways, now its just a little sooner. Being that Harken is right down the road it sounds as if a few of their "new" tech guys will come up and do the install of the foils and furler for the sake of gained knowledge. The rest is all nickel and dime crap that I can easily do myself.All I can say is that I feel very lucky to still be here to talk about this and hope everybody that reads this checks out their rigging. I hope nobody has to go through what I did. Thank you for all your responces. Rob Hessenius

 

[PrincessoftheLake]

Glad you are okay

Rob-I just got a chance to read your post. I am so glad to hear you are okay. While I hate to be the beneficaary of another's trials, double checking the rig is going to be on my list of things to do this weekend! It's good you have had some time to consider your next steps and I think you are doing the right thing. If I was closer, I'd come give you a hand. Please take care and again, glad you are okay.