skipper in yacht

How to become a skipper

So you want to be a yacht skipper.

Many yachting graduates choose to start their careers on smaller yachts where they have the opportunity to refine their sailing skills and develop a great reputation. Being a Flotilla Skipper, Charter Skipper or Delivery Skipper is a great way to start working afloat in an industry you love.

What’s a skipper?

A skipper is a person who has command of a boat or watercraft and is more or less equivalent to a captain in charge of a ship. The skipper may or may not be the owner of the boat.

There are a number of types of different roles including flotilla, charter and delivery skippers.

Flotilla Skipper

What does a flotilla skipper do.

A flotilla skipper is responsible for the running, sailing, maintenance and guest care of a yacht forming part of a holiday flotilla or sometimes the entire group of up to 20 yachts, which form the flotilla.

Flotilla holiday companies often operate in the Mediterranean, you can earn anything between €100 – €250 per week (depending on operator) but can also earn some reasonable tips.

Working as a flotilla skipper is a great way to build on your miles.

Personality traits

You will need to be an outgoing and friendly personality who can accommodate guests at all times. You will need to be organised and efficient to cover all admin and paperwork as well as deliver safety and technical briefings, conduct general maintenance and assist guests with sailing.

Flotilla Skipper Salary

Flotilla holidays companies often operate in the Mediterranean, you can earn anything between €100 – €250 per week (depending on operator) but can also earn reasonable tips.

Flotilla Skipper Jobs

The types of jobs vary on different vessels. Some of your tasks will include but not be limited to:

• De-fouling propellers and replacing anodes before launching
• Checking and replacing all deck fittings where necessary
• Assisting engineers with out-of–water work
• Checking skin fittings
• Replacing running rigging
• Hoisting anchors
• Servicing winches
• Hoisting sails
• Fitting biminis
• Fitting guardrails
• Checking dinghies
• Splicing and whipping ropes

Charter Skipper

What does a charter skipper do.

A Charter Skipper manages and captains a yacht that has been hired out to paying guests. This role typically involves taking command of 35 – 60ft yachts (catamarans are particularly popular) operating in the Mediterranean or Caribbean.

You will have a busy schedule with a high turnover of guests during the season that will want to pack a lot into their 1 or 2-week holiday.

You will need to be an outgoing and friendly personality who is committed to providing the highest level of customer service.

A hard-working attitude is required, as you will be responsible for all aspects of the charter operation from maintenance and passage planning to the general management of the yacht.

Charter Skipper Salary

Charter Skipper salaries range based on experience, position, size of yacht, and type (charter vs private). Here is a simplified break down of monthly skipper crew salaries in dollars:

Charter Skipper Jobs

There are several responsibilities for a charter skipper. These include but not limited to:

• Planning the entire passage to the proposed destination, possibly over a number of days
• Navigating the vessel
• Knowing how to operate and maintain all the equipment on board
• Taking care of the safety of the vessel and the crew
• Management of the vessel in all respects
• It is the responsibility of the skipper to ensure that whatever trip the vessel is making whether for fishing or for holidays, he follows the regulations and maritime laws

Delivery Skipper

What does a delivery skipper do.

A delivery skipper is responsible for the safe journey of a yacht to its new owner or meeting the owner of the boat at a particular destination.

You are your own boss when working as a Delivery Skipper, you don’t have the responsibility of guests but it is up to you to make sure that the boat gets there safely and on time.

Delivery skippers usually work on a freelance basis or for an agency, either way, both will be looking for skilled sailors so your level of qualification and experience on the water will determine how much work you will pick up.

You will need to be a determined and reliable person with a good work ethic. Taking on this type of role means that you will have the benefit of a flexible lifestyle, you could be working for long periods of time followed by long periods of time at home, this role could also take you to any part of the world.

Delivery Skipper Salary

Your travel and food expenses will be paid for while on a delivery, freelance delivery skippers often negotiate their own wage but on average you could expect to be paid between £100 – £140 per day. As a newly qualified Yachtmaster, you will need to build on your miles and experience before taking on the role of skipper.

You can do this by joining a delivery as a crew member (often unpaid).

Delivery Skipper Jobs

• The safe handling and navigation of a vessel
• Ensuring that all activities are carried out in accordance with Safety and Operating Procedures
• Leading and supervising the regular crew and any relief crew and volunteers
• Looking after the welfare of clients, crew, volunteers, and trainees, including morale and discipline
• Dealing with unexpected issues which might arise, such the need to implement emergency repairs
• Maintaining paperwork
• Being professional, and acting with tact and diplomacy at all times (both on and off the vessel)

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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

How to be a good skipper: ooze calm and confidence but don’t shout!

• March 29, 2016

No two skippers are the same and everyone has different leadership styles, but Chris Tibbs believes certain traits will make you into a skipper that crew will want to sail with

Photo: Mahina Expeditions

We become skippers by a number of different routes; many dinghy sailors will eventually become yacht owners after years of crewing on different yachts. Sea schools are well attended and boats are often keen to take on crew from schools, allowing students to gain experience and miles to help with qualification.

There are also many people who come to sailing later in life; after buying a boat, these people tend to learn from the experience of sailing their own yacht.

I think it is also fair to say that, along with the many ways of getting into sailing and becoming a skipper, good skippers will have different leadership styles – no two are the same. Over the years, having sailed with many different skippers, I have noticed a number of common traits in a good skipper.

By melding together the points I like in a skipper this has hopefully made me a better skipper, both for when I was working commercially running yachts, and now aboard my own.

Photos: Paul Wyeth

I find that a skipper who is calm and confident goes a long way to maintaining a nice feel to a boat. Easily said, but it is a fine balance between confidence and arrogance; and being too laidback can give an impression of laziness, extending to preparations and maintenance. Staying calm and in control during a crisis rubs off on the whole crew and the boat becomes much quieter and under control.

Don’t shout

There is plenty of time for a please and thank you, along with an explanation of what needs doing and how it should be done. It also gives time to work on a solution to any problems and avoids panicked decisions. This is communication in a way that is effective and also pleasant.

People dislike being shouted at (I certainly do); it inhibits crew doing their job as they are afraid of getting it wrong, so they wait until told to do something. This can be very frustrating for a skipper, particularly when racing and the pressure is on, which in turn leads to more shouting.

Article continues below…

ARC weather man Chris Tibbs prepares his boat for ocean cruising

When we bought our Wauquiez Centurion 40s, Taistealai, for ocean cruising, starting with the ARC this year, we had a…

Offshore weather planning: the options for receiving weather data at sea

When I skippered a yacht in the first Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) 30 years ago the weather planning information…

I equate the amount of noise on board to be in inverse proportion to the sum of knowledge. I do find that being on a boat with a skipper who stands behind the wheel shouting at the crew is not much fun and, if asked back, will generally decline the invitation.

There is something great about helming your own boat in a race, but if you are also trying to run all aspects of the boat from behind the helm you can get stressed. Then your helming declines as your concentration jumps from one task to another.

It is much better to have a crew boss or mate who controls the running of the boat, managing manoeuvring instructions and allowing the skipper to concentrate on helming. The alternative is for the skipper to manage the running of the boat and have a different helmsman. Large racing boats will often have separate helmsman, navigator and tactician, with the skipper in overall control.

This is another important lesson: delegation and training. There are many decisions taken on board that really do not need to involve the skipper once a general plan has been made.

For example, does the skipper really need to micromanage all the food that is bought for a transatlantic passage ? By delegating a large proportion of the running of the yacht to others it does free up the skipper to focus attention on the more important issues.

5 top tips for a good skipper

• Communicate clearly.
• Stay calm and confident.
• Promote fairness and listen to your crew (treat them with respect).
• Be cheerfully available at all times, whenever called.
• Act decisively.

I skippered a yacht in the BT Global Challenge where everyone on board had an area of responsibility, although things would be discussed. We split things up in a number of ways: for example, one crewmember, who worked in the oil industry, was the safety officer.

It was their responsibility to make sure all our safety equipment was in working order and serviced. They would also give a safety briefing to new crewmembers as to where equipment was stowed and how it should be used.

By giving responsibility to a crewmember, it relieves some of the skipper’s duties, but more importantly it helps crew quickly become part of the team. During the last ARC one of our crew arrived only a couple of days before the start – immediately he set to work on a jobs list and his comment afterwards was that it allowed him to familiarise himself with the boat and made him feel part of the crew.

Part of the skipper’s job is to explain and teach; it is pointless to get angry at a crewmember for doing something wrong if they have never been shown how to do it right.

Although it is often easier to do something yourself than explain how it should be done, it is important for other members of the crew to be able to tackle particular jobs.

Then if something needs doing in a stressful situation they will not be doing it for the first time under pressure, when something is very likely to go wrong.

Some crew may not be very experienced, but all should be willing to learn – with a bit of help and encouragement they will soon become efficient crewmembers, whether for a day’s sail, or an ocean passage . I find it easier to hand over the helm when showing what I would like done rather than trying to do it from a fixed place with divided concentration.

You only have to watch manoeuvres in a marina for a short time to spot a boat getting into difficulties and a significant amount of shouting and swearing starts. The skipper has lost control of the boat and will shortly lose control of the crew, then will spend a long time contemplating the wonders of single-handed sailing.

It is important to get away from the blame culture. If something is done wrong a quiet word will be more effective than balling somebody out; most people are upset when they do something wrong and I see no point in making it worst by public humiliation.

As a skipper it is important always to be available and never to be upset or grumpy at being called, even if it turns out not to be necessary. I recall one dark night in the English Channel when the crew on watch were discussing a ship.

One was quite certain that we were passing behind the ship, the other equally certain we were passing in front. On hearing this I got up to find that there was a ship close by and where one crew was seeing the running lights, the second was seeing lights at the stern and in front of us was a wall of steel! A (very) quick gybe and all was well.

