Charter smallish yacht - UK or Med

[cath1602]

I want to charter a yacht for myself and my husband. We are pretty experienced sailors, and used to own a 25ft boat in the Solent, but I would be nervous about handling a 40ft or larger boat between just the two of us.

Anyone know of any companies that have smaller yachts for charter?

Catherine

 

[photodog]

Most of the big guys will do yachts down to around 32 feet in the popular destinations... so shouldnt be a problem with Sunsail in Greece, Horizon in the BVI's did us a 32 foot bavaria a few years back... In the West Country Liberty used to have a couple of boats circa 30-32 feet available... as well we have chartered in Brixham from Plain Sailing a Benetau 311 and a Gibsea 33 in the past. We also chartered in Croabh and the Clyde boats circa 32 feet...

In the Med Nelson do 33 foot Bene's and smaller and Sailing Holidays has a fleet of Jaguar 28's still on the books....

So in the most popular places the big operators will have some smaller yachts... but small boats are not that popular because large boats are more profitable, as they can pack in more peeps so they are less costly per head...

More challenging locations tend not to have the smaller boats... iirc I couldnt find anything under 38 feet in Antigua or the Sychelles...

If you go to "Late Sail" you will get a good selection of good prices from all the operators, and you can choose the size you prefer.

 

[Sgeir]

It's over ten years since we last chartered, but some of the Scottish firms like Flamingo have smaller yachts. And usually at a reasonable cost.

 

[Tranona]

Most of the operators in the Ionian have a few 32 and 34 footers on their fleets, and some have even smaller and older boats. However, don't go small because you are worried about your ability to handle a larger boat. 36-38ft is a good size for two - you really value the extra space in warm climates. Remember there are no tides, very little wind and once you get the hang of mooring stern to you should have no problems. Most boats have in mast furling, electric windlasses, good size engines and go backwards reliably, so are relatively easy to handle. My wife and I never had any problems with our Bavaria 37 because of its size.

 

[rotrax]

I want to charter a yacht for myself and my husband. We are pretty experienced sailors, and used to own a 25ft boat in the Solent, but I would be nervous about handling a 40ft or larger boat between just the two of us.

Anyone know of any companies that have smaller yachts for charter?

Catherine

Hi, First mate and I plus another couple from our winter talks club got a good deal out of Mahon in Menorca. We chartered a Gibsea 33 in late March from Menorca Cruising. They are primarily a training outfit but charter when boats are not in use. Usual disclaimers.

 

[Barney Rubble]

We have a Beneteau 21.7 for charter down in Plymouth

 

[lustyd]

Cornish Cruising have a 29' Sadler and a 26' Westerly Centaur on their books and I've always found them easy to deal with. Based in Falmouth so cruising area would include Scillies to Plymouth in a week. No connection other than a course and a (near) charter.
Cheers
Dave