I was shocked for several reasons:

 

It could well be that CHUBB/Gowrie only informed US Sailing of this retroactive change within the last day or so. The email is at least a “due diligence” move by the Office to inform the Certified Race Officials and Certified Instructors of this lightning bolt.

 

US Sailing has had a long run with CHUBB/Gowrie (and with good reason), but perhaps the Board needs to search out alternatives…and quickly.

 

As I always tell people, “This is no time to panic! There will be plenty of time to panic later!”

I don't know all the details but apparently this is a response to a very large payout that recently happened.  I suspect that the delay was US Sailing trying understand what actually was happening before letting us know so that they could actually tell us the facts and not rumors or gossip. This will have an effect on getting judges to hear rule 69 cases as one of the points to having certified judges was the liability insurance coverage.

This is tragic for those volunteers who have signed indemnity / hold harmless agreements with their community sailing programs, while relying on the secondary insurance to cover that liability to the program.

NO! NEVER, EVER sign an indemnify/hold harmless agreement!

Yeah I read that about the big settlement, there was a $1 million cap on the policy, but I guess that limit is only as good as the lawyers arguing.  My thought is yeah it effects folks on the lower end events more, technically if you didn't have primary coverage you didn't have US Sailing coverage so if you indemnified the organization you were working for, you might not have been covered anyway... but volunteers may not have great coverage depending on the policy. 

Do you have a link to info about the "big settlement"?  I'd be curious to read about it.

To reach the cap or above would require a death I would think. Just thinking out loud.
I have already reached out to venues I'm judging at this summer if the judges would be covered under their liability insurance.
Clark was right,  this protection was always a positive selling point to get new people into the game.

Rumor has it that it involved the death of a child and the award was nearly $20M.

Sarasota?

As a coach and RO this hits me double, I've never inquired about my own policy as a part timer it never seemed worth it since I am always working for another organization, but maybe I should see...

This further cements what I regard as US Sailing's age discrimination: dissuading mature, experienced sailors from educational roles.
Hire/engage only young folks with no extended experience (other than dinghy racing) and eschew elders who have much to offer, but with nest eggs to protect.

I’m not going to lay this on US Sailing as long as they look for a solution. They got caught in a tough spot.