Yacht inspection for insurance without dropping mast?

[Vega1447]

My insurers require a full survey include spars and rigging.

This is a pain because I had my boat lifted out in Feb 2019 for bottom painting, greasing prop hub etc.

And if I drop the mast re rigging is a lot of work.

Would it be unreasonable to suggest to the surveyor that he inspect the mast and standing rigging by going up in a bosun's chair or similar?

The boatyard could provide a couple of guys to lift the bosun's chair and keep the safety line taut.

My boat is an Albin Vega 27 so the mast is less than 10 metres height but the boat is heavy enough to make going up the mast a non-scary event. (The boat doesn't roll even when I am at the masthead.)

Has anyone ever persuaded a surveyor to do this rather than inspect mast and rigging when dropped?

Thanks.

 

[Dukester52]

Is it possible have your surveyor survey the boat, and then use a rigger for the rigging inspection/report? A rigger will happily find his way to the top of the mast. I know I've done this before, but it wasn't for insurance purposes...

 

[wiggy]

For my surveys, they have always done the spars & rigging from deck level, think some use binoculars but I don’t think they ever go up or expect the mast to be removed.

 

[pvb]

Any rigger should be able to give a report on the mast and rigging without taking the whole lot off. And a rigger's report will be more meaningful than the average surveyor's.

 

[Vega1447]

Thanks guys. That's very helpful.

 

[Birdseye]

My insurers require a full survey include spars and rigging.

This is a pain because I had my boat lifted out in Feb 2019 for bottom painting, greasing prop hub etc.

And if I drop the mast re rigging is a lot of work.

Would it be unreasonable to suggest to the surveyor that he inspect the mast and standing rigging by going up in a bosun's chair or similar?

The boatyard could provide a couple of guys to lift the bosun's chair and keep the safety line taut.

My boat is an Albin Vega 27 so the mast is less than 10 metres height but the boat is heavy enough to make going up the mast a non-scary event. (The boat doesn't roll even when I am at the masthead.)

Has anyone ever persuaded a surveyor to do this rather than inspect mast and rigging when dropped?

Thanks.

You need another insurer. In the nicest possible way, an Albin Vega is not a high value boat and the cost of the survey will be excessive in relation to the value of the boat itself. To add the cost of dropping and reinstalling the mast is simply silly. At a guess you are dealing with a call centre insurer rather than one with staff who know about boats.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Just done that last year, insurance survey, but used a rigger to inspect with the mast up, boat in water. They produced a small report, cost £75, which was included with the surveyors report.

 

[lw395]

In my view, the rig needs to be assessed with the mast up and properly set up.
Mast down, it's not a rig, just a bunch of bits.
Of course you need to take it apart to check some of the bits....
But you can't know it won't fall down without seeing it set up ready for use.

At the end of the day, you do what keeps the insurer happy or find a different insurer.

 

[Graham376]

Any rigger should be able to give a report on the mast and rigging without taking the whole lot off. And a rigger's report will be more meaningful than the average surveyor's.

+1

None of the surveys I've had done over the years covered rig, except deck level fittings. Get a rigger in.

 

[colind3782]

As above, the surveyor that did mine just made a recommendation that the rigging be replaced if it was more than ten years old. I doubt he even looked at it.

 

[Refueler]

As above, the surveyor that did mine just made a recommendation that the rigging be replaced if it was more than ten years old. I doubt he even looked at it.

The common standard catch all ..... trouble with that statement - if rigging is anything in a claim - even if it was not the cause or contributory - can bite you badly ...

Insurance adjustors love those statements to counter your claim.

 

[greeny]

As above, the surveyor that did mine just made a recommendation that the rigging be replaced if it was more than ten years old. I doubt he even looked at it.

That's a stance I thought we'd left well behind us. In my view it's a "cop-out" by the surveyor and not worth anything. Of course if your rigging is less than 10 yrs old it doesn't matter to you as an individual. I suspect that most owners on here would be concerned about a statement like that in a report to the insurance. Having said that, my insurance puts no 10 yr age limit and relies on the rigging being maintained in good condition and a separate riggers report where there is any concern or doubts.

 

[Refueler]

That's a stance I thought we'd left well behind us. In my view it's a "cop-out" by the surveyor and not worth anything. Of course if your rigging is less than 10 yrs old it doesn't matter to you as an individual. I suspect that most owners on here would be concerned about a statement like that in a report to the insurance. Having said that, my insurance puts no 10 yr age limit and relies on the rigging being maintained in good condition and a separate riggers report where there is any concern or doubts.

Left behind ? If only that were true. There are a number of 'get outs' used that can come back to 'bite' an owner in a claim ... and this is one.

 

[Vega1447]

If anyone is interested I have found a surveyor who can arrange for a rigger (maybe himself??) to go up the mast as part of the survey.

Many thanks to those who confirmed that it wasn't necessary to drop the mast with all the fuffing about that would be involved..

 

[greeny]

Left behind ? If only that were true. There are a number of 'get outs' used that can come back to 'bite' an owner in a claim ... and this is one.

I said "cop out" not "get out"
replacement of rigging every 10 yrs was left behind some years ago and many insurance companies will accept a riggers report on condition as sufficient.
There will always be "get outs" that the insurance company may try and use but I wasn't talking about "get outs".

 

[rickwales]

My insurers require a full survey include spars and rigging.

This is a pain because I had my boat lifted out in Feb 2019 for bottom painting, greasing prop hub etc.

And if I drop the mast re rigging is a lot of work.

Would it be unreasonable to suggest to the surveyor that he inspect the mast and standing rigging by going up in a bosun's chair or similar?

The boatyard could provide a couple of guys to lift the bosun's chair and keep the safety line taut.

My boat is an Albin Vega 27 so the mast is less than 10 metres height but the boat is heavy enough to make going up the mast a non-scary event. (The boat doesn't roll even when I am at the masthead.)

Has anyone ever persuaded a surveyor to do this rather than inspect mast and rigging when dropped?

Thanks.

You might find the odd surveyor who might go up a mast in a bosuns chair if the boats afloat, I won’t.
If your insurance co is asking for a full rigging report the mast needs to be stepped.
Usually on a cruising boat most insurers accept a visual report, on a racing vessel they usually require a thorough examination and in some cases NDT testing