Family Sailing Staycation
Booking details
No dates currently available. Please contact us for more info.
No dates currently available. Please contact us for more info.
Joining Instructions: Please click here for course joining instructions
What is included in the cost:
We can accommodate most dietary requirements. Just let us know when you book.
Minimum Age: No minimum but Under 16’s must be accompanied by adult. Children aged 8+ tend to get the most out of the sailing experience.
Holiday Insurance: We recommend all our customers have suitable holiday insurance in place.
Unlike some centres, we include all your meals aboard – breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks. You won’t need to bring extra cash for food on the boat. The only meals you pay for separately are the occasional dinner ashore when you visit a new port.
We supply all safety equipment including life jackets and wet weather gear. Just bring deck shoes, sleeping bags and your sense of adventure.
This is for families who want a UK staycation with a difference. Instead of a cottage or caravan, you get a private yacht on the Solent. Learn to sail together, gain RYA qualifications as a family, and explore the south coast.
Perfect for:
No previous sailing experience is needed. The trip is tailored to your family’s pace and interests.
You get the whole boat to yourselves. That means the course and the holiday both adapt to what you want to do. If the kids are tired, you anchor somewhere quiet. If everyone’s keen, you push on to a new port.
The Solent is a perfect playground for family sailing. Sheltered waters, lots of interesting places to visit, and plenty of variety to keep everyone engaged.
For a shorter introduction, take a look at our Mile Building Weekend – also available for private family bookings.
Your family will be involved in every aspect of sailing the yacht – from hoisting sails and steering to keeping lookout and making lunch. Our instructor adapts everything to your family’s abilities and interests.
Typical activities:
The Solent has some of the best family sailing in the UK. Sheltered from the worst weather, with plenty of harbours, anchorages and things to see. The kids will love coming into port after a day’s sailing.
You might visit:
For longer adventures, see our Channel Island Cruises or 60mile Long Passages.
We run family sailing holidays in these formats:
All formats include a private yacht for your family only, full-board accommodation, and an RYA instructor.
For more on family sailing and RYA qualifications, see RYA training courses.
The itinerary flexes around your family. Young children? We keep trips shorter and include plenty of time for swimming, exploring ashore, and playing on deck. Teenagers? They can take more responsibility on the yacht and work toward qualifications.
We can also combine this with other activities – paddleboarding, coastal walks, or visits to attractions along the coast.
Some of our best weeks on the water have been with families. There is something special about seeing kids light up when they first take the helm, or parents realising their teenagers actually enjoy something they suggested.
The Solent is made for this kind of trip. Plenty to see, sheltered water, and enough variety to keep everyone interested. You do not need any sailing experience – we start from scratch and build up at your pace.
If you are thinking about a family sailing holiday, just give us a call. We will talk through what would work for your family and sort out the details.
We have been running family trips for years and know what works. Different ages need different approaches, and we tailor everything to your group.
The yacht is comfortable too – proper beds, a galley for cooking, a saloon for eating and playing games. It is a floating holiday home that happens to go places.
Related: West Coast Exploration for families with older children who want bigger adventures, or Channel Island Cruises for a longer family voyage.
No dates currently available. Please contact us for more info.
Our exciting and very popular luxury 7-day Channel Island Cruises are aimed at breaking the confines of the Solent for a relaxed and enjoyable Channel Islands adventure. They are a great way to relax, gain sea miles, enhance your sailing skills and knowledge with a Channel Crossing, and see the beautiful Channel Islands along with some incredible sailing. All under the watchful eye of our professional Skipper. REDUCED PRICE FOR 2025!
Take a look at our live course calendar for dates for the Channel Island Cruise!
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Our Mile Building Weekends are the perfect way to build-up your sea miles and gain valuable experience and knowledge at the helm as Skipper or as crew under the watchful eye of one of our expert Instructors. With longer, more involved & exciting passages, sometimes including night sailing, it’s an adventure outside the confines of the Solent and a great way to gain confidence in the waters around the South Coast.
Take a look at our live course calendar for dates for the Mile Building Weekend!
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The bigger brother of our famous Mile builder weekends. Our 60nm “Long Passages” Mile Builders are the perfect way to build sea sailing miles and gain valuable experience sailing. With longer, more involved passages, you’ll get to see places like Cherbourg and the Channel Islands. Perfect as qualifying passages for you budding RYA Yachtmasters out there. We operate these over 3, 5 & 7 days, so plenty of choice.
Take a look at our live course calendar for dates for the 60nm Long Passage Mile Builders!
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Our West Coast Exploration trips take you beyond the Solent for proper offshore sailing along the south coast. Sail from Gosport through the West Country, visiting ports like Dartmouth, Plymouth and Falmouth. Weather permitting, we push out to the Isles of Scilly. These trips are about mile building, passage planning, and getting real sea time under an experienced skipper.
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Exciting Channle islands exploration!! This will be my third time with Commodore, no regrets. 😁 Such a great trip exploring the Channle islands and northern France. We got to see lovely towns in Guernsey and Jersey as well as a fab market in Cherbourg. The sailing was so great! Over 350 miles covered and well over doubled my night hours. Big shoutout and thank you to our amazing skipper Ed who always had to the best recommendation and was so flexible to what we wanted to do as a group. He was an amazing support through out the trip, gave great MOB training and help in passage planning. Boat was great as always. Amazing experience and can’t wait to go on similar trips with the company.
Orla SimpsonWe did a mile builder channel crossing with Karen. She was absolutely brilliant, a great combination of confident and relaxed to help us build our feeling of confidence. Would highly recommend the mile builder with her. Overall a tiring but extremely rewarding experience. Thank you Karen!!
Ana Sofia Almagro