IRISH SAILING INSURANCE POSITION PAPER
Sailing races or events are run under the Racing Rules of Sailing, by Organising Authorities (OAs), the clubs affiliated with, and the organisations given permission to do so by, the World Sailing Member National Authority, Irish Sailing.
Organising Authorities are responsible for running racing and, as such, must have Public Liability insurance for the operational activity of doing so. In this respect, it is the OA who carries the insurance risk of an event. From 2026, all OAs will be required to declare appropriate race cover, through their annual club or organisation affiliation process with Irish Sailing, helping to endure universal good governance. The Organising Authority must also ensure, through seeking declarations from competitors that boats have suitable cover to compete in their events.
The Organising Authority is responsible for appointing appropriate Race Officials (ROs) to an event. These may be OA members or members of other clubs or Irish Sailing. An Irish Sailing Race Official will have a Local, Regional or National RO qualification from Irish Sailing and operate to appropriate best practice and competence. The RO is advised to check and review the public liability racing cover and standing risk assessments of the OA, before an event and complete a dynamic risk assessment as part of the execution of an event.
Irish Sailing maintains Public Liability insurance coverage that extends to Race Officials who operate voluntarily for OAs and are trained and qualified through the seven Irish Sailing RO schemes. The names, qualification levels, and activities of ROs have been provided to Marsh, the brokers, but coverage applies to all qualified ROs, including those recently added and not yet listed.
In the event of an incident during a race where a claim for damages is made against a Race Official or Irish Sailing directly, beyond the OA as the responsible party, Irish Sailing’s Public Liability policy provides coverage for damages arising from negligence, subject to policy terms and conditions.
Irish Sailing hopes that this cover both helps reassure ROs whilst operating under the auspices of Irish Sailing and encourages ROs to seek and keep their formal qualifications up to date.