I will never ask anyone to do something that I would not be prepared to do myself; whether changing a sail on the foredeck at night in a gale, or climbing the mast . While younger, fitter crewmembers might be better suited to the task, is it safe or right for them to do it? I look at the task and ask myself would I do it? If the answer is yes I do it myself or, if the volunteer will do it better, then I may be persuaded.

If however the answer is no, then we must find another solution. As I get older I may have to change my thinking as it gets more difficult to do the tougher physical activities.

Safety first – Angus Fuller

• Safety, safety, safety – make this a priority, not just on deck, but below: in the galley, moving in the interior, even in the heads.
• Wear lifejackets at night. Always.
• Respect the environment, particularly with a view to pollution.
• Remember you can’t do everything so delegate/rely on crew wherever possible.
• Carry out drills before departure, ensure all crew understand their roles during any scenario. At halfway, have a chat, table top drill or even a full drill in order to keep the crew refreshed.
• Pay attention to detail. This applies to pretty much everything, from maintenance of systems to presentation of the yacht to monitoring the weather .
• Communicate the plan to the crew: a daily briefing on weather (lunch time is ideal), route, any change in this owing to weather and why. At sunset, issue night orders for changes in wind speed and direction.
• Ensure clear parameters are set with the crew so they know when to wake the skipper in the event of changes in weather, shipping, landfall, etc.
• Never be afraid to brief the crew before a manoeuvre – and a debrief after a manoeuvre can be a very useful process for both the skipper and crew.
• Reef when you first think about it – invariably performance doesn’t suffer that much (and is often improved) if it’s a marginal decision.
• Aim to have the yacht arrive in the same condition, or preferably better, than when you departed. By definition this means you will be looking after the yacht properly during the passage.
• Know the cruising area or stretch of water being transited. If you don’t, then heavily research it.
• Exercise seamanship to the very best of your ability at all times and instil this in your watch leaders from the outset.
• Assemble a crew who aren’t just good sailors, but compatible personalities too.

Fairness is all

You also need to be fair, whether this means splitting the watch times so all the crew are happy, or balancing meals and meal preparation. Fairness is important and it is easy to fall into routines where one person feels unfairly treated.

At the start of a long ocean passage on my boat one crewmember, who did not suffer from seasickness , ended up making drinks and snacks for everyone; this became the norm and after a few days they became unhappy because they were doing more than their fair share of galley duties.

Small things like that can quickly become big on a boat at sea. Another time I had a habit of always running the generator and watermaker at the same time of day; this became annoying for the off-watch as it made sleep more difficult, something I was not aware of at first as it did not affect me. Having a time where everyone comes together, maybe meal times, can be a good time to address small issues before they get bigger.

Part of a skipper’s responsibility to the crew is safety and this is not only their direct personal safety, but also the maintenance of the boat and equipment.

I find it useful to have plenty of discussions about what could go wrong and the equipment we have on board and how it can be used.

Man overboard practices and fire drills should be done as a matter of course, but it not always that easy, particularly on short voyages. However, a safety briefing should be done for all new crewmembers even if they are only on board for a daysail.

What is perhaps not so comfortable for skippers is having to resolve interpersonal problems. This may just involve switching the watch system around, or may mean you have to ask someone to leave: not a nice job for anyone to have to do, but a happy boat tends to be a safer boat – and faster if racing.

One problem that can become an issue on races and rallies is how hard the boat will be pushed. What might be pushing hard for a racing person will be different for a cruiser and it is easy for people to become apprehensive (or plain scared) when out of their comfort zone.

Then there is the issue of money on cost sharing or paying your way boats. It is important before committing to sail together to have a firm agreement on what is expected on both sides.

It should also be clear who is paying travel costs as, although a boat may be legally responsible for repatriating crew, most non-commercial yachts expect crewmembers to be responsible for their own travel.

Who’s the leader?

There can be times when a crewmember may be as experienced (or maybe more so) than the skipper. This can cause tension and insecurity in the skipper’s position.

For a day or so it should not be a problem, but on a longer passage a feeling of being undermined can set in. As a skipper it is useful to be open to ideas, they may be better than yours as everyone’s experiences are different, but at the end of the day the yacht is your responsibility.

Trying to get a balance between listening to, but being able to reject ideas may not be easy and can be a difficulty when taking on crew that you may not have sailed with in the past.

I have seen this a number of times in the ARC where a boat has taken on an experienced crewmember, but it has blurred the lines as to who is the skipper and caused tension.

I do find choosing a crew difficult; it does partly depend on what I am intending to do. For a long passage an enthusiastic, positive person will make up for any shortcomings in experience.

We all have to live together so getting on is important, along with a willingness to share all tasks. As we are sharing our boat, which is our pride and joy, respecting and looking after it should be a priority.

Damage will occur and owners/skippers need to be prepared for this, but a carelessly dropped saucepan on the newly varnished cabin sole is avoidable and immensely irritating.

My ultimate test is: would I be happy working on the foredeck in bad conditions with this person? A definite no-no for me is laziness, particularly crew not willing to muck in with the bad bits as well as the good.

Speak to your crew – Tom Cunliffe

• Communication is key. No ‘mushroom management‘.
• Listen/watch, crew and boat.
• Remain cheerful, or at least positive, even when woken during your watch below.
• Above all, make sure all hands are running on the same ‘motivation fuel tank‘. If they all want the same thing, you are three-quarters of the way to a happy ship.
• By all means communicate legitimate concerns, but never irrational anxieties.
• Sit down before you start, agree ship’s articles and all sign them. Everyone must know their duties. If money is involved, details of this must also be inscribed, as well as a probable route with contingencies. Then, when things turn to the bad and aggro starts, you get out the articles and read them together. End of problem (given to me by one crew of Sandefjord , which sailed in the 1950s from South Africa).

Judging competence

Choosing a skipper also has its pitfalls. Experience and competence is difficult to judge on first meeting and going for a sail together is important. Personally I would avoid a shouter at all costs.

Competence levels are more difficult to measure, but a well-run, tidy boat is a good indicator while one with a long jobs list could indicate that things have slipped.

A quick look in the bilges and at the engine can give a clue as to maintenance and a check on lifejackets will show thoughts on safety. I recently did a safety check on a yacht for an event to find that the owners had brand new top of the range lifejackets for themselves while the crew ones were old, without lights or sprayhoods. I am not sure I would have enjoyed sailing on that boat!

Skippering a yacht well is not an easy task, there are so many aspects to the job. It becomes easier with experience and there is no substitute for miles sailed. Good sailors are not necessarily great skippers, but good skippers must also be good sailors.

I have a great deal of respect for the late Sir Peter Blake and, although I never had the privilege to sail with him, I sailed against him on two Whitbread Round the World races . He always found time to have a friendly word and generated great crew loyalty on board his boats.

Be the best leader you can – Jim Thom

• It’s becoming progressively easier to access sophisticated weather information. A good skipper will prepare the yacht for the actual weather, not the forecast he/she’d like.
• Monitor the yacht’s position and the conditions, high and low-tech, from radar/chart plotter to barometer. Even though electronics are increasingly failsafe, a good skipper keeps a record on paper, in the log and on a chart – even the most advanced yachts can be struck by lightning , or suffer power failure . A good skipper will also listen to their senses, and to their sixth sense. They’ll ask themselves where that low swell is coming from or why the seas have become steeper. Shallow reefs may tint the underside of clouds green or blue, and the sound of breakers will hopefully never come as a surprise. Rain has a distinctive smell at sea, as does land and your nose will tell you when ice is near.
• A good skipper will look for the ‘horseshoe nail’ – lost from the messenger’s horse, it triggered the chain of events that lost a kingdom. Regular checks of the yacht, including sails and rig, deck fittings, bilges, steering, engine and machinery, will help the skipper and crew stay ahead of the law of entropy, and out of the incident pit.
• Create a flexible structure without being overly prescriptive. Agree standard practice with the crew: how lines should be made off on a cleat; how to use and make fast on a winch, how to shake out a reef, how to make engine checks, etc. Establishing basic procedures avoids surprises and allows crew to develop skills and think further. A good skipper will prevent boredom and apathy by agreeing daily routine maintenance tasks and helping to develop projects that improve the yacht and teach useful skills on board.
• A good skipper’s best attributes are not related to technical expertise, but to self management, leadership and communication skills. If you develop a set of team and personal goals then a common understanding will prevent many hot spots from forming.
• A good skipper will try to manage their own emotions, knowing the effect they can have on morale. They’ll keep an eye on each member of crew and on the mood of the team, finding reasons to celebrate together – crossing the line, halfway point, a birthday, a good day’s run, or just a great day at sea.

About the authors

Chris Tibbs is a meteorology and weather router, as well as a professional sailor and navigator, forecasting for Olympic teams and the ARC rally.

Angus Fuller is a professional skipper, MCA Chief Mate 3000GT (yachts), who has made 29 transatlantic crossings, 21 as skipper, and one transpacific crossing as skipper, plus one circumnavigation upwind and sailed over 300,000 miles.

Jim Thom has been skipper of a Robert Clarke sail training yacht, a Baltic trader, a Clipper Round the World Race yacht and for four years was captain of the Fife design Kentra . From 2003-2012 he was captain of the 125ft Fife 19 Metre Mariquita with his wife, Lucy, as mate.

Tom Cunliffe is a Yachtmaster Instructor Examiner, author of numerous books on seamanship and is a contributor to Yachting World , responsible for our ‘Great Seamanship’ features.

Becoming a skipper: qualifications, trainings, remuneration ..

In a global context where the figures of the nautical sector are rather positive, the demand for skippers is growing every year. Becoming a skipper is a real passion coupled with a solid training. Capt’n Boat explains the role of a professional skipper, his trainings, his missions and his remuneration system.

A skipper is the person in charge of the navigation of a boat . He provides paid passenger transport (charter) as well as delivery (boat delivery) of pleasure boats from one port to another, he offers training services (sailing course) and improvement, or he sails a sailboat in sporting competitions (races).

