Yacht Charter - Solent/South Coast

Whitelighter

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I would like to charter a large sail boat, 10/12 berth so I guess would be around 45-50ft in length.

Looking for a weekend charter - does anybody have any reccommendations as there are hundreds of charter bods and I havent the time to look for a boat that big among all the other smaller stuff.

Many thanks

Jez
 
The big flappy bits wave around a bit and knock the unworthy overboard! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Re: You should

You got there before me....best Charter company I have ever dealt with, and he has some nice big boats
 
My boat is with Solent Yacht Charter based at Haslar in Gosport.
Although my boat would't fit your requirements they seem a reasonable set up...
But then I would say that wouldn't I.. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I notice that a number of others have recommended Hamble Point Yacht Charters , I agree HPYC may not be the cheapest but I believe they are one of the best. I have to declare an interest as my boat is with them and sleeps up to 10 but its the reason its with them that you may also find interesting.

Our 1st boat was with a sailing school. It was heavily used and the repairs botched and the sailing school NEVER caused one breakage it was always the boat.

Hamble Point Yacht charters were recommended to me. I met Doug and he made it clear that he would not take my boat as he only wanted excellent condition preferably nearly new and well equiped boats. I was disappointed but liked the standards he was setting.

When I bought the next new boat I placed it with Doug and was amazed at the difference in standard for both cleanliness and maintenance.

While Hamble Point YC check all the boats thorougly I believe that only by using it can a "complete" check be made. Doug agrees with this and encourages the owners to sail their own boat on a regular basis and report any shortcomings.

I also contacted Fairview but decided that as they owned a number of boats themselves (I don't know whether this is still the case) they would tend to charter these first.

If you do look elsewhere look carefully at the specification as the difference in equipment level can increase the basic cost of the boat by up to £20,000. Knowing how much I have paid for all the best Raymarine chartplotters/radar and other equipment I do wonder why some people complain on this forum about the standard of some charter boats when they actually only got what they paid for.

If this posting has tempted any of you to go down the Charter Ownership route I repeat what I have posted before. You can NEVER pay for the boat out of income only subsidise the running cost and you end up not owning your own boat but the "pool" boat (like using the pool car at work!). For me it enables me to be able to afford to run a boat I would not otherwise be able to but its not for everyone. SWMBO still gets upset if any new scratches appear on the woodwork and I just cry as I have to pay for them to be French Polished out each time!

Have a good time whoever you charter with!
 
Possibly not big enough, but seem dependable.

Boat%20Hire.jpg
 
Bavs - Fairview @ Port Hamble - check their incoming boats with a toothcombe, so well prepared going out.
Also, Jeanneau - Lymington Yacht Charters, boats are excellently kept by 'arnie'.
Lots of others of course, but these probably have biggest fleet after S/Sail in Solent.
 
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