Family flotilla sailing holiday, Stradling Family July 2014

We had mixed abilities and some sailing experience with other holiday sailing companies both from an onshore base and with flotilla’s and were now looking to take our skills to the next level while on a summer sailing holiday.

My wife, Mia and Sam all wanted to take Competent crew again and I wanted to gain Day Skipper  status by completing the Theory Course on-line prior to the holiday and then complete the practical course in the first week of our 2 week sailing holiday.

Our goal was to attempt to become proficient enough to be able to consider chartering our own yacht in the future thus giving us the option of moving away from flotilla holidays which from experience had sometimes been a little too large and loud!

So, having done some research we happen to come across Island Sailing. Conversations with the leaders of the company immediately gave the impression that they were aware of some of the limitations and frustrations of customers who perhaps had no choice but to become part of a flotilla due to limited sailing experience.

Island Sailing aimed to provide all the knowledge, training and support to enable customers to gain further sailing qualifications but also and just as importantly enable them to have a very enjoyable flotilla. Great emphasis was put on limited size flotilla’s (no more than 6 yachts) and the culture of the company and staff who would always be on hand to help and support, particularly with advice on route planning, setting off in the morning and the all-important parking at night, but keep at arm’s length if families wanted to enjoy eating, drinking and spending some time alone rather than as part of a big group.

Another one of the concerns we had was how the practical side of the training would work during the first week. While we wanted to pass the aforementioned courses, we were nervous about having a skipper on board with our family for a whole week. Island Sailing were keen to impress upon us that while this understandably causes some concern, many families had already had successful holidays and actually enjoyed the company of a skipper on board.

They suggested a yacht configuration over the 2 weeks (Bavaria 45 the first week and Bavaria 40 the second week) that would allow enough room to maintain some more room and privacy. So while I (and my wife) maintained some reservations about this particular part of the brief, Island Sailing ticked all the necessary boxes and we booked.

Well, Island Sailing exceeded all expectations.

The yachts were beautiful and each under 4 years old. Andy, our skipper for the first week, was a truly magnificent teacher who made himself so scarce when we weren’t sailing that we had to search for him to buy him a beer in the evenings. It actually didn’t feel like we had anyone else on board once we moored for the evening.

Island Sailing gave clear briefings each morning which included departure instructions, good lunch stops in quiet bays, wind directions and speeds and mooring instructions for the end of the day.

The locations for each of the overnight moorings were all beautiful. Our past experience with big flotillas was that the size of the flotilla limited the selection of overnight stops to really large marina’s that were loud, dirty and packed with other flotillas who had to force yachts to arrive early to ensure the large flotilla would all get in! Not the case when you only have 5 or 6 yachts. Equally there were none of the group drinking sessions, dinners or cheesy Butlins type team games that we experienced with another flotilla sailing company and felt pressurised to join.

We did however enjoy the company of the Island Sailing team and the other families on the flotilla so much over the 2 weeks that we did choose to share many meals together in the evening balanced with a few when we just ate together as a family.

Would I book another flotilla sailing holiday with Island Sailing? An unequivocal, yes. Booking my own charter can wait until I am good and ready and have the confidence to plan a route and take full charge on my own. This flotilla was the best of both worlds. You feel on your own for the most part but always have the support when you need it.

By the way, we all passed our respective courses.

I have travelled to many locations and been on many different holidays, some chilled and some very adventurous ones with my family and as a guest of companies I have worked for in some amazing venues and some of the best hotels in the world so you can rest assure, I have knowledge enough to be able to measure quality and recognise it when I see it.

Thank you to all at Island Sailing for a wonderful sailing holiday experience.

Regards to all

Mark Stradling

The Stradling family, Hampshire: Family Flotilla Sailing Holiday + RYA Sailing Courses, July 2014