Quick Insurance Settlement Eases the Loss
Losing a prized boat while contesting the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race is distressing enough. But having to deal with the experience and re-live the events over and over can make a bad experience even more harrowing.
As the insurer underwriting the loss of George in the 2008 Sydney to Hobart, Nautilus Marine went out of their way to ensure that the claim was settled quickly and without further adding to the distress of the incident.
In short, the co-owners of Georgia, John Williams and Graeme Ainley, received a cheque from Nautilus Marine for $600,000 less than 5 weeks following the loss of their boat.
“We could not have asked for a quicker, more professionally handled insurance process,” Graeme Ainley said.
“While there is always a degree of anguish associated with losing your boat at sea, the last thing you want to have to endure is a drawn out battle with your insurers. Nautilus Marine was absolutely fantastic and we have no hesitation in placing the insurance for our new offshore racing boat with them.”
According to Mark Crockford of Nautilus Marine, settling claims quickly is all a part of the company’s customer focussed philosophy.
“When a claim is made we do our utmost to get it processed and settled in a timely manner,” Mark Crockford said. “Insurance claims in the boating area are most often accompanied with a degree of distress and anguish. We don’t seek to make a difficult time any worse for our policy holders by dragging out the settlement process.”
The account of Georgia’s sinking forms a role model of how things should pan out when strict safety procedures are followed. The boat, a NZ built Farr 52, was about 14 NM east of Ulladulla on the first night of the 2008 Sydney to Hobart. Under spinnaker and sailing at 17 knots in moderate seas, two large explosions were heard on the boat.
“We obviously hit something with the major impact being taken by the rudder,” Graeme recalled. “It could have been a cray net or a big patch of seaweed. It definitely wasn’t a container.”
The upshot was that the top rudder bearing exploded. Being loose, the rudder post worked vigorously on the bottom bearing in the carbon fibre hull. A gaping hole opened up in the hull and with the movement of the rudder swinging about, the hole became larger by the minute.
As attempts were made to plug the hole, Georgia issued a Pan Pan message and when it was soon evident that the attempts to stem the flow of water was futile, a Mayday was issued. A red flare and 406 EPIRB were also activated.
Fortunately for the 14 person crew aboard Georgia, Volvo 60 yacht Telecoinabox Merit was just a mile away. The skipper stopped racing and came to render assistance.
At 22:25 (about an hour after the impact) Georgia deployed their life raft to affect a transfer of half the crew to Merit. By 22:53 all of Georgia’s crew was aboard Merit as they watched Georgia slip below the surface and sink in 2500m of water with the mainsail still up and navigation lights on.
When transferred to a Police launch and returned to Bateman’s Bay, the crew were in the best of hands with insurance loss assessor John Messenger on hand already aware of the situation and arranging accommodation and transfers back home.
“The very next day I called our insurance broker,” said John Williams, who missed the 2008 race and remained at home. “Our broker said that he already knew of our plight and that he had been in touch with the people at Nautilus Marine.”
“The settlement was really quick and very straight forward. Obviously there was no doubt that the boat was gone. The loss assessor asked for details to verify that Georgia had been maintained responsibly and that the boat was essentially seaworthy for this type of event.”
“Both Nautilus Marine and our brokers Interpacific Insurance were exceptionally helpful,” John Williams said.
“We obviously had the policy for our boat. The claim process was smooth and quick and the service was terrific.”
“To receive a cheque from Nautilus Marine for $600,000 in under five weeks allowed us to have closure on the whole incident quickly and efficiently.”
As veterans of 49 Hobart races collectively, John Williams and Graeme Ainley have already acquired a replacement ocean racer, a TP52 called Stay Calm, sourced from the UK.
“We’ll gladly insure our new boat with Nautilus Marine. They’ve certainly done the right thing by us.”
Nautilus Marine is a wholly Australian owned insurance agency that operates exclusively in the marine industry, and is underwritten by Lumley General. Nautilus Marine has offices throughout Australia and offers insurance through a comprehensive network of authorised insurance agents.
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For further information on this story contact:
Mark Crockford
Nautilus Marine
28 – 32 George Street
Sandringham. Vic 3191
Ph: (03) 8599 5000
Toll free 1300 780 533
Email: markc@nautilusinsurance.com.au
Web: www.nautilusinsurance.com.au
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