[sailaway21]

The Welshman's notion that other sports operate outside of the law is interesting but does not stand up to any scrutiny. While what may occur in a hockey game would land one in jail if committed against a non-participant skater it is allowed in hockey by the mutual consent of the participants. It should be noted that there is absolutely nothing preventing recourse to the law if matters on the rink go beyond the sanctioned limits. In fact, I believe that this has happened in some egregious cases. The same for Nascar and other sports. In bicycle racing the road is either closed to vehicular traffic or vehicles are absolved of normal liability. In all cases, what is being done is either not on a public area or the public area has been reclassified for purposes of the event.

No one is proposing reclassifying the southern oceans as a racing course for the purpose of sailing. And it's ludicrous to even think that insurance would not be available for such ventures just as it's ridiculous to think that the bond money, as an alternative, does not exist. Last I looked, those boats weren't exactly competitive cost-wise with your average offshore production boat. Of course the cost of marine insurance goes up based upon perceived risk. If a large number of claims are made, based upon a large number of vessels becoming disabled, then future insurances would command a premium....just like all other marine insurances have through war and turmoil.

Far from banning the single-handed ocean sailor, the liability policy would require that he actually have his vessel and intended voyage examined by the gimlet eye of a marine insurance firm. We can all think of a few ventures that might well not have come a cropper had such an evaluation been done prior to departure.