Suppose, just for the sake of discussion, someone (certainly not me) was to decide not to insure a boat. A P323. Other than the chance of a total loss of the boat, what other down side would there be. Convince this dumb ass he or she really needs insurance on a 35yr old boat. The bone head sails mostly on Lake Erie.
Not sure of local regulations, but:
- Say you do an accidental jibe and ram a nice pretty Alerion. Or Swann. Nothing big - bent stanchions, scratching the paintwork, maybe tearing one of their sails. But on those boats, repairs are not cheap!
- Through-hull fails, you sink. After a short time a nice sheen starts appearing on the lake, and some helpful person alerts pollution police....
- Through-hull fails, you sink. Depends where, of course, but let's say it is right in a busy channel. Guess who pays for recovery and removal?
- Makes me a bit sick to say this, but...you hit a channel mark, the rig comes down into the cockpit and kills a passenger, injuring another...happened in my club :=(....
So if one of those happens, you could be liable for thousand...tens of thousands...hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.
As always, it is a risk/return ratio. If you were not in the US, the equation would be different. But in the US, a highly litigious country with a legal system demanding thousands even to prove your innocence, insurance for boats seems to be a no-brainer. If you want to cut costs, drop the insurance on the P323, but keep the third party and other liability stuff! (says he technically).
<Litigious environment disclaimer; I don't know what I am talking about most of the time, so don't take this as a recommendation or advice :-)>
Just my 2 cents....
