Travel Insurance: Sailing

Taking out sailing travel insurance before heading out to sea on your sailing trip is highly recommended. Even before you set sail, you may need to cancel your trip due to ill health, your flight may not make the start date, your luggage could get damaged or lost, or it may not all be smooth sailing and you may need medical care away from your home country. Sailing insurance is designed to provide cover in these scenarios, providing peace of mind and financial security and ensuring you are well-prepared and protected if you need further treatment or have medical expenses or legal expenses. The exact cover you need will depend on which type of sailing you are looking to do, whether you intend to sail more than once a year and where you are resident.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE INSURANCE THAT SPECIFICALLY COVERS SAILING

Many standard insurance policies that cover personal accident do not provide sailing cover, so if you are planning on using your existing cover, check it carefully. It is also unusual for general travel insurance policies to cover sailing more than 12 miles offshore, so again check this carefully. Unless you are certain, we always recommend taking out a specific policy for sailing insurance. A standard policy will likely cover the insured person for emergency medical evacuation, and the use of expensive things such as an air ambulance, but it’s worth double-checking.

GET THE RIGHT COVERAGE: COASTAL WATERS OR OPEN WATERS AND BEYOND

Most sailing policies will differentiate between policies that cover you up to 12 miles offshore and those which don’t. They may use the term territorial waters, which is usually considered to be the same thing as not sailing more than 12 miles offshore. Most Rubicon 3 coastal trips stay in territorial waters, but check the specific notes for your trip. All our offshore sailing and ocean trips and our Passage Making Masterclass will sail outside territorial waters. If you’re not sure, get in touch.

SINGLE TRIP TRAVEL INSURANCE OR ANNUAL MULTI TRIP COVER

Think about whether you are likely to sail more than once in a 12 month period. Maybe you have some flotilla sailing planned as well as your Rubicon 3 adventure? If you are, it is going to be better value to buy an annual multi trip policy or a policy that covers round the world trips. If this is a one off for the year, then a single trip policy is probably best.

ENSURE THE POLICY WILL COVER TRIP CANCELLATION

If Rubicon 3 cancel the trip, you get an automatic and rapid refund of any money you have paid us for your sailing holidays, so you do not need insurance for this type of trip cancellation. However, sometimes crew have to cancel their trip with us, such as when a medical condition arises. In this instance, it is essential that you have insurance for trip cancellation as we will not be able to refund you any money you have paid us.

DECLARE PRE EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Make sure you disclose a pre existing medical condition when you buy the sailing travel insurance, as your sailing holiday insurance or rescue cover may be invalidated if you do no not.

PERSONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

You are not required by Rubicon 3 to have insurance that covers you for personal liability. Standard sailing travel insurance policies should give you all the cover you need. The policies also usually cover any legal expenses.

MAKE SURE YOU’RE COVERED FOR OTHER ACTIVITIES

Especially if you’re on a Caribbean sailing vacation, you may wish to do some other watersports such as scuba diving or waterskiing while you’re out there. If so, make sure your policy covers this, especially if you’re a fan of more hazardous sports.

WHEN TO BUY INSURANCE: START AND END DATES

Some policies require you to buy it within a set period of time after booking your sailing holiday, so it’s worth checking. We recommend buying it when you book the holiday as you want to ensure that any disruption or medical conditions that arise prior to departure are covered wherever possible.

TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR SAILORS RESIDENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

For sailors based in the United Kingdom, you have a number of options, most of whom can give you an instant quote. These include:

TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR SAILORS RESIDENT IN THE EU

For sailors based in the EU, options include:

Yacht-Pool

TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR SAILORS RESIDENT IN THE USA

For sailors based in the USA, options include:

Rick Bagnall at Gowrie. He has proved superb for our US clients in the past. You will also need to fill in the Gowrie Form here to send to him, so not an instant quote.
Danboater.