1. What is a skipper?

The skipper is the only master on board . Thus, he is responsible for all the tasks and actions necessary on the boat:

• Driving the engines and electrical installations
• Relations between the crew and the client
• Safety and security of the passengers and the ship
• Management of the crew
• Hygiene on board and health of passengers
• Maintenance and repair of the vessel
• Radio communications

The skipper also plays an important role in the animation of life on board.

2. What are the missions of a skipper ?

The missions of a skipper are quite varied. A skipper works most often for vacation organizations, boat rental companies and takes summer guests on cruises. During the off season, he or she is more often employed to deliver private boats.

A. Boat deliveries

The mission of delivery consists, for a professional skipper, to convey a ship for a remuneration, between two ports or two sites by sea.

Generally, it is about :

• Driving boats to a shipyard for maintenance or wintering
• Routing boats to a race start
• Conveying boats to the home port following a purchase

B. Boat coaching

The improvement or coaching is an educational mission. The skipper’s objective is to teach the fundamentals of navigation and the use of a boat.

The services of a skipper are generally requested to:

• Train an owner following a boat purchase
• Propose improvement courses to owners in order to be more comfortable on their boat

C. Cruise with a skipper

Going on a cruise with a skipper is a good compromise to enjoy both the navigation and the sea air without being embarrassed by maneuvers, anchorages…

We also talk about doing charter missions with clients.

3. Which training to become a skipper?

A. internationally.

The most common certificate to work internationally as a skipper is the Yachtmaster . The Yachtmaster is an English degree from the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), recognized by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) and throughout the world. It allows skippers to command pleasure boats up to 24 meters long, and up to 200 miles from the coast. It has 3 levels and each one have limitations: Coastal, Offshore and Ocean.

To obtain the Yachtmaster, the candidate must be over 18 and have at least 1000 miles of navigation in 1st or 2nd category (corresponding to the distance from the coast). The theoretical tests cover a wide range of subjects such as:

• The ship and its components (technical, engine, electrical installations)
• Navigation in all its states (coastal and offshore, day and night)
• Maritime law relating to events at sea
• Meteorology and hydrology
• Sanitary conditions on board

The practical test takes place during a 12-hour navigation. It includes a night phase, a man overboard exercise as well as port maneuvers.

The Yachtmaster must be completed with a “Commercially Endorsed” endorsement in order to be used on commercial services for profit. To obtain this endorsement, the skipper must obtain the Professional Practices and Responsibilities certificate (PPR), the Basic Safety Training (BST), and the MCA Medical Examination (ENG1).

B. In France

In France, there are 2 main types of skipper certificates:

• The Merchant Navy certificates (Captain 200, Captain 500, Captain 3000…) for fishing and trade. Merchant Navy diplomas are authorized for boat deliveries and charters.

A Captain 200 Voile certificate is compulsory to work as a professional skipper in France. This certificate allows you to work as a professional skipper in yachting and sailing, either to carry passengers (12 maximum) on ships of less than 200 tons (about 24 m), or to drive a ship for a third party.

In order for the Captain 200 to be effective, you must also hold the BST, ROC/GOC, EM1 and a Medical Checkup .

• The State Certificates (BPJEPS, BEES ..), are qualified to carry out only training.

C. Yachtmaster or french title?

There is no one title better than another. It all depends on what type of vessel you want to work on.

If you want to work on French flagged vessels, Capt’n Boat recommends that you opt for the French titles. Otherwise, the Yachtmaster titles are a good option if you want to work on foreign flags.

There is now a gateway to work on a French flag with a Yachtmaster : the Master 200 GT.

4. Qualifications and obligations of the skipper

A skipper’s ability to make decisions, sense of responsibility, interpersonal skills, dynamism, initiative, composure and great resistance to physical and nervous fatigue are essential qualities for a skipper. The journeys can be long and the customers demanding, a skipper must therefore be able to adapt his behavior to each situation and people, he must be versatile, available and autonomous.

In any case, being a skipper is a “passion job” that requires a lot of investment. The human element is an essential part of this job, especially for charter services.

5. Remuneration of the skipper

The cost of a professional skipper varies according to the service (boat delivery, charter, coaching), the duration of the service, the sailing area, the size of the boat and the number of passengers :

• For charters, the remuneration is a daily rate. Example : In Croatia, a skipper is paid at least 240€/day ; In France, 300€/day ; In Saint Marteen, 250€/day ; In Greece, 240€/day ; In the Bahamas, 350€/day ; etc ..

The price varies according to the geographical area, each country has its own minimum wage. 

• For boat deliveries, the remuneration is per nautical mile. Here, the wage is the same internationally : 3,5€ per nautical mile.

Want to become a skipper? Capt’n Boat offers you a professional marketplace

Here is a similar article: How to become a yacht stewardess: The fundamentals of the job 👈

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• Exploring the Role of a Skipper in Boating and Sailing

The term " skipper " holds a prominent place in the world of boating and sailing, representing the individual tasked with the operation, navigation, and overall management of a vessel. Whether it's a small boat, a luxurious yacht, or a sailing dinghy, the skipper plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and smooth functioning of the maritime journey.

Boat Skipper and Yacht Skipper:

The title "boat skipper" is a broad term encompassing individuals in charge of various types of boats , while a "yacht skipper" specifically denotes someone overseeing the operations of a yacht. Both positions require a comprehensive understanding of navigation, safety protocols, and the ability to make informed decisions while at sea.

Charter Skipper:

In the realm of chartering, where individuals or groups rent boats for recreational purposes, a charter skipper may be hired. This professional takes the helm for those who may lack the necessary expertise, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all on board.

Sailing Skipper and Skipper 12 Sailing Dinghy:

A "sailing skipper" is someone well-versed in the intricacies of sailing, adept at harnessing the power of the wind to navigate the waters effectively. Meanwhile, a "Skipper 12" refers to a specific type of sailing dinghy , a smaller boat designed for sailing enthusiasts.

Sailing a Yacht for the First Time:

For those embarking on their maiden voyage aboard a yacht, having an experienced skipper on board is often recommended. Navigating a yacht for the first time can be a complex endeavor, and the guidance of a seasoned skipper ensures a smoother introduction to this maritime adventure.

Hiring a Skipper:

Individuals who own boats but lack the necessary skills or time to operate them may opt to hire a skipper. This allows them to enjoy the pleasures of boating without the responsibilities and challenges associated with captaining the vessel.

Read our top notch articles on topics such as sailing, sailing tips and destinations in our  Magazine.

How to Become a Yacht/Boat Skipper:

Aspiring skippers often undergo training and certification processes to acquire the skills and knowledge needed for the role. This may involve learning about navigation, safety procedures, and gaining hands-on experience in boat handling.

Skippers Choice Marine Supply:

In the marine industry, businesses like "Skippers Choice Marine Supply" cater to the needs of skippers and boat enthusiasts, providing a range of products and services to enhance the boating experience.

In conclusion, the term "skipper" encompasses a diverse range of roles in the maritime world, from steering a small boat to captaining a luxurious yacht. Whether hired for a charter, sought for guidance in sailing, or responsible for the day-to-day operation of a vessel, the skipper is a central figure in the world of boating and sailing, ensuring safe and enjoyable journeys on the water.

So what are you waiting for? Take a look at our  range of charter boats  and head to some of our favourite 

sailing  destinations .

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Skippering a boat for the first time: steps to success

• Katy Stickland
• September 18, 2020

Skippering a boat for the first time needn't be daunting, as long as you prepare. Matthew Diggle reveals how to make a success of taking charge

New skippers don't need to be at the helm, and giving crew tasks will keep them happy and motivated. Credit: Matthew Diggle

It’s a pity that skippering a boat for the first time can seem so intimidating.

Not much beats the feeling of being in charge of a yacht, deciding where to go, and taking the crew on an adventure.

And there’s a real sense of accomplishment at the end when you bring the crew and boat home safely.

For anyone who is new to sailing or who crews for someone else, following the RYA training path and becoming a Day Skipper is an excellent way of taking your sailing to the next level.

As you gain confidence you can start to charter and explore new cruising grounds. Credit: Matthew Diggle

It shows that you understand the fundamentals and can take on more responsibility when other people feel daunted by the thought of being responsible for a boat and its crew.

With a bit of preparation and planning, skippering is well within most people’s capabilities, especially if you don’t bite off more than you can chew for the first few trips.

Preparation is the key. Simply put, you have to decide where to go, who to go with, and how to get there.

I thought it would be useful to share the lessons I’ve learned when I first started skippering for those considering taking their first steps.

Skippering a crew

Sailing boats are not particularly spacious down below so I generally don’t try to fill every berth onboard.

Even so, it is vital that the crew can get along together and this means that you have to choose who to invite carefully.

This is often a bit of a juggling act, trying to coordinate different people and boat availability, so in the end you’re unlikely to be able to please everyone.

Just offer some reasonable options and hope for the best.

Careful crew selection will contribute to a happy trip for all. Credit: Matthew Diggle

It is also important that people know what to expect, so they don’t sign up thinking that they’ll have a spacious cabin with en-suite facilities when they’ll actually get a space in the shared forepeak in a boat with a single heads.

Similarly, being clear about the nature of the trip – that this is your first time skippering –  will avoid adrenaline-junkies being frustrated by a gentle coastal cruise, or nervous novices being scared rigid during an offshore passage.

When skippering the first few times, it is well worth inviting an experienced and knowledgeable sailor to act as first mate.

But you should choose them wisely as you don’t want anyone who will take over or boss you about if you’re a bit slow working something out, or don’t do things in exactly the way they would.

What you really need is a calm and supportive person who will give you the space to experiment, have a quiet word in your ear if they are concerned that something is wrong, but who is capable of taking over if you are incapacitated in any way.

