“Young Sailors Academy” is a special project that’s very close to our hearts. Organising family sailing trips with children is always a big responsibility, and every detail has to be thought through. But the result is worth it!
WHAT IS IT?
“Young Sailors Academy” is more than just sailing! We know from experience that a yacht trip with hands-on learning and real involvement in life on board is a complete change of scenery and routine. It’s a reset for adults and children alike, and a great alternative to the usual hotel holiday.
Children’s regattas offer a new and unique emotional experience: travelling together with your child, with no passive roles for anyone.
Parents discover new sides of their children: their wisdom and courage, their readiness to work as a team and tackle challenges, and their happiness at every minute spent at sea.
WHAT’S THE FORMAT?
Format: an active holiday for children and parents, with 3–4 hours a day on the water.
During passages, the skippers share their knowledge of handling a yacht, plotting a course, setting sails and much more. Nights are spent in ports and at anchor in quiet bays. There’s plenty of swimming, games and walks, along with new knowledge and skills.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Led by experienced skippers and youth leaders, the team sets off on a week-long sea expedition aboard comfortable cruising yachts. We choose qualified skippers who teach the crew the basics of seamanship and inspire adults and children alike with a love of the sea and adventure!
WHAT WILL WE DO?
Together with the skippers, we’ll hoist the sails, take the helm and plot routes on charts. With the youth leaders, we’ll learn to tie sailor’s knots, have a picnic on a desert island, climb a mountain, sing lots of songs, ride the “pirate swing” and get properly salted in the “pirate jacuzzi”! We’ll learn to find the North Star, the Great Bear and the Little Bear in the night sky. While the children are busy having fun, parents can spend their free time on their own interests, or join the kids, which often turns out to be even more fun!
No more worrying about how to keep the children busy on holiday. Especially for parents, we’ve come up with “parents’ hour”: every evening the youth leaders take the children to watch a film on deck under the stars, talk about the day and make plans for tomorrow. Meanwhile, parents can relax after dinner with a glass of wine or take a stroll along the shore.
WHAT ABOUT MEALS?
Breakfasts and lunches are cooked on board together or in turns, with each crew cooking on its own boat. Dinners are usually at small restaurants ashore. Groceries are bought from the boat kitty, which the crew puts together; around €150 per person per week is usually enough. Restaurants and alcohol are not covered by the kitty.
WHERE DO WE STAY?
Children and parents stay on the boats in comfortable double cabins.
There are 3 bathrooms with showers and hot water for every 5 cabins (depending on the boat model). Each boat has its own fully equipped galley.
A children’s regatta always balances learning with fun and relaxation. Passages are short, 1.5–3 hours, and every day we land on new beaches and spend lots of time active on shore.
And no gadgets! First, there’s no time for them. Second, nobody even thinks about them!
WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF IT?
By the end of the trip, parents and children will know what the jobs of a deckhand, boatswain, navigator, radio operator and first mate involve. They’ll also know what a bowline is, how to tie on fenders, make a line fast on a cleat, cast off and take mooring lines, and how to shout “Anchor’s aweigh!” good and loud as we set off. Along with new experiences and vivid memories, you’ll come home with new friends, and not only the children but their parents too! Sailing brings whole families together all over the world, and they love visiting each other and meeting up again at new regattas!
SAFETY AND HEALTH
All participants must have travel insurance. Insurance is not included in the price, so please make sure your policy covers active water sports.
The first-aid kit on board will be a standard travel kit. If you have specific medical needs, please bring the necessary medication with you. It’s also important to fill out the medical form carefully for each participant.
FROM WHAT AGE CAN CHILDREN JOIN?
Our children’s programmes are designed for kids aged around 6 to 12. For younger children, let’s talk it over. We’ve had four-year-olds join us who felt great and fit right in. Younger children may find the conditions of a sailing trip challenging, but most importantly, it may be hard for you as parents. If you have any doubts, let’s talk: give us a call or message us on WhatsApp and we’ll discuss everything. All our skippers on children’s regattas are dads themselves, so they know how to get kids excited about sailing and how to connect with them.
Children over 12 are grouped together by interests: they help the youth leaders and act as real first mates. With the parents’ agreement, we can also put together a separate boat for teenagers, with an experienced youth leader and an experienced skipper, where the teens take care of everything on board themselves. This yacht sails in the same flotilla as all the others, so we’ll all be together at every stop and swim.
WHAT DOES OUR DAY LOOK LIKE?
8:30–9:00 – Rise & Shine! Morning exercises and flashmob dances with our youth leaders right on the beach
9:00–10:30 – Breakfast and getting the yachts ready to set sail
11:00–13:00 – Passage: sailing, swimming, the “pirate swing” and the “pirate jacuzzi”
13:00–14:00 – Lunch
14:00–16:00 – Passage to our overnight anchorage
16:00–17:00 – The flotilla moors for the night
17:00–18:00 – Youth leaders’ programme for the kids
18:00–20:00 – Dinner time
20:30–22:00 – Kids’ programme with the youth leaders and a separate programme for adults
PRICE:
€2,000 per person (based on double occupancy) on a sailing yacht
€3,000 per person (based on double occupancy) on a catamaran with a hostess
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE PRICE:
Kids’ programme
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE:
