Racing yacht charter

laika

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Apologies in advance for this: it's a bit like one of those "I've seen La Vagabonde on youtube now what do I need to sail round the world?" questions on scuttlebutt.

I have little interest in round-the-cans but have always wanted to try a "proper" short-handed ocean racing boat. In the back of my mind there's a vague dream of trading my house-buying ambitions for a class 40 and the 2026 route de rhum but I have never sailed anything sportier than a first 40 so that's a very long way off. I'd really like to "have a go of" something like a figaro (2 fine, don't need foils). I don't have the racing CV to convince anyone to take me as crew. Things I'm thinking of are:
* Bareboat charter for a week from UK or France: not for a race but just to criss-cross the channel. I have a sailing buddy I could share the cost with which might also mitigate restrictions on chartering to single-handers.
* Some sort of paid-for race training for a couple of days

This would be post-lockdown-restrictions obviously.

Thoughts for options and suggestions for suppliers? Google has turned up a couple of possibilities but I'm guessing charter for those sort of boats is niche enough that folks aren't throwing a ton of money at SEO for their web sites.
 

flaming

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Wow, exciting plans!

I don't know anything specific for short handed charter, but then just about every non current generation Class 40 not being actively campaigned already is effectively for sale or charter. Just maybe not advertised... Same with every IMOCA.... But I think most would be on a long term lease agreement, rather than a borrow one for a week type charter.

To be honest, at this stage I'd be thinking of maybe scaling the ambitions down slightly from the Route De Rhum to the Transquarda Transquadra 2020-2021 | Transat solitaire et double réservée aux amateurs.. (Assuming you are over 40) And looking for something like a Sunfast, JPK or a Pogo. That way you could spend a year or 2 doing doublehanded RORC and JOG races in the burgeoning UK doublehanded scene then do the Atlantic race. It's either single or doublehanded. RORCs transatlantic race if you're too young to qualify for the T! Ok, so not as exciting as a Class 40, but will be a much, much cheaper option, and gets you sailing a boat that you can learn a lot about shorthanded racing in, then decide if you still want to go for the Route De Rhum.
 

ridgy

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These guys have stopped doing crew spots but whole boat charter of a class 40 might possible:
https://dreamortwosailing.co.uk/sailing-programme/sailing-programme-2016/

Or perhaps a spot of sunshine is in order?
https://www.fastsailing.gr/the-yachts/sail/high-performance-line/

They also do specific racing courses with short handed skippers:
Train & Race | Fastsailing

I met class 40 sailor Mikael Ryking earlier this year and he sometimes does charter and training on his boat:
http://www.rykingoceanracing.com/academy/

None of it will be cheap but then you probably knew that and I don't think you'll find many options for bareboating something like that.
 

laika

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I am unfortunately over 40 and having just spent 12 weeks looking after my elderly parents in lockdown have come to the conclusion that I don't want to waste the remaining years of fitness I have. I have no expectations of winning anything ever but just wanted to try a full-on racing boat, initially double handed, not so much for the racing, but for the experience of sailing *that type of boat* and to see if it's something I'd want to do more of. If I just wanted to do some offshore racing I'd sell my heavy cruising boat and buy a cruiser/racer but that's not really the objective.

I've seen a couple of sites like the ones which ridgy mentions (thanks for the additions) which probably warrant further investigation, although absolutely what I *don't* want is to be part of a full crew which is probably what the pricing model for some of that stuff is geared towards. Further investigation required and maybe I'll start sending out a few emails when lockdown is eased more.
 

James_Calvert

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There was an outfit, Artemis, at the Soton Boat Show a few years ago which offered show goers a short free bookable taster session in a Figaro. My son had a go.

They were obviously focused on attracting new punters for the fleet.

Maybe they still are?
 

Solent Sailor

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You will learn a whole lot more about racing, technically and tactically, as part of a crew than you will as an individual - at least initially. The learning curve will be so steep if you try to go it alone.

Find a good, not a big, racing/training outfit. There are lots, not perhaps obvious at the moment given that much racing has been postponed. Do a RORC season, or ideally a Fastnet campaign with them, then go short or single handed.
 

laika

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Thanks for replies and PMs. Plenty to go on. My motivation is not really that of a racer. My own boat is weighed down with the accoutrements of a liveaboard but I have this odd desire to see what it's like to go long distances really fast. If that hooked me and I did take it further it would be more for the "taking part" with the objective of "finishing" or possibly find some obscure and amusing "record" to establish simply because no-one had ever bothered with it before.

I'd looked at mini-transat boats but I'm somewhat on the tall side and not a masochist ;-)
 

Lloydus123

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Apologies in advance for this: it's a bit like one of those "I've seen La Vagabonde on youtube now what do I need to sail round the world?" questions on scuttlebutt.

I have little interest in round-the-cans but have always wanted to try a "proper" short-handed ocean racing boat. In the back of my mind there's a vague dream of trading my house-buying ambitions for a class 40 and the 2026 route de rhum but I have never sailed anything sportier than a first 40 so that's a very long way off. I'd really like to "have a go of" something like a figaro (2 fine, don't need foils). I don't have the racing CV to convince anyone to take me as crew. Things I'm thinking of are:
* Bareboat charter for a week from UK or France: not for a race but just to criss-cross the channel. I have a sailing buddy I could share the cost with which might also mitigate restrictions on chartering to single-handers.
* Some sort of paid-for race training for a couple of days

This would be post-lockdown-restrictions obviously.

Thoughts for options and suggestions for suppliers? Google has turned up a couple of possibilities but I'm guessing charter for those sort of boats is niche enough that folks aren't throwing a ton of money at SEO for their web sites.
I picked up a deliver on a class 40 before, on crewseekers , was awesome , little
Gems like this pop up on there from time to time , just weather your willing to pay the subscription I suppose
 
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