On Mar 6, 7:43*pm, T wrote:

Comments interspersed below...
I would be interested to learn what it is the winch insurance covers. Does anyone have that definition?

Contact an insurer like Costello for a sample policy. These things
change rapidly.

I would be interested in "hull coverage", there is an investment to be
protected from theft or fire.

Winches are vehicles covered by collision insurance. They can also be
covered by premises insurance. The coverage amount is whatever you
want to buy.

I would be interested in liability to the glider, a winch failure at a
critical time could result in loss of a glider.

It may seem outrageous to the uninformed but there is nothing a winch
can do to put a skilled pilot or his glider at risk. Winches don't
break gliders - pilots do.

I would be interested in liability to a person, caught with the rope,
hit by a glider during launch, operator hurt if a broken line
penetrates the crew area.

This question suggests the need for winch training. These things
should never happen at a well-run winch operation. However, if they
did, they would be covered by the winch liability policy. Again the
coverage is whatever you want to buy.

As an example of how safe winch operations can be, look at the German
accident statistics. The last numbers I have say they did 1.7 million
launches for 3 fatalities in 17 total accidents. Compare that to US
aero tow accidents with far fewer launches. I have no doubt, given
the same level of skill, winch launch is at least a couple of orders
of magnitude safer than aero tow.