Ever seen the AA put enough compression into the suspension so you don't even need the side stand on a trailer? The straps hold it upright. That's what I was getting at. Ratchet the bike down on the suspension until it's upright on its wheels rather than resting like a tripod on the side stand.
With SeaFrance you had to strap the bike down yourself, so you could make sure you got it upright yourself.
Must be a pretty rare thing though. Anyone had it happen to them here?
Cue a hundred posts from users who've had their sidestands snap on a ferry!
At the risk of sounding cynical, Sea France only do that to avoid liability. You strap it down, your fault if it breaks.
No, never seen the AA winch a bike down. Every time I've seen my bike (and others) being strapped down on the ferry (6 times now), the bike does compress the sidestand more. Talking to deck crew though, they've said that they had bikes break side stands (generally super sports machines too - no centre option). And on Condor Ferries where they often immobilise the front wheel and handlebars to keep the bike upright, they've had issues with wheels and forks deforming.
At the end of the day, when I first went home on my 125 (which only had a sidestand), I noticed that every bike with a centrestand was using it. And there were 40 odd bikes on that crossing. So that's what I've done ever since when I could.