CATAMARAN INSURANCE

Be Safe……… Have the Proper Protection

What Does Cruising Insurance Cost?

You found the right catamaran and you are ready to buy that perfect boat. You have budgeted to invest a great deal of your hard earned money and you are ready to sail your local waters, oceans, or possibly the “Seven Seas”. Have you planned for the proper protection? Be sure to check the following with a qualified insurance agent.

The most common vessel coverage loss concerns are:

Fire, Theft, Property and Personal Injury Liability
Operator damage to the vessel and third party property
Third party damage to your vessel
HURRICANE (named storm) DAMAGE!!!

The first three groups of issues are similar to your home or car. You will likely want coverage up to the vessels current value and what ever liability coverage you feel is appropriate for your given personal situation. This typical coverage for a cruising catamaran will usually run between 1.5 to 3% of the vessels value in most cases. If you want replacement cost coverage rather than current value coverage of a vessel be prepared to pay a premium that is if you can even get the coverage (usually only available on a new boat).

Factors that affect coverage cost include:

The value, size, age, and condition of the boat.
Bigger and more expensive boats are sometimes less expensive to insure as a percentage of the boats value, but more expensive in actual dollars paid. Older boats’ coverage is often a greater percentage although the coverage cost is lower because the vessel is less expensive.
Your boating experience
Experience is sometimes an issue if the catamaran you are buying is significantly larger than your other vessel experience you already have. It is, however, simple to take a brief sailing school or have a licensed captain sail with you for a short period to observe and attest to your abilities in writing to an insurance company.
Chartering / business operation
If the boat is operated as part of a business or in charter it will certainly be at the higher end of the range of cost.
The dinghy
In some cases the insurance companies charge a premium for a nice dinghy. A separate policy may even be needed if the dinghy is very big or valuable on a large catamaran.



Area of coverage
If you plan on crossing oceans it is best to have the basic coverage until you need the ocean coverage. There is no sense in paying for an ocean coverage that many be months or years away when you are only coastal sailing or in the Caribbean.


Now for the………………BIG HURRICANE MYTH.!!!

Despite what you have heard or you think, it is actually possible to have your vessel covered during hurricane season in the central Caribbean and the Florida waters. I promise you that there are tens of thousands of boats in this area year round enjoying clear warm waters. I live in South Florida and travel to the Caribbean regularly. We don’t stop using our boats just because it is hurricane season!!! And I love sailing the Caribbean islands when the crowds have left for the summer.

There are, however, several considerations for cruisers in the tropics in this season. There is a premium for coverage in “the zone” and some insurance companies will want a written plan of action from you describing what you will due to reduce the possibility of damage to your boat and other property. The premium is not prohibitive if you have a reasonable budget (typically less than 1/2% of the hull value) and the action plan should be one of simple common sense. If your budget is tight then you may want a policy that does not include “named storm” damage. This doesn’t mean you have to leave the tropics either. You will still be covered for all the other events (fire, theft, etc…). You will just have to be well prepared to avoid damage that a named storm can inflict. A good “hurricane hole” or an agreement with a boat yard to haul you to a safe spot is a great alternative to giving up on the summertime tropic fun!!!

If you are still concerned with safety in the tropics you will want to leave but remember that some of the worst hurricane damage has happened outside the tropics. Granada, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize long believed to be safe havens have been hit hard recently. In 2004 the vessels damaged in Granada caused by hurricane “Ivan” exceeded that of Andrew and Katrina combined. It was hurricane Bob in 1991 which devastated many fleets of boats in New England that summer and in the summer of 1938 the “Great New England Hurricane” killed an estimated 600-800 people!!! Wikipedia lists 57 named storms to effect damage in New England since 1900.

Don’t let hurricane season stop you from having fun where you are or where you want to go. You just have to be prudent and properly protected.


George Coggeshall - CPYB is a yacht broker at The Catamaran Company with over 15 years of experience sailing and selling catamaran in the Caribbean and elsewhere. He is a regular contributor to Multihull Magazine.