Price
£1196
Nights
Nine
Age range
18-65
Start port
Plymouth
End port
Belfast
Passport
Yes
DofE
Yes
RYA
Competent Crew
Voyage code
CF716
Bursary
Available
Voyage highlights
Ever fancied sailing round the famous Fastnet Rock?
Then join us on this 10-day adventure voyage, where you’ll sail from Plymouth to Belfast via the Fastnet Rock off the south coast of Ireland, covering more than 500 nautical miles on board one of our magnificent Challenger yachts!
Prior sailing experience is advantageous. However, if you have a thirst for adventure and a can-do attitude for physical and mental challenges, then this is not essential.
During the voyage, you can achieve your RYA Competent Crew certificate and complete the residential section of your Gold DofE Award, if this applies to you.
Our Challengers are 72ft ocean-going steel yachts, constructed to withstand the Southern Ocean. Launched in 2000, they raced round the world in two editions of the BT Global Challenge, the route taking them against prevailing winds and currents, through some of the most challenging sailing conditions on the planet.
This means that our Challengers are the perfect for this type of voyage and will make it an exhilarating and unforgettable experience!
On board, you’ll meet like-minded individuals, aged from 18 to 65, who you’ll quickly bond with to form one crew.
Plus, you’ll be supporting our life-changing youth development work. Proceeds from our adult voyages support our charity’s vital work with young people aged 12-25 from across the UK.
On the passage out of Plymouth, there may be the opportunity to stop in Alderney, Sark or Guernsey in the Channel Islands.
You’ll then head northwest towards Ireland, and once past Land’s End, you’ll be aiming for Dublin, passing by the Isle of Man, before you arrive in Belfast. Depending on the weather, the Skipper will decide whether to head round the Fastnet rock before or after stopping in Dublin.
The passage towards Belfast will then take you back south through the Irish Sea, before we make our final port.
New skills. Increased confidence. New friendships. Memories.
Throughout the week, you’ll learn and experience:
- Offshore passage sailing
- Steering a yacht
- Night sailing
- Sail handling
- Ropework
- How to keep safeonboard
We divide the crew into two teams (watches)– you’ll take it in turns to be involved in all aspects of sailing the Challenger from deck duties to cooking and cleaning.
This voyage is a great opportunity to build your confidence and widen your sailing experience.
And if all this isn’t enough… We want you to know, that our adult sailing experiences give you an exhilarating journey that directly enables more young people to benefit from our transformational youth development programme.
The Skipper will determine the final route depending on weather and other variables.
If you share our values and are keen to do more, you may be able to support our vital work further by joining the TSYT Volunteer Crew.
Your Skipper can recommend you for our Watch Leader training programme if they feel you have the skills and attributes that we’re looking for.
All meals on board are included.
You’ll hopefully get the chance to complete the RYA Competent Crew course while you’re on board.
The syllabus includes:
- Sea terms and parts of a boat, rigging and sails
- Sail handling
- Ropework
- Fire precautions
- Personal safety equipment
- Man overboard
- Emergency equipment
- Manners and customs
- Rules of the ‘road’ (at sea)
- Dinghies
The cost of your RYA certificate is included in the price.
RYA logbooks are available for purchase onboard at a cost of £6 (Skippers are only able to take cash for this).
All our voyages of four nights or more qualify for the DofE Gold Residential award. Please let our Reservations Team know before sailing if you want to use the voyage for this.
You’ll be asked to enter your passport details as part of the booking process. If you don’t have these to hand, please contact us as soon as possible after submitting your booking form to let us know your details, as we cannot accept your booking without this information.
You will also need to present your valid passport to the Skipper at the start of the voyage.
