Does Yacht Insurance Cover the Mast and Rigging?

Are the mast, rigging and sails part of the insured boat?

Yes. In both wordings we work with, the rig is insured as part of the boat, not as a separate item.

The London-market policy wording defines the insured vessel in definition 4: "'Insured vessel' means the vessel described in the Schedule, including her machinery, and all equipment, sails, masts, spars, rigging, furniture, normally required for the operation and maintenance of the vessel and which would typically be sold with the vessel."

The same wording is an agreed value policy, and it says: "It is agreed that this provision applies to both partial and total losses." So it carries no depreciation schedule for a broken mast or a torn mainsail. Our guide to agreed value vs actual cash value explains what that difference is worth in a claim.

A UK specialist scheme for UK and European owners, the Yacht and Motor Boat Policy, Version BW1, June 2026, insures the Vessel "including her hull, Machinery, gear, equipment". Its definition does not name the mast or sails. Its own rig clauses (the racing exclusion, the sail exclusion and the deduction table) treat "mast, spars, sails, standing and running rigging" as part of a Vessel claim.

The London-market qualifier "typically be sold with the vessel" matters for spare sails, which come up further down.

Is there a 10-year rule for standing rigging?

Not in the London-market policy wording. We searched all five of its documents for a rig age, a re-rig interval or a rig survey and found none. Rig age reaches a policy in other ways: through a survey or rigger's recommendation that the underwriter makes a condition, and through the wear-and-tear exclusion if the rig fails.

The search covered the policy wording, the clauses and endorsements, the IPID and two proposal forms. The proposal forms ask "DATE VESSEL LAST SURVEYED". They do not ask how old the rigging is.

First-hand

We quote carve-outs and conditions from the wording we hold, not from a broker summary or what gets repeated on the pontoon. For a rig question, that means the clauses that are actually in the document.

One UK specialist scheme publishes guidance about insurers generally, not a clause of its own wording. It says that for plans that include an ocean crossing, "generally insurers will require a full rigging inspection by a qualified rigging surveyor once the rigging is 7-10 years of age", and that some insurers may insist on replacement before a crossing once the rigging is 7 years or over. For other cruising, it says insurers "are generally more relaxed". Its own BW1 wording sets no rig-age rule either.

The same scheme wrote in July 2023 that some policies make rig replacement every 5 to 10 years a condition. It called a policy that does not mention the rigging, and relies on the wear-and-tear exclusion, "actually the more common approach".

The ten-year figure mostly circulates among owners: "We have heard that it is less easy to get insurance cover if the standing rigging is more than 10 years old," one Moody owners' forum member wrote. Riggers and surveyors use 10 to 15 years as a rule of thumb for wire. Yachting World's Pip Hare put it plainly in 2020: insurers "do not stipulate a timeframe", but they expect the rig to be maintained by a qualified person.

An ocean crossing brings its own terms, which our page on offshore passage terms covers. For boat age rather than rig age, see insuring an older sailboat. This is not financial advice.

What does the market actually say about rig age?

Published positions differ. Each row below is that publisher's own statement on its date, and none of them is a rule for every policy.

Each row is that publisher's own statement on its date. None is a rule for every policy. Competitors and trade sources are named, never linked, where the page is theirs.

The Yachting World depreciation line does not describe the London-market wording, which settles partial losses at agreed value. The same YACHT magazine article reports professionals recommending about 15 years or 20,000 nautical miles for wire, with shorter intervals for rod and synthetic rigging. Neither wording in this table distinguishes wire, rod or Dyneema. We will review this table by 2027-04-18 or sooner if a wording changes.

Will a dismasting be paid?

It depends on the cause. Under the London-market policy wording, a dismasting from an accident (a squall, a knockdown, a collision or a grounding) falls within the hull cover for "accidental physical loss of or damage". When wear and tear, gradual deterioration, failure to maintain or a latent defect causes the failure, that cause is excluded by hull exclusions 2 and 5, and the wording does not say whether the damage that follows is paid.

The table is our reading of the London-market clauses, not a claims decision. The underwriter decides every claim.

Who has to prove the cause? A published Australian ruling shows how it can work. In AFCA determination 630634, a yacht lost its mast after a backstay turnbuckle failed. The rigging had been replaced eight months earlier, but the turnbuckles were reused. AFCA found that once the owner showed a loss, "the onus shifts to the insurer to show, on the balance of probabilities, it is entitled to rely on an exclusion". The insurer had not shown that corrosion caused the failure and was told to pay, as Insurance News reported on 15 April 2020. That was an Australian yacht policy, not either wording on this page.

In the first hours, keep the failed fitting and photograph the rig before you cut it away, if that is safe. The London-market wording asks you to "Afford us the opportunity to have the damaged property inspected prior to any repair or removal". Our page on what to do in the first hours after a dismasting has the full sequence.

On an older boat, a new rig can cost more than the boat is worth, and the claim can then end as a total loss. The Practical Boat Owner surveyor has seen four yachts written off after losing their rigs for that reason. For the storm terms, see the named-windstorm deductible explained, and for the full exclusion family, what yacht insurance does not cover. This is not financial advice.

Is the damage paid when a fitting fails and brings the rig down?

The two wordings answer this differently. The London-market policy wording excludes loss or damage "caused by" wear and tear or a latent defect, and it has no carve-back for the damage that follows, so it does not say whether that damage is paid. A UK specialist scheme's wording pays that resulting damage, but not the failed part.

