SKIPPERED CHARTER

Both Aztec and Sula are coded and suitable for skippered charter in the UK. However they are not currently available unless by special discussion and arrangement.

Potentially Sula may be available for extended long-distance charter. Please note that she is also for sale.

Have a look at the yachts and contact us for more detail.

For descriptions of past cruising areas see below.

The yachts are not normally available for bareboat charter, but you can contact us if you want to discuss this - e.g. if you have sailed with us before, or have your own professional skipper available for the charter.

Please contact us to diccuss your plans and the yachts' availability.

Holiday Charter

For a group or family who want to go sailing, skippered charter can be the ideal way to do it. The skipper will take responsibility for the yacht and will be an experienced instructor, willing to let you have a go at all aspects of sailing the yacht including passage planning, pilotage and manoeuvring. This can substantially build you experience and confidence.

You can decide where you want to go and what you want to do, and it is entirely up to you and your group how “hard” you want to sail, and when you would prefer to relax. But this is perhaps your opportunity to do the kind of more ambitious passage you wouldn't normally do on your own, because you have an experienced skipper (Yachtmaster Offshore / Ocean and Instructor) with you.

Aztec

Aztec is based in Plymouth, with ready access to the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall.

She can easily cruise to France (Brittany coast - 90 miles), the Isles of Scilly or the Channel Islands in a week. These are wonderful cruising grounds with beautiful scenery and lots to explore ashore - and you have the challenge and adventure of the passages there and back.

Aztec is a good small yacht to use for this kind of holiday, because of her excellent seaworthiness in offshore sea and weather conditions.

Sula

Sula’s base varies. We use her to do challenging long distance passages, and take her as often as possible to our favourite cruising areas for holiday charter. She has greater range than Aztec, and is suitable for larger groups (or small groups who want to enjoy the luxury of a larger yacht).

In 2007 she will be based in Plymouth until July (see above for cruising area), and then on the West Coast of Scotland (base Mallaig, opposite Skye) for July, August and into September; before returning to the South West and then heading to Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands for the winter.

Cruising Areas

Our home port Plymouth is the south-west of England, which is a particularly beautiful part of our coastline and offers some wonderful harbours, scenery and destinations – and is only a step away from Brittany, the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Isles.

WE AGREE !!! (Yachting World, October 03). We have chosen these two areas for our base and our regular summer cruising ground.

Devon & Cornwall

One of the UK's finest sailing areas.

Even inside Plymouth harbour you can enjoy the unique scenery of South Devon and Cornwall, and this is quite important for a sailing school because if the weather is really bad we can still have a day's sailing - say around to Cawsand bay, and then explore up the Tamar or St German's river to anchor for the night.

But within an easy day sail from Plymouth you have the other well-sheltered deep water estuaries that are typical of this part of the coast: Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo (right next door to Plymouth), Salcombe and Dartmouth (to the East) and Fowey, Falmouth and the Helford River (to the West).

A typical 5-day course or cruise will easily reach Falmouth Harbour (plus St Mawes, St Just, Mylor) and the Helford River, or go East to Dartmouth and Tor Bay. Further to the West (and even some of the five day courses get this far if we're strong enough!) we have the Isles of Scilly, which give us a superbly wild and beautiful cruising ground, and across the Channel (a bit far for courses, but ideal for Skippered Charter) is the spectacular coast of western Brittany.

This area gives plenty of challenges for skippers and crews. On skippered charter, for example, you may well want to try your hand at night sailing and/or finding your way into unfamiliar harbours and rivers - in the knowledge that you have an experienced instructor on board who won't let things go too far wrong!

West Coast of Scotland

The West Coast of Scotland is almost certainly the best cruising area around the British Isles. You only have to look at a chart so see the amazing variety of islands and sea lochs on this wild and rugged coast. The scenery is extremely beautiful and dramatic, and without a yacht most of it is inaccessible. Visiting there by sea, you will be able to see far more than you would by land.

The wild-life includes otters, several species of cetaceans, and a huge number of varieties of sea birds – including St Kilda and the nearby stacks, which is one of the largest breeding colonies in Europe.

As a cruising ground it has many advantages. There is a very large number of picturesque and safe anchorages in a pretty small area, so there is always a great choice of destinations.  When it is windy there is plenty of sheltered water in the lee of the islands, where the sea rarely builds up to any size. And yet it offers challenge: amazing tidal streams like the infamous Corryvrechan, and worryingly precise instructions in the pilot books describing the entrances to the smaller anchorages...

Long Distance Charter

Long distance sailing is a hugely rewarding adventure for a family or group of friends. To fulfill this ambition many people spend years preparing their own yacht, making a considerable investment which is very unlikely to be recouped at the end of the voyage.

Another way is to charter, and Sula is one of (very) few yachts worldwide that are ideal for the purpose, fully equipped and available for this kind of sailing. She is unrestricted in her sailing range (Category 0 “coding”), equipped for very long duration at sea if required, and has a track record of serious ocean tasks, e.g. as cover yacht for the trans-Atlantic rowing races.

And she is ready to go!

You are welcome to call us to talk over your plans – long distance charters typically need to be organised more than a year in advance.