Nick

We are pleased to announce we have been awarded the ‘Certificate of Excellence’ from Tripadivsor

What is Certificate of Excellence?

– Remember we are also an RYA sea school too!

Ever thought of the possibilities when you exclusively charter one of our yachts?

Imagine a sunset cruise with Champagne & canapés in a sheltered cove such as Cawsand or Cellar Bay. Perhaps a longer exclusive charter could take you to a BBQ on the beach in Salcombe or a nearby secluded anchorage. Why not sample a glass of Salcombe Gin whilst moored off the foreshore?

With an exclusive charter, the possibilities are endless. Devon Sailing Experiences has the flexibility to offer timings to suit you and your guests, providing you with a personalised sailing experience for a maximum of 6 guests.

Get in touch to discuss your bespoke sailing options.

Introducing our new Chief Instructor – Tim Sunderland.

As you are probably aware, we have now launched our RYA training courses to begin in September 2018. Tim, former part-owner of the successful Brixham Sea School, will become our Chief Instructor. Here, he gives us a bit of background about what drives him as a yachtsman.

When did you first get the sailing bug?
I first got the bug many years ago when a friend, who used to sail 1m class model yachts, asked me if I fancied a weekend racing a 40ft yacht from Falmouth to Plymouth with the rest of the Club. How could I resist? After the first weekend, I was hooked, although it took a while to get more time on the water than twice a year. I no longer race, but if two boats of the same length are heading the same direction….?

What is your finest sailing memory?
Running out of the Thames estuary in the winter with a clear night and a very fresh breeze off the starboard quarter then passing the madness of Dover heading towards Brixham on a delivery. So many stars to look at and interesting tidal gates to get through – a great trip with good friends and great food.

What is your favourite sailing destination on the south-west coast?
Anywhere from Brixham to Mousehole really. I love the variety of ports along this section of some of Britain’s most stunning coastline – from small ports to the busy Fishing centres of Brixham, Plymouth or Newlyn.

What is your ‘go-to’ sailing meal when you are on the go?
It has to be, a good homemade – from scratch, no jars – Lasagne. Even on a 2-burner and a dodgy oven type cooker that is fitted to most yachts, it is a welcome meal that you can go back to when you’re peckish

Force 3 or Force 5?
A bit like the others, love a F5 off the rear quarter for the speed of getting somewhere. But then again, you can’t beat a good windward sail in a F4 to get the adrenaline going.

As per previous years sailing in the Autumn can be very rewarding with high pressure and lighter winds allowing us to sail both east and west with ease. We have just completed a 4-day mileage builder for one of our customers which took in Salcombe / Torquay / Fowey and Plymouth.  It also allows ‘sociable’ night sailing of a few hours each evening.

Discounts off our standard rate apply after September so if you want the quiet of an off-season sail with the upside of paying less it’s a good time to time to get involved and get sailing!

We run all the way until December weather permitting. Full refunds are given should the weather become too unsettled to sail.

Been a busy few months at Devon Sailing Experiences. Wewould like to share this new video with you of our light wind sailing from Salcombe back to Plymouth this August. The trip was one of our 2-day experiences with four onboard.

The yacht is under full main sail with a code zero (explanation below). This enables the yacht to sail in very light breezes. In this instance, the yacht had a true wind from the west of 6-7 knots and we were sailing at 5. This allows us to keep sailing when others turn their engines on. With light winds come flat seas, so it is possible to keep moving at a decent speed so long as the wind is on a close reach or close hauled (see below). The video shows the yacht on a close reach.

The Code Zero

The code 0 is an asymmetric sail developed for a tight reach in light wind sailing. It has the most upwind performance from this sail type. The luff is as straight as possible, and the sail is flatter than other spinnakers. Due to the flatness of the code 0, it is usually made with a wire luff for strength, and of a heavier, less stretchy fabric than normal for a spinnaker. Due to the tight luff and flat cut, the code 0 can be fitted for roller furling.

Racing code 0 asymmetrics can come in different sizes and cambers for varying angles and wind speeds. Manufacturers offer similar cruising code 0 designs under different names, such as the screecher and reacher for upwind and downwind respectively.

With it being International Women’s Day today, it seems like an ideal opportunity to remind you about the wonderful women we have working as part of our small Devon Sailing Experiences team.

We are lucky enough to boast Gail Wright as one of our skippers. Gail has been sailing for over 15 years and is a Commercial Yachtmaster (offshore). She qualified in 2012 following a circumnavigation of the UK. Since then, Gail has spent her time delivering yachts around the UK and Mediterranean. In 2015 she sailed from Barcelona to Mauritius, a journey of 10,000 miles which took 3 months with brief stops in Gibraltar, Las Palmas, Cape Verde and Cape Town. She has been part of Devon Sailing Experiences team in 2016.

