Channel Hops

2027 dates are now available. This is probably one of the most popular ways to gain practical sailing experience and get miles added to your logbook. A typical crossing will involve around 150 miles of sailing, several hours active night sailing and valuable experience navigating the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel.

2027 dates are now available. This is probably one of the most popular ways to gain practical sailing experience and get miles added to your logbook. A typical crossing will involve around 150 miles of sailing, several hours active night sailing and valuable experience navigating the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel. For those working towards their Yachtmaster Offshore qualifications, each leg will count towards your 60M qualifying passages with night sailing. What's more you can explore beautiful French sailing towns and enjoy superb local cuisine.

The itinerary usually involves you joining the crew on a Friday evening and after safety and passage briefings with your skipper we set sail for France or the Channel Islands. The crew will be following a watch system and you'll be fully involved in a night crossing through the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel. After arriving on Saturday, you're free to explore the local town and dine ashore in one of the many local bistros. After lunch on Sunday, we'll set sail back for England and settle into a watch system as the sun sets. Arrival back in Portsmouth is usually late morning on the Monday.

You'll be encouraged to take as active a role as you'd like in aspects of the crossing such as passage planning, navigation and pilotage which, under the watchful eye of a professional skipper, is a great way to build confidence and experience. It's even possible for you to skipper an entire leg.

The fees include all waterproofs if you need them, personal safety equipment, all food on board (including plenty of snacks and refreshments) and all fuel and mooring costs.

Please note that we need to remain flexible on which destination we chose due to weather conditions at the time. For example, if the winds are southwesterly it's not much fun beating all the way to Alderney - we're more likely to pick Honfleur if that's the case.

Note that depending on tidal times and prevailing weather we may depart on a Friday evening so you should assume that you need to be in Gosport for departure from around 6pm. More details are provided in joining instructions the week before we sail.

Check out the available course dates and then contact us or book online.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact Lou or Jim for more information.