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Skipper taken ill: may a crew member take the boat on?
Short answer
The charter contract names one skipper,
and that is the only person the base has checked and released.
If somebody else takes charge without written agreement from the base,
the arrangement the whole charter rests on no longer matches what is happening on board.
A charter contract names a skipper, with a certificate number, and the base has looked at that person and agreed to hand over the yacht. If they are taken ill, injured, or have to fly home, this is not something a crew sorts out among themselves. Whoever takes charge instead has to be reported to the base and released by it, before the lines come off. A phone call is not enough on its own: ask for the agreement in writing, even as a short message giving the name, the date and the certificate number.
This is not paperwork for its own sake. The owner handed the yacht to a named person, the arrangements behind the deposit were made for the charter as booked, and the base's own cover was arranged on that basis. If somebody runs the boat who was never named or released, the base can treat any damage differently from what was agreed, and the person actually at the helm may be left carrying it. That is precisely why so many bases ask for a second experienced person on board from the outset.
Work the question through before you fly out. Who could take over at short notice, and is their certificate in the bag with everyone else's? Settle as well who carries the cost if the charter has to be cut short, because that sits in the charter contract rather than anywhere else, and the refund is usually small. For illness and accident a travel cancellation or curtailment policy is the more sensible route, and it has to be arranged before you travel. Finally, check that any skipper liability arrangement is in the name of the person who is actually in charge, otherwise it points at the wrong person when it is needed.
Worth remembering
Named
Only the skipper named in the contract has been released
Stand in
Anybody else takes charge only after the base agrees in writing
Decide before the trip who could take over, and bring their certificate along from the start.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
May a crew member helm the boat at all?
Steering under the eye of the named skipper is normal and part of the trip. This is about something else: the skipper dropping out altogether and somebody else taking responsibility for the yacht. That needs the base to agree.
What if it happens halfway through the charter?
Make for the nearest safe harbour and call the base before going any further. The base decides whether a crew member may take over or whether it sends somebody out. Ask for the decision in writing.
Does anybody refund a charter cut short?
What the charter company gives back sits in the contract and is usually modest. For illness and accident a travel curtailment policy is the more likely route, and it has to be arranged before you travel.
Related
Not sure whether you qualify?
Whether it is “Skipper taken ill: may a crew member take the boat on?” or another question: send us your residence and the flag your boat flies. You will get a straight answer in one email; including a no, if that is the answer.
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