http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=145237

Quick quote done and seems expensive (by 3 times for similar cover) for a £1500 value silver cover but others may not find this.  Will stick with Bishop Skinner methinks.

I agree Towergate [Gold cover ] are 20% more than Nobles for a 15k boat . Have been looking arround for cover and am anxious to get new for old on the rig - How broken does a mast need to be beyond economical repair ? If we do break a mast and a replacement is not available ex stock what happens ? Are Nobles still best for Merlins we have not claimed for 20 years so are anxious to get the right cover .

Quote for one of my Merlins comes out exactly the same as Bishop Skinner charges me...................................................................................... for two Merlins, a Laser and a Zodiac inflatable.

I think they need to sharpen their pencils!

I think broken in two places with spreader/bracket damage is the new mast point for a chipstow. Nobles are good but expensive. Bishop Skinner are good but significantly less expensive.

two places with spreader bracket is about �900, not quite enough to get a new mast. Bishop Skinner will give you cash instead of the repair and you can top it up.

People have different theories about why they don't want their carbon mast repaired, but frankly teh repair's AJ does are as good as new, in my opinion.

Second point, if you break a Chipstow mast beyond repair you will have a wait for a new one, or indeed a wait to have the repair done. In that case it is borrow a mast for a little while, it is 99% certain that you can borrow an ally mast (I have two unrigged growing ivy down the end of the garden) and a possiblity that you can borrow a carbon one, depending on who has spares floating around at the time.

We keep a spare SuperSpars now, but originally a very nice person called Chris lent us one.

My single break with both spreaders and the bracket also damaged was over £1000.

As a thought if we could persuade this company to issue "courtesy masts" maybe people would pay the extra premium??

Something strange here.  A straight quote from their online system for Gold cover comes in at £248 BUT I am just about to renew my policy with Towergate Mardon for £87 for very similar cover except the bit about refund of cancelled event fees.

As for Bishops Skinner, they may be cheaper but their admin is as well.

Never broken a superspar but trying a CST on new boat hope it is as robust or will no doubt end up borrowing or buying a superspar if it breaks bigtime - how likely is this as they are relativley unproven ?  As for best insurer jury is still out .

Like the concept of courtesy masts, only really work in a true One Design fleet though, unless the Merlin Rocket is a Winder One Design which thanks to the efforts of Keith Callaghan/Lauries Smart and their brave new owner it is not. The real answer is carry a spare.
As to the cost the guys behind the new venture seem real professionals Actuaries, FCII's MBA's etc maybe they've done the sums, somethings it's best not to buy cheap Insurance and Lifejackets being two, hopefully you'll never need them but when you do....

Good point people overlook paying a bit more for good service hence looking for the insurer that will perform best should they be needed even if thet are not cheapest . As an Architect that is an essential thing to convey to clients .......

Just to get some facts straight Bishop Skinner and Towergate are brokers, not the insurers.

Bishop Skinner sell a policy provided by AXA.
Towergate sell a policy from Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc.