Short answer - check your homeowners or renters insurance, and hit google.
Long answer. There used to be an insurance company that would cover your boards for theft and I had it for a few years. It was available to members of US Windsurfing. However, looking at their web page, it says it has been discontinued. It says most members coverage comes from their homeowners (though it seems to me that would only cover theft if someone broke into your home.) I've had 2 boards stolen (both at Tidwell Park)* over the past 15 years, though I am the only one in the club who has had that happen, I believe. In both cases, I changed boards and left one on shore. Moral of the story - lock your board down if you are not using it.
*Tidwell doesn't strike me as a dangerous place, but someone did get murdered there a number of years ago, and a lady drove herself into the lake late at night recently and drown.
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What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
I almost had a board walk away at Sunrise about 15 years ago. Same as Randy, left one onshore if the wind changed. Some kid thought he'd found a surfboard and proceeded to grind it into the sand and they were about to drive off with it when I got back to the beach. Moral: when you are one of the few or only windsurfer(s) at a spot, don't leave stuff out. We tend to do it at Van Pugh because there are so many of us and it's pretty obvious what's going on. Elsewhere, somebody sees a board on the ground and figures "oh well."
I think gear insurance was a bigger deal when
a) windsurfing was a bigger deal here in the States and drug addicts thought they could sell the gear for a few bucks
b) people carried most of their kit on top of their car. With trailers, SUVs, vans, etc. most stuff is inside.
Theft used to be a big problem overnight in the Outer Banks when there was a good used market for gear, especially in NY and NJ. Now that kiting is the "hip" thing, windsurfing gear doesn't tend to walk away.
Randy's advice is spot on - check with homeowner's/renters and auto to see what is covered or if you need to add something.
As for other things to insure, it's a relatively docile sport here. Don't drop a mast on somebody's head when launching, you can't really insure u-joints, booms or masts so inspect them before you go out. If everything really goes tits up, the sheriff afaik doesn't charge for rescues as they may do in some places (SF Bay?).
I'll have a surf online later today and see what I can find. I was thinking more in terms of rig flipping onto somebody's car (or head) or running into someone on the water (unlikely but i've seen it happen). I thought there may be something like the RYA in England where you got 3rd party liability insurance included with basic membership. If I find anything that looks useful i'll share it on here.
Thanks for the great response (as always).
Thanks Randy, i'll dig out our renters insurance policy and actually read what it says ... and yes, you never know what nutcases are around. I'm planning on sailing locally (Lanier) so i'll be on here finding out who is going where so i'm not sailing alone.
Generally homeowners and renter's has a fair amount of personal liability that covers stuff like that.
Source : didn't have renter's when I t-boned a starboard boat in a dinghy race long ago. Had to pay for the repair out of my own pocket.
Short answer - check your homeowners or renters insurance, and hit google.
Long answer. There used to be an insurance company that would cover your boards for theft and I had it for a few years. It was available to members of US Windsurfing. However, looking at their web page, it says it has been discontinued. It says most members coverage comes from their homeowners (though it seems to me that would only cover theft if someone broke into your home.) I've had 2 boards stolen (both at Tidwell Park)* over the past 15 years, though I am the only one in the club who has had that happen, I believe. In both cases, I changed boards and left one on shore. Moral of the story - lock your board down if you are not using it.
http://uswindsurfing.org/join-usw/gear-insurance-program-archived/
*Tidwell doesn't strike me as a dangerous place, but someone did get murdered there a number of years ago, and a lady drove herself into the lake late at night recently and drown.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
I almost had a board walk away at Sunrise about 15 years ago. Same as Randy, left one onshore if the wind changed. Some kid thought he'd found a surfboard and proceeded to grind it into the sand and they were about to drive off with it when I got back to the beach. Moral: when you are one of the few or only windsurfer(s) at a spot, don't leave stuff out. We tend to do it at Van Pugh because there are so many of us and it's pretty obvious what's going on. Elsewhere, somebody sees a board on the ground and figures "oh well."
I think gear insurance was a bigger deal when
a) windsurfing was a bigger deal here in the States and drug addicts thought they could sell the gear for a few bucks
b) people carried most of their kit on top of their car. With trailers, SUVs, vans, etc. most stuff is inside.
Theft used to be a big problem overnight in the Outer Banks when there was a good used market for gear, especially in NY and NJ. Now that kiting is the "hip" thing, windsurfing gear doesn't tend to walk away.
Randy's advice is spot on - check with homeowner's/renters and auto to see what is covered or if you need to add something.
As for other things to insure, it's a relatively docile sport here. Don't drop a mast on somebody's head when launching, you can't really insure u-joints, booms or masts so inspect them before you go out. If everything really goes tits up, the sheriff afaik doesn't charge for rescues as they may do in some places (SF Bay?).
I'll have a surf online later today and see what I can find. I was thinking more in terms of rig flipping onto somebody's car (or head) or running into someone on the water (unlikely but i've seen it happen). I thought there may be something like the RYA in England where you got 3rd party liability insurance included with basic membership. If I find anything that looks useful i'll share it on here.
Thanks for the great response (as always).
Thanks Randy, i'll dig out our renters insurance policy and actually read what it says
... and yes, you never know what nutcases are around. I'm planning on sailing locally (Lanier) so i'll be on here finding out who is going where so i'm not sailing alone.
Generally homeowners and renter's has a fair amount of personal liability that covers stuff like that.
Source : didn't have renter's when I t-boned a starboard boat in a dinghy race long ago. Had to pay for the repair out of my own pocket.
If you have homeowner's & auto insurance, you might look into an "umbrella policy" for broader liability coverage.
Barrett