After all, you have to trust them to come back to pick you up if you have the misfortune to fall in, and you must be confident that they could get the boat and crew to somewhere safe if needed.

A competent first mate will make your life as skipper much less stressful. Credit: Matthew Diggle

In return for the safety and security they provide, you should listen carefully to what they say and pay attention to their skippering advice.

You should also make it clear to the rest of the crew who the first mate is and that they may have to assume command.

It is also sensible to ensure that not all the crew are novices.

Coaching new crew is time-consuming, and sometimes time is in short supply.

It also takes up mental space while your head needs to be concentrating on skippering the boat.

This is especially true when coming into a berth.

Having one or two people capable of handling the fenders and warps will avoid the sort of situation I got into on one of my trips where I didn’t notice the crew were busy trying to remember how to tie the fenders so that when I got the mooring slightly wrong, they didn’t see we were drifting towards another boat and I ended up shouting.

In the end, someone from the other boat pushed us clear, but it definitely wasn’t my finest hour as skipper.

With the crew briefed and kitted up, you’re ready to sail. Credit: Matthew Diggle

I usually send round practical information about arrangements, including advice about what to pack (and what to pack it in), about sharing cabins, what we will do about food, and also some reassuring words about the safety equipment on board.

More experienced crew members will probably already be aware of some or all of these things, but it is a good idea for everyone to have the same information so that there is a common starting point.

But I usually throw an extra sleeping bag in the car and make sure I check everyone’s equipped before setting off, just in case.

Organising a planning meeting, arranging to share lifts to the boat, or making some other excuse to get people together beforehand is a good idea.

The better people know each other, the more smoothly the trip is likely to run.

Encourage people to use email or social media to communicate, but make sure you ask for permission before sharing email addresses or phone numbers.

Keep your first skippering trip in familiar waters

Although it might be tempting to go exploring, you will probably have enough to think about without having to navigate around somewhere entirely new.

Indeed, the Day Skipper qualification says that you are only competent in ‘familiar areas’, but even here you might find yourself sailing from a marina or harbour you’ve not visited before.

If this is the case then do some research to get an idea of what to expect.

Sailing in familiar waters will let you focus on skippering rather than navigating new hazards. Credit: Matthew Diggle

When you pick the boat up, take the opportunity to chat with the charterer and people on other boats nearby to get some local knowledge.

They’re likely to regale you with anecdotes about other visitors who have come to grief in one way or another.

Don’t let these tales put you off, just listen carefully and then you won’t feature in their next story.

Unless you have a particularly trusting boat-owning friend you will probably also need to use your Day Skipper qualification to charter a yacht.

Again, you are better settling for something which is not too adventurous or enormous.

This is not the time to have to deal with something much bigger than you’re used to or with extra sails, rigging, or masts that you’re not accustomed to.

The cost of the trip

One of the first practical aspects of arranging a trip is to sort out the finance.

You will need to cover the cost of the boat, together with mooring and fuel, and then decide whether to include food, meals out, and drinks.

I find that the simplest option is to share all the costs equally, and the first step is to prepare a rough budget so people have an idea of how much the trip is going to cost.

It’s generally better to over-estimate and then give people a small refund, rather than to try to collect an extra few quid from everyone at the end of the trip if, for example, there was a lack of wind and so the fuel costs more than you expected.

You also need to consider what to do about the cost of any damage.

Continues below…

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Do you trust everyone to stump up or would it be easier to include insurance in the basic cost of the trip?

You may find that potential crew are rather more enthusiastic about coming on a sailing trip in theory than they are in practice.

Asking them to pay a deposit when booking and the rest closer to departure is a good way of gaining commitment and preventing them from cancelling at the last minute.

Finally, record all expenses and payments so that everyone can check the figures and see that things have been divided up fairly.

This should help prevent disagreements.

There are a number of apps to make both the sums and payment straightforward.

Safety procedures

You are responsible for everyone’s safety and you should take this seriously, but in fact this usually isn’t too onerous if you are sensible and careful.

If you charter a coded vessel in the UK then it will come with a full set of safety equipment appropriate for its cruising limits.

All you will need to do is find where everything is stowed and familiarise yourself with specific details of the lifejackets, jackstays, and so on when you pick the boat up.

Then make sure the crew know how to use it, and do so at the appropriate time.

Brief the crew about safety equipment on board. Credit: Graham Snook/Yachting Monthly

I ask for an emergency contact number for each crew member, and in return let them have details of a shore contact.

I also ask crew members, in confidence, about any medical conditions that might affect them on the trip.

If someone falls ill you don’t want to be scrabbling about trying to find out if they have an inhaler or medication that could help.

Similarly, if you have to hand them over to an ambulance, the medics are likely to ask if they are allergic to common medicines.

There’s no need to share this with anyone beforehand, but I like to leave a copy with the shore contact and let the first mate know where the info is on the boat, just in case it were to be needed.

Catering for your crew

The first step when planning what to eat onboard is to check everyone’s allergies, likes, and dislikes.

With a modicum of thought it is quite feasible to cater for vegetarian, gluten-free, and other diets without making things too complicated.

There’s certainly no excuse for only offering a vegetarian crew member cheese sandwiches for every meal.

Good food on board boosts morale and can be a highlight of the trip. Credit: Matthew Diggle

On short, coastal trips I usually just cater for breakfast and lunch, and aim to eat ashore most evenings.

However, I like to have a simple ‘emergency meal’ on board, such as pasta and a jar of sauce, to make sure we can have a hot meal even if we end up at anchor rather than in a marina as planned.

I find that snacks, fruit, and biscuits are always welcome, and distributing a few chocolate bars can really lift the spirits during a hard slog or a long beat to windward.

Navigating your first trip

Once you’ve selected your crew, booked a boat, and decided on a cruising-ground, it’s time to start on the detailed preparations.

It is worth putting some effort into making the actual trip as straightforward and stress-free as possible.

Skippering means you’ll have lots to think about, so take any opportunity to ‘cheat’ by preparing things beforehand.

Your RYA training will have taught you how to work out tidal depths from the tables in an almanac, but why not print out some tidal curves for the time you’re away, in particular for any marinas you’re thinking of visiting?

Planning and navigation software packages can do this well in advance, and you can find information for the next few days online.

After all, you can still do things the traditional way if you want to impress your crew (or just to prove to yourself that you remember how) but if things are going wrong or time is short then having ‘one you prepared earlier’ can be a literal life-saver.

Weather forecasts

Similarly, you can download weather maps and forecasts for the next few days before setting off.

Obviously, things will change so you will have to re-check the forecast every day, but having a feel for the general weather pattern should help you decide whether to turn left or right when you leave the marina on the first day.

Unless you’re feeling particularly masochistic or determined to experience ‘life at an angle’, it’s not very clever to spend the first half of a trip on a hard beat only to find the weather system passes and you spend the second half on a hard beat back again, when setting off in the other direction initially would have resulted in a pleasant cruise, both ways.

Plan a couple of route options in case the weather changes. Credit: Matthew Diggle

Finally, get hold of any information you can about places you might visit or that you might want to have in reserve as bolt-holes.

Printing out some sketch-maps and pilotage notes can help you stay up on deck rather than spending time below checking the charts.

Share your plan with the crew, but make sure everyone knows that you might have to revise it due to things like a change in the weather.

Picking up the boat

Try to pick up the boat before the crew arrives.

Taking the inventory and doing the handover is much easier if the boat is not full of people and all their kit.

Then put the kettle on ready to give the crew a warm welcome.

If you’re parking a car at the marina then it is sensible to leave as much stuff in it as possible, particularly bulky bags and rucksacks.

A set of dry going-home clothes (and shoes) together with a dry towel and a bag for damp kit is a good idea if you think you might arrive back cold and wet on the last day – and if you’re sailing in the UK that is pretty likely!

Briefing your crew

Brief the crew before setting off.

Keep this simple and to the point; you don’t want to worry people, but it is important to point out the key things.

I usually include:

• Lifejackets and tethers
• Fire prevention and extinguishers
• Galley and gas safety
• First-aid kit
• How to turn off autopilot
• Using winches safely
• Starting the engine
• VHF radio and sending a DSC mayday
• Using the heads

Give a briefing that is appropriate for the crew, so you might have to have a couple of different briefings or even give one to the experienced people and get them to brief it on.

It’s a good idea to show people how to use pontoon cleats before setting off, rather than trying to explain this at the end of the day.

Other things about sailing the boat can be introduced gradually over the course of the day.

Consider having simple standing orders to make it clear what’s expected of the crew.

These should include rules about wearing lifejackets and tethers, such as ‘whenever you want to and whenever I tell you to’.

Remember to let your shore contact know when you set off, and also when (and where) you arrive.

Using the RYA SafeTRX app is a great way of ensuring that they are alerted if you’re overdue and it can also produce records of the trip that the crew may find interesting, but do keep your mobile charged during the trip or you might not be able to close the trip when you arrive, leading to possible confusion or concern.

When skippering, try to keep everyone involved in running the boat.

In challenging conditions it may be prudent to limit some tasks to more confident and experienced crew, but don’t let them dominate and hog the helm or other exciting jobs the rest of the time; make sure that everyone gets a turn.

Remember to be positive about everyone’s efforts, patient if you have to explain things, and gentle if you have to correct someone.

After all, they’re here to enjoy themselves and a harsh word may put someone off ever sailing with you again.

If you can, go with the wind when it blows up. Your crew will thank you. Credit: Matthew Diggle

Keep an eye on the crew so you’re aware if anyone is starting to suffer from seasickness or is getting cold, and deal with it before it gets too bad.

I find that putting seasick crew on the helm or persuading them to lie on a bunk with their eyes closed usually helps.

Hot drinks and an offer to pass up warmer clothes will help a cold crew member who is, perhaps, avoiding going below decks.

You are in charge of the boat and part of skippering is to ensure the crew have confidence in you.

