Is my event a regatta or a race?

Policy wordings work with two words that blur in everyday use. In many wordings a regatta is covered, often without extra premium and without prior agreement. Powerboat racing is excluded in most of the wordings we reviewed. As long as you are sailing a yacht in a club regatta the position is clear. As soon as an engine is involved it gets murky.

Because in between sits the powerboat regatta, and linguistically it falls under both sentences: it is a regatta, and it is sailed with powerboats. Only a few wordings resolve this expressly by defining both terms. Two providers say it in one line: the sailing regatta risk is covered, powerboat regattas and races are not. Others, our own wording included, carry no definition. Offshore racing is another such case: one provider excludes international offshore races expressly, most say nothing.

So the safe route is always the same, whoever you are insured with: notify your entry beforehand and get cover for that specific event confirmed in writing. State the type of boat, the form of the event and whether there is training or practice. One sentence beforehand is worth more than an interpretation afterwards. With us, Basis excludes regattas, Basis Plus covers club regattas and Premium also open competitions.

Worth remembering

One word in the notice of race decides the cover for the whole day.