She is keen to organise group sailing opportunities for everyone, male or female. However, it is worth noting that with Gail on board (pardon the pun!) it is possible for Devon Sailing Experiences to offer female-only sailing experiences. If you are interested in organising one for you and your friends, family or colleagues, do get in touch.

“Who should I contact?” I hear you ask.

Well, this is a job for our other super-woman. Katie Rich  (katie@devonsailingexperiences.co.uk) organises the bookings, yacht schedules, skippers, provisions, social media, finances and cleaning – a very diverse range of tasks, as you can see. When she is not in the office, she can often be found on the pontoon early in the morning or late in the evening ensuring that the yachts are immaculately prepared and waiting for our guests to arrive.

Thank you, ladies. Your work and skills are always appreciated.

We often asked whether we can provide RYA training (which we do not). This post is to address the question of why we are not an RYA sea school and why we also believe that the two compliment each other rather well.

It can be boiled down to two elements:

1. FOCUS: The products we provide are experience led and not course led.
2. EQUIPMENT: The equipment we use to support the product is of a higher quality.

Firstly,

RYA training is a prescriptive course which a group of up to 6 often sharing cabins follow in order to achieve a certificate which provides some level of yachting competence. Day skipper is by far the most common course taught and covers many aspects of sailing although it can’t go into much detail it is often used as the stepping stone to bare boat charter or buy your own boat.

We on the other hand look at what yachting *is* and build an experience around it. Apart from the obvious (that sailing is about being out on the water) we believe it’s much more than that.

We concentrate on the environment and how this is harnessed, so things like sail trim and sea handling are important to us.

We offer beautiful and interesting locations that show off the local Devon and Cornish coast lines. Our most popular destinations include Salcombe, Dartmouth, Fowey and Falmouth.

We offer a lower person to yacht ratio with a maximum of 5 on our day sails and anything from 2 – 4 on our over night / multi day experiences. Every person (unless they’re a couple) gets their own cabin, and in some cases we have en-suite cabins.

We also ensure we get to places in plenty of time to enjoy the shore side part of yachting, which usually involves adventuring out to local pubs and restaurants.

Secondly,

If you use the comparison of taking your driving test and taking your day skipper, one thing is true for both: you will not be using a highly specified machine. The reasons are rather obvious – you wouldn’t learn to drive in a Ferrari, so you wouldn’t learn to sail on a highly specified yacht. We pride ourselves on the quality of our yachts and while we encourage our charterers to take part in as much sailing and yacht handling as they choose, our commercially endorsed skippers do handle them with particular pride and care.

The yachts our customers enjoy are selected on their sailing ability, rather than their ability to just ‘do the job’. They are the types of yachts that you would personally choose if you were to buy your own.

In our opinion, our sailing experiences compliment RYA sea school training  in respect of the fact that they can be used as a ‘primer’ where guests have the opportunity to see if a training course is for them before fully committing to the time and effort required.

With sterling at it’s lowest for a number of years, it makes sense to look at alternative sailing destinations that you might otherwise have overlooked. Whilst the Mediterranean has very hot weather in the summer, here in Devon and Cornwall we enjoy comfortable low 20’s making pleasant day sails and comfortable nights sleep.

With arguably a better coastline for interesting and rewarding sailing, the south west has it all. Devon and Cornwall boast a variety of exciting destinations which are absolutely buzzing around regatta times. Alternatively, outside the peak season you can enjoy the tranquility, peacefulness and beauty that can be found in one of the many anchorages close to our base at King Point Marina in Plymouth.

Never sailed before? Not a problem! We offer skippered day sails, weekend sails and exclusive charters to suit any budget and level of experience. If you have something particular in mind, do get in touch to discuss your ideas. We specialise in bespoke charters to ensure you and your family/friends have the best sailing experience possible, visiting the southwest destinations of your choice.

Experienced bareboat charterer? We have a selection of yachts available for you. Being based in Plymouth, we are able to offer immediate access to both the Devonian and Cornish coastlines. King Point Marina is easily accessible by train (mainline station is less than 5 minutes away in a taxi) or by car (car parking is available at the marina).

Who says you need to travel abroad to enjoy an exciting and varied sailing experience?

See Devon Sailing Experiences in the summer edition of Devon Life magazine, where we share our enthusiasm and ethos with feature writer, Chrissy Harris.

Although she was an inexperienced landlubber, Chrissy took to the water with energy and enthusiasm and appeared to have a wonderful time hoisting sails, pulling lines and working the winches. You can read her report on page 205 of Devon Life magazine.

We still have places remaining on our 2-day midweek and weekend sails for this season. Check out our sailing schedule for availability. If you can’t see a suitable date, do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our very best to accommodate your requirements. Price includes 2 nights accommodation on-board our yacht, a fully-qualified skipper, mooring fees, breakfast and a light lunch whilst underway.

We also offer bareboat charter for experienced sailors. We are pleased to announce that we have now added a Bavaria 38 to our fleet which is ready to charter this August. See our charter prices page for details.