So, remain calm at all times, or at least appear calm while you work out what to do next.

Don’t dither, it’s your responsibility when skippering to make decisions and when faced with a choice almost the worst thing you can do is nothing.

On the other hand, don’t be afraid of changing your plans if conditions change.

Don’t sail on regardless, hoping that things will turn out alright; shorten the trip if the crew are struggling, change the destination if the wind shifts.

Final words on first time skippering

Matthew Diggle started sailing after signing up for the 2011-12 Clipper Race. Since then he’s cruised in UK waters and off the Italian and Croatian coast. Credit: Matthew Diggle

It’s always worth having a debrief at the end of the day and of the trip to reflect on what people enjoyed, learned or didn’t understand, and hopefully this will help ensure everyone leaves happy.

As a skipper you are allowed to have fun too, but it is different to going on a trip that someone else has organised.

It may seem hard work and a little daunting to start with, but you’ll get into your stride after only a few trips.

I find it immensely satisfying when crew tell me that they’ve enjoyed a trip, that they’ve learned new skills, and, most of all, that they want to come back.

So why not start planning a trip and gathering a crew now?

First time skippering checklist

• Select crew with similar expectations
• Mix of abilities and experienced first mate
• Set expectations of boat and plans early
• Email joining instructions ahead of time
• Take a spare sleeping bag and waterproofs
• Meet up before the trip if possible
• Share shore contact details for the boat and get emergency contact for each crew

Cruising grounds

• Stick to familiar areas for first-time skippering
• Research new places you want to visit
• Get some local knowledge from charter company or marina
• Charter in an area you know
• Opt for a modest-sized boat that will be easy to sail
• Stick to white sails and don’t worry about spinnakers
• Arrive before the crew to settle in
• Decide what costs you will cover, and what you will split
• Be clear with your crew about how much it will cost
• Include a margin for extra fuel, and refund if possible
• Ask for a deposit so crew commit
• Check the boat has all the necessary safety equipment and where it is
• Brief your crew on safety gear and procedures, above and below decks
• Check if crew are on medication or have medical requirements
• Check and fit lifejackets
• Establish standing orders of when to wear lifejackets, who is in charge, and who first mate is
• Check for crew allergies, likes and dislikes
• Decide if you’re cooking on board or eating ashore
• Have enough for breakfasts, lunches and a back-up meal
• Take plenty of snacks, tea, coffee and milk
• Print out tide times, tidal curves and weather forecasts beforehand
• Plan a couple of route options to cover different weather scenarios
• Aim to make the first sail an easy one
• Prepare pilotage for new places you plan to visit
• Let shore contact know plans/use RYA SafeTRX app
• Share and rotate roles among crew
• Look out for bored, cold or seasick crew
• Distribute snacks and drinks regularly
• Keep an eye on the big picture – passage plan, weather, navigation and safety
• Teach crew if you have time, but don’t be distracted
• Discuss plans, but you make the final decisions
• Debrief at the end of the day and of the trip

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Skipper vs Captain: Who’s Who and What is the Difference?

Skipper vs Captain – what’s the difference, you wonder. I’m here to clarify that for you and present my point of view. Without further delay, let’s find out who’s who and learn the difference.

Skipper vs Captain

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Honestly, “Skipper” comes more heartwarming to me. It sounds romantic, wild, and free, rather than “Captain.”

The Captain is a synonym of the impeccable order on a ship; he stands tall, undisputed, and official. While skippers represent freedom. Skippers construe the image of seafaring, I think.

The skipper and captain words are not equal yet interchangeable: any skipper is a captain, some captains are skippers, and the context is mostly emotional.

Who is the Skipper?

With the word skipper , an image of a salty sea dog with a wooden pipe in his teeth immediately hits my mind, he bravely cuts the roaring ocean apart with his brig, and he must murmur a “fifteen men on a dead man’s chest.” Flying a jolly roger is optional, but yes, this is how in a nutshell, we define a skipper!

Both Cambridge and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, where the former stands for Classic English and the latter describe the American version of the language, state firmly that a skipper is a master of a ship (master and commander in one, to be precise).

Also, a skipper can serve as a word for one who leads a sports team or an aircraft. So he is a leader and the owner altogether.

To better understand who a skipper is, let’s dig up how the word has appeared in the language. Etymologically, Skipper as a word comes from Old and Middle English and shares the same root with the word “ship”:

SCHIP → SCIP → SKIP → SKIPPER

Thus, Skipper is one with the ship, not only sharing the etymology but sharing a character. More important, he is an owner of himself, and the word “skipper” often means he is an actual owner of the boat. The latter is not too strict language-wise yet displays the idea of who is a skipper.

We see in the dictionaries a skipper is a soul of a boat and the only one responsible for everything (just like a captain). The Skipper is presumably an owner of the boat or may behave like one; indeed, he is always an owner of the situation, compared to Captain – the latter can be ordered to do something. Skipper belongs to no one; he is ideologically an owner to himself.

For example, in everyday speech, we usually refer to the captains of pleasure yachts as skippers because pleasure yachts are relatively small private ships, where the owner and a captain are frequently the same person. Even though you can hire a seasonal skipper for your yacht, forming a partnership, business relations, doubtfully an assignment. Skipper is yet a freeman, or a freelancer, in our case, once hired.

Skipper is an ultimate professional, the same as Captain, but this is a free choice of Skipper to be such. Skipper lives one life for his boat and himself. The skipper is the master of his ship.

A skipper is also a captain of the boat, as of what the official papers state.

The word skipper mainly stands for emotion rather than for rank.

Who is the Captain?

We already know a bit about Skipper, so let’s now define the Captain.

We look for help in the Cambridge and the Merriam Webster again, the two most reliable dictionaries, both agree that a captain is a person in charge of a ship .

You can feel a tiny difference if we compare “a person in charge” to the definition of a skipper: “a master of a ship”. The former is assigned, the latter is just there.

Captain as a word may also define a rank in the force (navy, military, or police). So a captain is an official person, including one on a ship. More important he is assigned to be a leader, even if he has assigned himself. Captain as a word can refer to one who leads a sports team or an aircraft as well as the “skipper” term .

The “captain” word features a Latin origin, where “caput,” plural – “capita,” in Latin means “head.” There are many words like captain, capital, chapter, capsize, and many others, deriving from the Latin caput. All these words refer to a head but in a different measure.

The existence of the skipper word does not make a captain anything less desirable. A captain on a boat is the one in charge of everything. If she is a big boat, like a trans-Atlantic cruise liner, he is in charge of thousands of lives and controls a huge amount of things alone!

TIP Wondering how much do cruise ship captains make? Check!

Just a reminder, we still speak about the same person named either captain or skipper depending on the context.

A captain is always neat and trim, and you necessarily expect him to wear a snow-white uniform and a cap (we can see the same Latin root in the latter). The captain is the definition of order, he is a certified ultimate professional, he is the law on a ship, he is assigned for that, and it is his duty.

Difference Between Skipper and Captain

A captain is responsible for the ship, while a skipper has pulled it as a free choice!

Captain’s duty gives no right to be unpredictable, while Skipper is for that (but we speak about the same person named differently, remember?) The name of the principal penguin in “Madagascar” movie was Skipper, the leader of the penguin gang – just recall his commanding style and how he was driving an airplane. That’s the real Skipper.

We address a Skipper of a sailboat as Captain: “howdy, Captain?” but we refer to him using either word depending on what we want to express.

The “captain” word is also an official term but interchangeable even though being official: for example, my sailing license states I’m a skipper , but it means I can captain yachts.

You say “captain” if you want to compliment a person, as if you are giving him a rank of a captain, showing endless respect and obedience, also acknowledging his unreachable position.

You say “skipper” when your goal is to emphasize emotion and a wilderness of a captain. You refer this way to stress your captain is a dude. You hardly wish to call a “uniform” a dude, right?

• Usually, the captains of bigger ships are called “captains,” applying that there is a permanent crew of significant size. Such captains are assigned for the job and are subsequently on duty.
• The captains of pleasure yachts are usually referred to as “skippers” because there is no formal assignment, and they are free people going anywhere they want, at any moment they want.
• Yet, in the official papers in the ports, both types are “captains.”
• Saying captain, you imagine a white uniform and a cap on top.
• Saying skipper, you imagine a confident pirate, yo-ho-ho, “and a bottle of rum,” adding up how skippers of pleasure boats tend to perform nearly insane maneuvers from time to time.

None of the two words is “higher.” Both words mean the masters of the sea.

So we can see “skipper” is an emotional word, while “captain” is an official term, and they both represent the same person (what we call interchangeable), but they stress way different contexts.

Here we have listed a bunch of definitions :

• Skipper is the (life-) style.
• Captain is the (official) position.
• On a cruise ship, you are a captain.
• Hunting whales you are a skipper.
• On “Titanic” he was likely a captain.
• On “Cutty Sark” he was definitely a skipper.

If you saw the movie “Master and Commander,” Captain Jack Aubrey owned HMS “Surprise,” he was not hired for her. As a navy officer, he bent his orders and put the crew at risk while chasing a wartime enemy; it was both his duty and a desperate wish to take the prize. Does it come as a conflicting definition? Let’s name him a skipper.

Yes, you can call even an aircraft carrier’s Captain a Skipper, then you emphasize that he is a reckless, pirate-minded type of commander, he is in love with what he is doing, and he acts as if she is his ship.

What is the difference between a skipper and a captain – I have told you all I know; the words, however, are mostly interchangeable. The difference is purely emotional.

Till the next time, Skipper… or Captain!

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Hi, I’m Igor, Skipper of S/Y "The Hooker". A decade ago, I conquered my childhood dream: to be a sailing skipper, own a sailing yacht. Yes, it knocked dullness out of my urban life — Read more →

One comment

Thanks for the information! This is really helpful and gives me a clear picture of the differences between skipper and captain.

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Skipper on a Yacht – The Ultimate Guide

When it comes to sailing trips and holidays, a lot of people appear misinformed that it requires extensive knowledge of oceanic navigation as well as operating a boat.

The comforting truth, on the contrary, is that a sailing trip can be enjoyed by complete novices as much as any sailing pro.

Almost all yacht charter companies these days provide a skippered boat with a crew in addition to regular bareboat charters.

In other words, you can enjoy the freedom of being all by yourself in the serene blue ocean without any stress and responsibility.

In fact, in my early experiences on charter boats, I almost always had professional and experienced skippers in charge of navigation and operation. Even now, I often go on sailing holidays with a skipper on a yacht.

In this article, you can learn all about the benefits of hiring a skippered boat, tips to hire a professional and experienced captain, what you can legitimately expect from the skipper during your sailing trip as well as other relevant information.

Table of Contents

Responsibilities of the Skipper

The primary reason for chartering a skippered boat is to hand over the navigation and operation of the yacht to someone who has the necessary experience and knowledge.

In the case of your skipper, you can expect him to ensure the safe passage of the boat through responsible boat handling and safe seamanship.

In the case of a fully crewed yacht, the responsibilities of the skipper include making sure the crew understand and carry out their roles and duties.

The skipper is expected to maintain proper coordination among the crew.

To sum up, the tasks and responsibilities of a skipper are both technical and interpersonal. Apart from operating the boat and navigating it expertly, he should also ensure that the crew is obeying his command dutifully.

Who Should Choose the Option of a Skippered Yacht?

People with no or little sailing experience would have to choose the services of a professional and experienced skipper to make their trip a success.

Skippered yachts are perfect for those who do not possess a sailor’s license but want to partake in the fun of a sailing holiday.

Also, if you are part of a large group of friends and family, and want to leave the responsibility of sailing to the skipper to enjoy the trip in a stress-free manner, then you should certainly consider a skippered boat.

A skippered boat is also ideal for people who want to sharpen their sailing skill under the watchful eye of an experienced and professional sailor.

Even experienced sailors can benefit from professionally skippered boats if you want to partake in regattas and require that extra bit of help and professional knowledge.

Planning Your Itinerary With the Skipper

One of the best advantages of having a skippered boat comes from the help you would get in planning your sailing itinerary.

The skippers on particular routes have extensive knowledge of the best locations, coves, inlets, and beaches that you and your friends would enjoy during the trip.

They can help you plan the sailing trip in a way that makes it possible for you to see and experience the most during your trip.

Also, skippers are intimately aware of the prevailing weather conditions and may help you tweak your itinerary in such a way that adverse weather does not mar your holiday.

Last, but not the least, skippers know the best and cheapest places to moor the boat so that you do not spend extra at expensive marinas.

Does the Yacht Charter Price Include in Skipper’s Fees?

Yacht charter companies do not include the fees payable to a skipper when you lease their boats.

The fees commanded by the skipper is typically done at the base office, while the invoice for the same is generated and handed over to you after the completion of the trip.

The yacht charter companies only advertise the cost of hiring their boat, without the crew, complements, and skipper, on their brochures and websites.

  Accommodation for Skipper Aboard the Boat

It is required that you reserve one of the cabins for skipper and his crew to rest and sleep in during your sailing trip.

Typically, a lot of boats have a special version for charter companies featuring extra cabins so that more people can be accommodated on the boat.

It is not required that you reserve the stateroom or other luxurious cabins for the crew. Typically, yachts come with a dedicated cabin for crew and feature bunk beds.

Who is Responsible for Skipper’s Meals?

It is customary that skippers be provided meals along with the crew by the chartering party. There is no requirement that the food should be fancy or gourmet quality, and the crew and skipper would typically eat whatever you serve.

During your trip ashore in the middle of your sailing holiday, it is considered nice to take the skipper to restaurants along with you.

However, there is no such requirement or custom, and you may just hand him enough cash for a meal at the local fast food joint.

Do’s and Don’ts for Skipper on Board the Yacht

As mentioned above, the primary role of the skipper on board the boat is to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip for everyone.

This means taking care of the technical aspects of sailing, including the correct deployment of mast and sails, safe moorings, checking the weather conditions, guiding the crew, and advise on the route.

The skipper, however, is not obligated to take the route preferred by you if they deem it dangerous due to any reason, including weather.

Similarly, you should not expect the skipper to perform menial tasks such as cleaning.

Cost of Hiring a Skipper

The cost of hiring a skipper dependent on some factors including his professional experience, the region you are sailing in, and the sailing season.

On an average, you should expect to pay between Euro 90 to 150 for each day of your sailing trip.

How to Tip the Skipper?

It is customary to tip the skipper at the end of the sailing trip. Typically, the tip works out to 10 percent of his total sailing fee.

However, if you liked his services and recommendations, then you may tip generously. The skipper will certainly appreciate it.

Advantages of Hiring a Skipper

Probably the best part of having a skippered boat is that it allows you to get the most out of your sailing holiday.

• In my personal experience, I have noticed that the presence of a professional and experienced skipper enabled us to plan our itinerary better.
• Many times, the skipper’s intimate knowledge of the local coastline and weather helped us see places that we did not expect and avoid rough weather.
• Skippers know the best places to eat during your trips ashore and have their own local sources to recommend the best places to see and visit.
• Also, you can truly enjoy a stress-free and blissful holiday with your friends and family safe in the knowledge that your boat is in capable hands.

In Conclusion

Skippered boats are probably a perfect way to introduce the joy of sailing holidays to those who have not experienced it before.

Even among those with sufficient sailing experience, there are a lot of benefits to having an experienced skipper in charge of the yacht.

There is no doubt that an experienced sailor would help you get more out of your holiday in every sense of the term. While it may be slightly costlier than bareboat charters, a skippered boat is certainly worth its price.

Need a skipper on your boat? Send your inquiry now, and you’ll receive a free skippered yacht charter quote!

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Have you already hired a skipper? If so, what was your experience? Please feel free to share it by leaving a comment just below, I’ll be glad to hear your feedback:)

Daniella has been passionate about travel, the sea, and nature for many years. As a child, she frequently traveled throughout the Mediterranean and continued with her journeys throughout her adult life.

Her experiences have created the desire within her to share her love for traveling with other passionate and adventurers who want to discover beautiful horizons and new cultures.

7 thoughts on “Skipper on a Yacht – The Ultimate Guide”

Hi Daniella,

I just found out that I can charter a yacht with a skipper commandeering it. I was reluctant to go to the sea because I thought I have to go to a “sea” school first.

Especially, when you watch all the Hollywood movies that portray you can go on a cruise without a skipper. And then comes the storm. YUCK!

Now I can safely plan my trip with the skipper’s help. Thank you for bringing this to my attention and corrected my misinformation.

No problem. it’s a pleasure for me to inform the readers, this is the purpose of the website:)

I am happy that the misinformation has been cleared up! And, indeed, you can plan in complete tranquility your next trip with the help of a skipper, believe me, it is worth it:)

Thank you for the comment and wish you a nice day!

Thanks for the information on skippers on a yacht. I have never been on a yacht before and know very little about them except what they look like and are used for! So i enjoyed learning about the skipper as never actually heard that term before. It’s something that i would love to do one day, And the pictures make it seem like it is an amazing experience to have. Maybe one day!

Having a skipper on board is something fabulous:) You don’t need to worry about the navigation at all. They also know the environment well so you can count on him to bring you to best places as well:) Isn’t great?

Thank you for the comment and wish you a wonderful day!

Thank you for visiting my website and for the comment:) To answer your question, most charter companies offer to the client the option to hire a skipper for their sailing holiday. Skippers are not included in the price as they work independently and the cost per day will vary between 120 to 150 Euro, some, even more, depending on the skipper skill. If you own a yacht and you wish to hire a skipper, you can find one at “ Delivery Captain ” I hope it helped and if you need more information, feel free to contact me at any time, I’ll be more than happy to assist!

Have a wonderful day!

I really like your comment about how an experienced sailor would help you get more out of a holiday than sailing on your own. I imagine it would also be a good idea to work with a skipper if you plan to buy your own yacht as well, even if you plan on learning to sail (someone has to teach you, after all). I imagine that a skipper would have a lot of good information about different services as well, like yacht delivery if you plan to move for example.

I am glad you like the comment, thank you for the kind feedback:) Oh, yes, definitely, a skipper will not just navigate the boat, but he will also teach you a lot of things and will bring you to places you don’t know. A skipper is someone you can rely on!

Thank you again for the comment and wish you a wonderful day!

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A comprehensive guide to hiring the perfect yacht skipper

Essential skills, platforms to look at, and expert hiring advice. Dive into our comprehensive guide with a vetting checklist for your yacht's skipper.

Yachting evokes images of boundless freedom, where azure waters meet endless horizons, and luxury joins the primal allure of the sea. But beneath this dance of opulence and open waters, there's an art and science that ensures every voyage is seamless. The maestro? The yacht skipper. Sometimes, the boat owner assumes this pivotal role, while others may opt for hiring a professional crew.

In this article, we'll journey through the multifaceted role of a skipper, exploring the breadth of their responsibilities from navigation to guest relations. We'll guide you through the avenues available to find the right candidate, the crucial skills to look for, the intricacies of the hiring process, and a comprehensive checklist to assist you every step of the way.

Yacht crew recruitment: what is the skipper’s role?

On a motor yacht , crew configurations often reflect the owner's specific needs and desires. Some opt for a comprehensive setup, bringing roles such as the Chief Steward or Stewardess for tailored guest experiences, a dedicated Chef for gourmet dining, and, on larger yachts, a Purser for administrative oversight aboard. Conversely, others might prefer a streamlined team, focusing on only the essentials like a Chief Engineer for technical needs and a Deckhand for general upkeep. Yet, regardless of how expansive or minimalistic the crew setup is, central to all these configurations is the Skipper.

Countries like Malta, Bermuda, and the Bahamas allow skippers to officiate weddings on board, turning maritime journeys into romantic celebrations.

Where to find a yacht skipper?

The good news is you're never short of options. Whether guided by trusted endorsements, budget constraints, or a thirst for discovery, the horizon is dotted with promising leads. Here's where you might strike gold on your quest:

Key skills to look for in a powerboat skipper

When evaluating potential skippers, it's easy to hone in on obvious attributes: vast sea hours, proficiency in navigation, and a commanding presence. While these traits are undoubtedly crucial, delving deeper might reveal other essential yet overlooked competencies. How often do we consider a skipper's adaptability in unforeseen scenarios? Or their capacity to foster crew cohesion? What about their finesse in guest relations?

To simplify this, we've categorized the critical skills into six distinct areas, providing a more transparent lens through which to assess potential candidates.

Skipper’s Job and Responsibilities: What You Should Know

What exactly does the Skipper’s job entail? And what are their specific responsibilities? In this blog post, we’ll delve deeper into the world of sailing and explore the various duties and obligations.

What is a skipper?

A skipper is great when you want to rent a bareboat but you do not have a licence

When it comes to renting a bareboat without a license, hiring a skipper is always a wise choice. This is especially true for people who lack the knowledge and experience to sail on their own, or for those who want to enjoy a stress-free and relaxing vacation on the water. But even experienced sailors may need to hire a skipper in certain situations, such as when they want to explore new waters or unfamiliar destinations, or when they simply want to sit back and enjoy the scenery without having to worry about navigation and other technicalities.

Hiring a skipper is a great idea to learn how to operate a boat safely

When embarking on a bareboat charter, it is essential to ensure that safety is the top priority. One great way to learn how to operate a boat safely is by hiring a skipper. Not only do skippers have years of experience operating boats in various conditions and environments, but they also have extensive knowledge of safety guidelines and protocols. By having a skipper on board, you can learn firsthand the best practices for navigating through unfamiliar waters, avoiding potential hazards, and handling emergency situations. 

You could get a skipper if you don’t want the hassle and stress of handling the boat you are renting

If you are embarking on a bareboat charter but don’t have experience sailing a yacht or simply want to avoid the stress and hassle of doing it yourself, there’s no need to worry. Many charter companies offer the option of hiring a skipper to take care of the sailing for you. A skipper is a professional sailor who has the necessary expertise and qualifications to navigate the waters safely and efficiently. They are also knowledgeable about the area and can offer valuable insights on great destinations, local attractions, and hidden gems. Hiring a skipper can be an excellent choice if you want to sit back, relax, and enjoy the stunning views and warm breeze of the open sea without any worries. 

Read also: Yacht Rental With Skipper And Hostess Vs Fully Crewed Charters

What is the difference between a skipper and a captain?

Like car licenses, there are different categories. But here’s the catch: it’s not just about the category, it’s about your practical experience and the miles in your logbook that really matter.

Believe it or not, you can charter a yacht in Europe with a Bareboat Skipper (IYT) / Inshore Skipper (ISSA) / Day Skipper (RYA) license. This beginner category allows you to sail 20 miles offshore during daylight hours in good weather. However, if you go beyond the 20-mile limit and encounter any issues with your yacht, your insurance might not cover it. Recently, some countries, like Greece, have started to impose restrictions on chartering yachts for skippers with “day licenses.”

The next category is the Coastal Skipper / Offshore Skipper. With this license, you can sail up to 60 miles offshore at night, still in good weather.

And finally, we have the highest category: Yachtmaster / Master of Yacht. With this prestigious license, you can embark on challenging sailing expeditions, including crossing the Atlantic. This license is truly a badge of honor among yacht owners.

What is the cost of a skipper?

The cost of hiring a skipper for a week can range from €250 to €350 per day. For a longer duration, the cost may decrease slightly. However, during peak season, the cost may be higher due to high demand. It is also important to note that in some countries, it is mandatory to hire a skipper if you do not have the necessary qualifications to sail.

Skipper’s job involves a lot of responsibilities that should not be taken lightly. Not only is he in charge of ensuring the safety of his passengers and crew, but he also plays a crucial role in protecting the marine environment and preserving its natural beauty.

Furthermore, Skipper must have extensive knowledge and experience to navigate the waters confidently and smoothly, as well as to handle any unexpected situations that may arise. He must also be an excellent communicator, able to easily convey important information to his passengers and crew, and be approachable and attentive to their needs.

Overall, being a Skipper is a challenging but rewarding career that demands a range of skills and capabilities. If you are planning a boat trip or thinking of pursuing a career as a boat captain yourself, it’s crucial to understand Skipper’s job and responsibilities fully. Only then can you appreciate just how much he does and how much he can contribute to making your boating experience safe, enjoyable, and memorable.

Read also: Mediterranean Yacht Charters: The Full Price List

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How to be a good skipper or crew member on a sailing vacation

This article was specifically written by Grant Headifen, Director of Education for NauticEd for Yacht charter skippers and crewmembers who are going on a sailing vacation. Grant has lead dozens (and dozens) of sailing trips all over the world. He’s seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This article is linked to from the Bareboat Charter Skipper Course and the Yacht Charter Crew course. It is designed so that you the crew member or you the skipper can achieve a positive desired outcome on a sailing holiday with friends and relatives.

The Reason Everyone is There

On a recreation sailing holiday boat, people are there for one reason only; to enjoy themselves. More than likely, you are there with friends, spouses, family, and friends of family and friends and hopefully – friends to be. Space is confined and the trip is more than just a few hours. Given that, we can’t have any Captain Blighs and we can’t have any mutinous crews either. The boat needs to run smooth and everyone at the end of the trip should leave saying that they would do that again with exactly the same crew. And you, as a member of that crew are 100% responsible for making that happen. Not 10%, not 25%, not 50% but 100%. You have to do everything possible to make that happen. Below, we are going to teach you some skills to make having a good time a reality.

How to Run a Boat

Running a boat requires managers, leaders, and lead-followers.

Managers make things happen. They organize the holiday, they plan the route, they organize the food, they keep a watch on the weather, they make sure the boat and the crew are safe, they manage the fridge, the energy, and supplies like water and fuel. Just like in a company, on a boat there can be multiple managers.

Leaders create an environment whereby others follow their actions. For example, during an anchoring procedure, a leader will take action to direct others to facilitate the desired end state – anchor on the bottom hooked in properly with the boat safely stable. During a sailing procedure like raising the sails, a leader will enlist others to help get the sails up – pulling a halyard line, steer the boat into wind, keep a watch out, grind a winch, and ease the reefing lines.

Lead-followers is a new term probably to most. A lead-follower is a person who simply sometimes leads and sometimes follow. Rarely is anyone always just a follower – no matter how small a task, somewhere along the line they are going to lead someone to do a task. That person is a lead-follower. When following a lead-follower follows the requests of a leader to do the right actions to effect a desired outcome. Followers are sometimes a pure follower. They pull a line when asked. But a follower might then immediately switch roles and become a leader – ‘Hey John. Can you tie the other end of this line off on that cleat please”?

What is interesting is that a good “Leader” teaches followers to lead. This is especially important on a boat. There are a lot of jobs to do and so the crew must be knowledgeable to lead certain situations. Even if it is to ask someone to chop the carrots – that person is now a leader.

So, here are some questions:

• Could a crew member be the manager of the galley, or manage the navigation, or organize the stops for the best snorkelling spots?
• Could the skipper be working the windlass while a crewmember on the helm tells the skipper to release out more anchor chain?
• Could a crew member lead several others to tie the fenders and arrange the docklines?
• Could a crew member ask the skipper to chop the carrots?

Obviously, the answers are yes. Where then in that arrangement is the traditional military style stereotypical Captain? Fact is, that on a recreational boat there is no room for a captain that commands everything with the threat of keelhauling anyone. And there is no room either for a wannabe captain/know-it-all who tries to steal or undermine the captain’s job. YOU ARE ALL THERE ON EACH OTHER’S HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE. Everyone has paid a lot of money to voluntarily be there. No matter who you are or what role on the boat you play, you have a responsibility to the others to ensure that THEY have a good time. If “THEY” are having a good time, chances are you are having a good time.

“Well what about the safety of the crew?” the Captain Bligh type skipper argues. “surely someone has to take responsibility during a potential hazard”. You’re right. But there are good leaders in a safety situation and bad leaders.

• A bad leader yells at crew members (who are btw their friends and family)
• A bad leader brings the stress of their job with them on the boat.
• A bad leader needs to lead all the time.
• A bad leader takes over when someone else is leading
• A bad leader throws a tantrum (as an adult)
• A bad leader stops listening
• A bad leader tries to undermine others
• A bad leader talks behind other’s backs
• A bad leader tries to make themselves look good by making others look bad or less than good
• A bad leader can’t stand to be a follower at times
• A bad leader stops others from engaging in leadership activities
• A bad leader does everything him/herself
• A bad leader is just a plane out ol’ bad leader

Are you a good leader or a bad leader?

“I had to yell to get the attention of everyone” the bad leader says. We can prove that the bad leader didn’t need to yell. There are many skippers on boats out there that can control the boat through a hazard situation without yelling. Did you know that the effect of being yelled at actually causes a flight chemical to release in our brains. This changes the ability of someone to effectively act. When the bad leader yells, they are reducing the effectiveness of their crew. Do you think the bad leader gained any respect by yelling? Nope! The bad leader just went down another rung on the respect ladder. They lost control of themselves, they panicked and yelled because they could not handle the situation.

