Insuring Porta Bote: cover and premium

motorboats and sports boats · several countries

Porta Bote: american maker of folding small boats. NAMMERT insures a Porta Bote regardless of year built or where you bought it, liability, hull, legal expenses and personal accident cover from one house, taken out online in five minutes.

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At a glance

Origin

several countries

Class

motorboats and sports boats

Typical sizes

2,6 to 4,3 m

Premium from

from €49 a year for liability

Worth knowing

Porta Bote; cover, cost and conditions

Porta-Bote is an American folding boat that collapses flat for transport and storage, so it needs no mooring and no garage bay. The design dates back to around 1970. In 1973 Sandy Kaye, who had worked in publishing and used one of these boats as a tender himself, bought the rights and reworked the shape until it looked more like a conventional dinghy. The hull is made of copolymer polypropylene, a light, flexible and tough plastic, and the boats are handmade in the USA. They found many buyers in the eighties and nineties among people living in flats with no room for an ordinary boat, and water rescue services in countries such as Japan and Australia use them too.

Our model records list four motorboats, and all four reach the most recent build years. The Porta 8, Porta 10 and Porta 12 are recorded from 1994, and the Porta 14 joined in 2001. The number in the name roughly gives the length in feet: the Porta 8 measures 2.59 metres, the Porta 10 3.27 metres, the Porta 12 3.85 metres and the Porta 14 4.28 metres. The whole brand therefore stays under four and a half metres, from a tender to a fishing boat for two or three people. The maker currently offers sizes 10, 12 and 14 in its Alpha series, alongside a Pro series.

Polypropylene forgives knocks that would crack glassfibre, but the folding design has its own wear points. On a used boat, look closely at the hinge lines where the hull flexes every time it is folded, and at the transom where the outboard bracket carries the load. Seats and their fittings should lock firmly in place. Long storage in strong sunlight can age any plastic, so a boat kept indoors is a better buy. Rinse it with fresh water after a day on the sea, let it dry before folding, and check that the engine is matched to the size: a light hull wants a light outboard.

Questions and answers

Frequent questions

Which Porta-Bote is the largest?

For Porta Bote: The Porta 14 at 4.28 metres, listed from 2001.

The smallest is the Porta 8 at 2.59 metres.

All four sizes reach the most recent build years in our model records.

What is a Porta-Bote made of?

For Porta Bote: Copolymer polypropylene, a light and flexible plastic.

That is what lets the hull fold flat, and the boats are handmade in the USA.

The cover that fits

For Porta Bote: What matters for motorboats and sports boats is the same across every brand;

engine output, how a claim is settled, cruising range and theft protection.

The class page lists every point and every brand in this class, Porta Bote included.

Insuring motorboats and sports boats, every brand and every condition

Other builders in this class

Nor-Tech Nord Star Nordkapp Norisboat Norman Ockelbo Ocqueteau Outerlimits Pedrazzini Picton Pischel Polmarble Prins Quicksilver Rajo Ranger Boats Ranieri Regal Reinell Remus Renken Rinker Rio Rocca

Directory of all makes from A to Z

Nautical information What counts before you cast off, papers, equipment, waters

Licence

A powerboat licence (inland or coastal) is required from 15 hp (11.03 kW).

Registration

Registration from 3 hp; for trips abroad carry the boat certificate or flag document.

Waters

Inland, coastal and abroad; plan fairways, bridge clearances, draught and tides.

Equipment

Lifesaving gear, fire extinguisher, anchor, signalling equipment and correct navigation lights.

Cruising range

The agreed cruising range is stated in the policy and can be extended at any time.

Weather

Check wind force in Beaufort and wind direction before casting off, and allow for gusts.

General guidance, not a complete account;

what governs are the rules of the waters you are on and the manual of your Porta Bote.

Current wind force and direction for your waters are shown on the Home.

Series by Porta Bote, build years and cover

Porta 8

Porta 8 is a motorboat from Porta Bote, built since 1994.

Porta 10

Also a motorboat, built since 1994.

Porta 12

Also a motorboat, built since 1994.

Porta 14

Also a motorboat, built since 2001.

What this means for the cover

As the Porta 8, Porta 10, Porta 12 by Porta Bote and 1 more series are still in production,

parts are available and repair costs are predictable.

Even so, value it at replacement cost including retrofitted electronics, not at list price.

For the Porta 8, Porta 10, Porta 12 by Porta Bote and further series:

On a motorboat the drive is the single most valuable part.

Damage after grounding is covered, an engine failure from wear is not.

All series at a glance

The Porta Bote range in figures

These figures come from the model records we keep for Porta Bote: boat type,

build years and length, nothing estimated.

motorboat: 4 models, since 1994, 2.6 to 4.3 m

Which model was built when?

Sailing boat Motorboat RIBEach bar is one Porta Bote model, running from its first to its last year of build. The colour shows the type of boat.

What does a used Porta Bote cost?

We hold today’s price ranges by year for 4 models by Porta Bote.

The table shows what boats in average condition are worth,

from the oldest to the youngest year on record.

Choose your exact model, year and condition in the calculator.

Model	Years built	Range today
Porta 10	2001 to 2024	€4,100 to €13,900
Porta 12	2001 to 2024	€4,200 to €15,800
Porta 14	2004 to 2024	€4,700 to €20,500
Porta 8	2001 to 2024	€2,400 to €9,100