Assisted Bareboat sailing support offers sailing assistance and a little refresher with informal tuition for the first day or two of your holiday. Many bareboat charterers only sail once or twice a year and we aim to offer a helping hand to rebuild confidence. Refresh your skills to allow for a relaxing, stress-free sailing holiday.
If you are RYA Day Skipper or ICC qualified but nervous about sailing bareboat or just a bit rusty, we can help. Practice your skills with a professional skipper onboard, offering one on one personalised instruction. The instructor will be able to cover any topics required, whether it is just a case of hoisting the sails and trimming the sails correctly to each point of sail, man over board procedures to refresh the whole family, or just regaining confidence behind the helm in harbour. Our sailing support is totally flexible, it's your holiday!
Many of our guests are inexperienced at Mediterranean stern-to mooring and long lining. A days Assisted Sailing Support is a great opportunity to hone your skills in this area. Informal tuition allows you to customise what is covered, and what is focused on!
Read our blog post written by one of the instructors explaining the top 5 questions asked on an Assisted day!
We highly recommend the assisted bareboat sailing refresher for one day if you have inexperienced crew or young children - it is a fantastic way to get all of your crew involved in daily procedures on board. We can help show you and your crew safe practices and tips to help ensure a stress-free, enjoyable sailing holiday.
Wondering what the weather is like in the Ionian and when to visit? See our Ionian Islands Weather post on our blog here.
If you want more than one or two days informal tuition, then it's best to look at an RYA course, you can see more details here.
If you aren't sure which holiday is for you, go back to the Holidays summary page here or contact our office for advice.
Assisted sailing support on a bareboat charter is a great mix of doing your own thing and having a bit of backup, which makes it a suitable choice for lots of sailors.
More Confidence: It’s reassuring to have an experienced skipper on board—especially if you’re new to sailing or just don’t know the area that well.
Freedom with a Safety Net: You get to plan your own route and explore at your own pace, but you’ve also got an expert on hand if you need advice or a little help for the first day or two.
Extra Safety: Having a sailing support team around means you’ve got help with stuff like navigation, anchoring, or if anything unexpected pops up. This is a great advantage for anyone sailing as a couple for the first time, or as a family with inexperienced crew members or young children.
Learn as You Go: It’s an amazing way to pick up new sailing skills since you can learn from the pros and other experienced sailors in the group.
Social Vibes: Even though you’re in charge of your own boat, there's a social angle to having a skipper sail with you in the first day or two. They don't sleep on board though, we pick them up each evening, so you still get your privacy!
Way Less Stress: Just knowing there’s help if you need it makes things so much more relaxing—so you can really enjoy your sailing holiday without worrying about every little thing!
Assisted sailing offers flexibility and a relaxed environment without the need for a skipper to sleep onboard in the evenings. There is no pre-set time for this training, we simply “play it by ear” and see how everyone is getting on after each day.
When you arrive, the instructor will come on board with you, brief you on your yacht and then go off sailing with you. We will then meet with you later and take the skipper home at the end of the day. The following morning, the skipper will return to the yacht and teach stern-to mooring, or whatever you want to practice.
The price is £250 per day for an Assisted Skipper, and must be pre-booked.
After a day or two refresher, whenever you all feel confident enough, you take the boat yourselves and enjoy the rest of your time on holiday. You will then feel secure in the knowledge that your extra assistance will stand you in good stead. The time that you will need a skipper for a refresher varies, depending on how your confidence grows and how much tuition you would like.
We have a high speed RIB that allows us to get to your location very quickly if you require any urgent assistance. We provide 24 hour phone support as well.
For those who are new to sailing holidays, this time will cover all the important basics from safety, mooring, sails up and down, man overboard procedures to anchoring in bays. It is very relaxed teaching - at your pace! It is a very good idea for beginners and seasoned sailors who feel a little out of practice or require help to get all aboard working well together.
For anyone looking for some additional sailing support and coaching this is a great way to build confidence. Whether it be to practice Mediterranean stern-to mooring, long lining, or simply a refresher on MOB techniques or to practice sailing in stronger winds with the family. Whatever you want to learn, we are more than happy to show you.
Take a look at how we run assisted charters at Sail Ionian here
Best of The Ionian
Quiet Escapes
Short Hops
Lively Nightlife
Two Weeks South
Exploring the Northern Ionian
Avoiding Easterly Winds
The skipper must hold a minimum of an RYA Day Skipper or an International Certificate of Competence.
Learn about RYA
Trained in first aid
Sent daily by SMS
And boat briefing
And long lining
Support within an hour
In case of emergency
Get started with your booking
See our modern yacht fleet
Make your holiday count towardsyour next RYA qualification
Have more questions?Contact Us