It’s My First Voyage

Want to Learn to Sail? 

We believe in ‘learning by doing’, so even if you come purely for a holiday, you will learn new skills effortlessly, as part of the process of going sailing and living at sea.

If you are

• a complete beginner,
• a dinghy sailor who wants to try live-aboard sailing
• a modern yacht sailor, who wants to try traditional sailing.

Then

We have a huge choice of day sails, taster weekends, Royal Yachting Association (RYA) courses, or weeks away exploring amazing destinations.

Excited to Try Your First Sailing Experience?

• We have introduced over 10 000 people to sailing since 1997
• Most people come on their own
• All vessels have qualified, dedicated skippers
• You don’t have to start with a RYA Course (but we do run beginners RYA courses called RYA Competent Crew Course)
• No barriers to adventure – beginners can sign up for any length of voyage or destination
• All our voyages include sailing instruction
• Safety equipment, lifejackets etc are all provided

Practical and ‘Hands On’ Sailing – Guaranteed

Our ethos across the whole fleet is ‘hands-on’ sailing.

All our voyages are sailing courses, with training as an integral part of the experience, because ‘you are the crew’.  If you want a sailing adventure where you are a needed and valuable member of a team, whatever your age or ability, then chose Classic Sailing.

On our smaller vessels, the skipper may be the only professional on board, so you will learn every aspect of being a sailor, from how to ‘hand, reef and steer’ to identifying navigational features, or your role in helping to save lives in an emergency. On our tall ships there are more staff to train you, so you will still get plenty of individual attention.

Sailing for All – No Experience Needed

Classic Sailing has never aimed our activity holidays exclusively at sailors. Since 1997 we have introduced thousands of people to sailing and travel under sail.

Our skippers will teach you to sail, and we will teach you very well, because we can’t go anywhere without you. You are the crew and on traditionally rigged vessels it is all about teamwork, so don’t worry about whether you are tall enough, strong enough, agile enough as there are important jobs for all abilities. Like any new outdoor sport or adventure activity there is a lot of jargon to learn, but even on a three day voyage you will leave feeling and sounding like a sailor.

Accommodation

Shared Accommodation

Traditional sailing vessels are not spacious and the majority of accommodation is in shared accommodation cabins of four or more people.

Some vessels have two-berth cabins which are normally reserved for two people travelling together and are more expensive than larger shared cabins.

Solo Majority

Most of our sailors travel as solo travellers and shared accommodation is both more economical and secure.

Shared cabins are always the same gender.

Security

The beauty of sharing a cabin of four or more people is the security it offers. It would feel more insecure to share with one other person in a closed cabin, even though they are of the same gender.

If you prefer total privacy two-berth cabins may be available for single occupancy at an additional charge. If the voyage you are interested in offers two-person cabins please contact us to ask about availability and price of single occupancy.