The UK scheme defines Gradual Deterioration to include "corrosion", so a corroded swage falls under 2.3 and 4.11, not under the latent-defect clause. The older market form, the Institute Yacht Clauses 1/11/85, follows a similar pattern for latent defects: the defective part is excluded and the resulting damage is covered, subject to due diligence.

Until the London-market answer comes back, plan as if the rig file is your evidence either way, and see how a claim is reported.

What does the underwriter look at instead of rig age?

The survey. Under the London-market policy wording, a requested survey must be received and approved within 45 days of inception. Its recommendations, which on a sailboat can include the rig, must be completed within 30 days of the survey. The clause says failure to comply "will void this policy from inception".

What the London-market wording asks for:

• •General Condition 17. "Unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, if a survey has been requested as a condition of cover being provided, then such survey must be received and approved by us within 45 days of the inception of this agreement." Recommendations "must be complied with within 30 days of the date of the survey or in such period as may be agreed by us."
• •Survey Requirement. "It is warranted that a survey is in force and that all of the Surveyor's recommendations contained therein have been complied with."
• •Photograph Requirement. A photograph of the boat "within 14 days of the attachment date".
• •Seaworthiness. The vessel "and all of her equipment and machinery must be operable and properly maintained".

"Void this policy from inception" is the clause's own wording. The UK Insurance Act 2015 changed how breaches of warranties and conditions are treated under English law, so how this clause works in a dispute is a legal question, and this is not financial advice.

Owners describe how a re-rig recommendation arrives. One Cruisers Forum owner wrote that an inspection "found nothing wrong" and the report still "recommended it be replaced". Another owner on YBW reported that extending the cruising area from the UK to the Azores added a new warranty requiring the rigging to be under ten years old. These are owner reports, not insurer policy.

Our guide on when a survey is required and what it decides covers the survey itself.

What happens if you delay the rig repair?

Under the London-market policy wording, once a claim incident happens, the boat is valued at its actual market value, not its agreed value, until the repair is done. It is never valued above the scheduled value unless underwriters agree in writing.

One version of the Unrepaired Damage Valuation Endorsement in the clauses reads: "It is hereby understood and agreed that in the event of an incident giving rise to a claim under this policy the INSURED BOAT shall be valued on the basis of the actual market value at the time of the incident." It ends: "The policy shall revert to an agreed value policy once the repairs have been satisfactorily completed."

Hull exclusion 6 adds a second rule. It excludes "Unrepaired damage claims" where the boat later becomes "an actual or constructive or compromised total loss due to an insured peril within the insured agreement period."

In practice, a cruiser who defers a rig repair to a cheaper port is insured at market value until the work is done. See agreed value vs actual cash value for how that changes a settlement.

Are the mast, rigging and sails covered while racing?

Not under the London-market Racing Endorsement, which excludes the rig while racing. A UK specialist scheme's wording can cover the rig while racing, as an optional section shown on the certificate.

The London-market wording counts a rally as a "race or speed trial" (definition 15), so a rally entry needs the underwriters' prior written agreement (General Condition 16). Our coming guide on how racing cover differs between policies goes into racing in full.

Are spare and racing sails covered?

Not clearly. The London-market policy wording covers sails as part of the boat only where they are "normally required for the operation and maintenance of the vessel and which would typically be sold with the vessel". Items that fall to personal property are covered only while aboard or being loaded, at actual cash value, up to $5,000 an item.

So under the London-market wording, spare sails kept in a loft or a garage have cover only if they count as part of the insured vessel, because personal property cover applies only aboard. Which side a spare or racing wardrobe falls on is an open question for the broker, and we do not answer it for them.

The UK specialist scheme's wording covers Personal Belongings "Whilst on board the Vessel, in storage or in a vehicle or in transit", limited to 2% of the vessel's sum insured up to £2,000. A single item over £1,000 needs the insurer's agreement.

The same scheme excludes sails "split by the wind or blown away whilst in use" (exclusion 5.1). It also reduces rig and sail claims by 25% where the item is 5 years old or more and the repair would leave it better than before. That reduction does not apply on a total or constructive total loss.

List any spare or racing wardrobe when you ask for a quote. For how agreed value treats the sails that are part of the boat, see agreed value vs actual cash value.

What should you keep in your rig file before asking for a quote?

Six records answer most of what an underwriter will ask about the rig.

1. 1The re-rig date and invoice. Without it, "both surveyors and insurers will assume that it is original to the boat", as one Moody owner put it.
2. 2The latest rigger's written report. One YBW owner pays for a report every two or three years "just to avoid any dispute about maintenance/inspection issues if it does fail."
3. 3Mast material and rig type. Aluminium or carbon; wire, rod or synthetic.
4. 4The survey date. And proof that any rig recommendations were completed.
5. 5Your racing plans. And whether you need the rig covered while racing.
6. 6A list of spare or racing sails. And where they are kept.

Our quote form asks for the rigging year and the mast material. Those are our pre-qualification questions, not underwriter rules. This guide carries no premium figures; for cover and cost, see what a sailboat policy covers and costs.

First-hand

We check a submission against the market's published terms before it goes anywhere. If a hull type or a condition puts the boat outside what a market will write, we say so plainly before anything is sent.

With the rig file ready, the quote form takes a few minutes, and we match your boat to the market whose terms fit, or say plainly if none can place it.