On the other side, crew members listen up, sometimes things need to get done on the boat and sometimes they need to happen now. “Move the fenders to the other side of the boat”. “Make fast this line”. “Ease the spinnaker guy now”. “Douse the main halyard now”. Turn the boat to windward now”. “Bear away now”. “Man overboard – you Jane, stop talking and point to john in the water and keep your eyes on him no matter what happens on the boat”.  These and more are potentially some things you could hear and it’s up to you to get that job done and not take anything personally. You can’t be thinking “who is he to tell me to stop talking”. The job is important and the job is the job for a reason. Are you a good follower when needed or a bad follower?

A Safe Environment to Communicate

What we are going to do here in this article also is to create an environment whereby two people can feel comfortable and safe with a one on one talk with each other quickly after an event. When things flare up, which they will do, from reading this article you both can sit together and speak your feelings and say things like “I did not like it when you said …” or “I’d like to ask that you involve me a little more instead of always jumping in to my rescue, I’m here to learn as well. Would that be ok”?

How do I do It

A wise person (Jim Cathcart) once told me this. He said to always ask myself “How would the person that I want to be, do the thing I am about to do”. In this case, always ask yourself “How would a good leader, lead this situation”?

Let’s go back to the previously defined roles of manager, leader, and lead-follower because that allows us all to relax a little. The skipper of the boat is more like a manager of the boat operations while the boat is moving. That skipper does not need to be on the helm, in fact the skipper is doing them self a disservice of being a good manager by running the helm. There is no way a skipper can be a good boat manager if they spend the day on the helm. The skipper needs to ensure the navigation is correct, attend to seasick crew, ensure everyone is properly hydrated with sunscreen applied, ensure the seacock for the heads are managed properly, check incoming weather, and importantly – ensure everyone is having a good time by organizing games, knot tying competitions, serving food and drinks. The skipper can also be training leaders – leaders to lead the fender tying operations, teaching crew about sail trim so that they can lead the sail trim operations, training leaders to lead the docking lines when coming into a dock. The skipper manages the boat operations.

So all in the name of everyone wanting to come back again next year with the same crew, Ask these questions:

• What would a perfect skipper act like?
• What would a perfect crewmember act like?

And now ask yourself: “How would the skipper or crewmember I want to be, do the skippering or crewmembering that I am about to do”? On a happy boat, more often than not, you will find both the crewmembers and the skipper switching roles between being a leader and a follower. A good skipper knows this and will on purpose be a follower and will be happy to be following. If a skipper is following then it is a sign that the skipper has taught the crew well. This will also be building the self esteem of the crew. So crew, take notice, if the skipper is following you then you are doing a good job of leading – probably because you learned about how to do something well and the skipper trusts you.

Managers and Leaders

What is interesting to note and to distinguish is that when we think about a corporate set up, a manager is in their management job by definition and authority. For example, a sales manager, a marketing manager, or a finance manager are all in their jobs by the authority given to them. Managers make things happen so that their subordinates can get their job done effectively. Managers organize the technology and they look after the needs of the staff. When you think about a boating situation, it is really very similar. Typically, the manager of the boat is the skipper and the skipper is there in their skipper role by the authority of those that agreed to that person being the skipper. But a leader role even in a corporate setup is not by authority. A leader role is earned out of respect from others. Others respect a person for their knowledge, and they respect a person for their ability to create action among others to achieve a desired end state. Thus, a leadership role is earned. And must be constantly earned. If you are the skipper (manager of the boat operations) and also the leader but begin to make poor decisions such as not operating the boat for the enjoyment of the others, you will soon lose respect and you will see your crew team fall apart. And while your leadership role and skipper role might not be toppled in a one-week trip from hell, you sure as heck will not be leading that crew again on a trip.

Similarly, for crew members, you are on this trip because others invited you and they respect you. If you are making poor decisions throughout the week that lead to the lesser enjoyment of others on the boat, the respect you previously earned to get you invited this time will get you uninvited next time. Crewmembers are lead followers and if you are not making constant micro-efforts to lead a good environment on the boat you’re going to be voted off this floating island.

Expectations

For both skippers and crewmembers, it is a good idea to begin your trip with good communication about expectations. This can be done at a short crew briefing prior to leaving the dock on the first day. The skipper has a good opportunity to make people feel comfortable that the skipper is going to be a good one. That the skipper is competent and will make the boat operations go smooth and is a good leader. This can most easily be done by NOT making assignments of operational tasks but by gaining buy-in and volunteers from the crew. No one wants to be assigned a task on a holiday. And it is not a sin to announce that the boat will be run fairly informally, even that announcement is an authoritative enough statement to gain confidence in the management style. It is a holiday after all. The skipper should also gain the knowledge respect by giving a full briefing on the boat, certainly pointing out safety hazards, and creating an environment to make people comfortable about asking questions. At this stage, the skipper needs to know that he or she is being judged by a lot of potentially uncomfortable people that he or she does not know. Anxiety is high among the crew.

At the crew briefing, crew members need to communicate their desired level of participation in the activities and tasks. This time is your time to speak up and voice your expectations, where do you really want to go, what do you really want to do? What are you not comfortable with? It is important that you take this opportunity. It is ok to announce “I’m just here to read a good book. I’ll help out when needed but I’m not here to learn how to sail – is that ok?”

That is ok because that person is here on holiday too – their holiday. All of this sets the stage for consistent expectations. The skipper’s reply to that should be something like “Great – yes that is ok and I’ll keep that in mind. Do you mind however that I can rely on you if I really need something done. Otherwise, I’ll let you get on with turning the pages. Would that be ok”?

I will leave you with two anecdotes.

• One time on a sailing holiday in the Bay of Islands New Zealand on my friend’s boat. We were sailing off our anchorage spot in a crowded harbour (because his engine was broken). My friend the skipper and a dang good leader announced to me in a calm voice “Hey Grant, do you see that green boat right there”? “Yes” I replied “Well, we are going to hit it. Could you please walk up front and fend us off” Whereby I did exactly as he asked and we then went on our merry way for the day.
• While sailing in Greece on one of our organized flotillas, the sister in-law of one of the skippers of a flotilla boat said to me on day 3. “I’m so happy to be here and so happy my brother in-law asked me to come. I don’t care what he or anyone on the boat asks me to do – I’m just going to do it. I want to be invited on all of these trips forever.”

Thanks for reading through this special article. I hope you gained some good insights. I invite you now to listen to this podcast that we did with Lt. Col Edward O’Connor, Ex Navy Top Gun Adversary trainer. Ed does a fantastic job of using his background to describe how the defined roles of manager, leader and Lead-follower on a boat make the boat operate smoothly.

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NauticEd is a fully recognized education and certification platform for sailing students combining online and on-the-water real instruction ( and now VR ). NauticEd offers +24 online courses , a free sailor's toolkit that includes 2 free courses, and six ranks of certification – all integrated into NauticEd’s proprietary platform. The USCG and NASBLA recognize NauticEd as having met the established American National Standards. Learn more at www.nauticed.org .

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Yacht Charter with Skipper | 15 Things You Need to Know

Yacht charter with skipper | the 15 essentials, our guide to hiring a skipper for a yacht charter.

Embarking on booking a yacht charter adventure brings a world of excitement and questions, especially when it involves a skipper. Navigating the role and significance of a skipper is key to a successful journey. From understanding the definition of a skipper to grasping their responsibilities and qualifications, each element plays a crucial role in shaping your experience.

Cost and logistics are central to planning your charter. Delving into the details like skipper fees , route decisions , and crew hiring provides clarity and helps set realistic expectations. Additionally, practical concerns such as feeding the skipper and tipping etiquette are aspects often overlooked yet vital for a smooth sailing experience.

Finally, the more nuanced aspects of yacht chartering, like discussing plans with your skipper in advance and navigating the complexities of charter agreements , reveal the intricate dynamics of this unique travel experience. Dive into each of these facets to unravel the full picture of what it means to charter a yacht with a skipper.

Charter Payment Protection

Insolvency protection, safe payment, muti-currency. lossless forex, low price guarantee, exclusive deals no hidden fees, introduction to skippered yacht charters.

Understanding Skippered Charters.  These charters are increasingly popular for their ease and expert guidance. Skippers are not only highly qualified mariners, but also adept at being sociable or discreet according to guest preferences.

You’ll also learn about some facts you might not have known, like it’s your responsibility to feed your skipper and your Operator or agent only act as “recruiters”, whilst they will bear natural responsibility for finding suitable and qualified skippers, it’s a typically a direct relationship.

Here at SailChecker, we work closely with our clients to help them make arrangements with their skipper that works for them.

Pre-Charter Access and Skipper Selection

Choosing Your Skipper. You get surprisingly little choice over or access to your skipper.  Typically detailed planning discussions won’t be possibile until you arrive at the base.

Whilst this sounds restrictive, it’s actually the most effective and efficient. It will mean that your skipper is not dealing with future client’s and be able to focus on you during your charter. It means that you won’t make planning decisions that are undone by local weather conditions.

The popularity and freelance nature of skippers has lead to high demand and high turnover. Operators will not always be in a position to allocate until the week leading up to your charter.

Here at SailChecker we work hard to understand your specific requirements, not all operators work in the same way, help balance all your requirements to ensure the best possible experience.  

Cost and Duration of Skippered Charters

How much does it Cost to Hire a Skipper? We’ll explore the typical costs and duration of skippered yacht charters, this segment provides crucial budgeting insights for those planning a charter.

SailChecker have independent options and their own skippers to give charterers a wider choice of crew.

Route Planning and Flexibility

Adjusting Sailing Routes: Skippers play a crucial role in route planning. However, pre-arrival planning is often subject to change due to local conditions. This flexibility ensures a comfortable and enjoyable journey, catering to real-time factors like weather and local events.

Role and Responsibilities of the Skipper

Expectations from Your Skipper. We’ll provide a detailed overview of the skipper’s responsibilities, emphasising their commitment to safety, navigation, and guest comfort, while clarifying limits in tasks like cooking and domestic duties.

Skippers are highly skilled professionals, it’s really important to understand what a Skipper will and won’t do for you.

Here at SailChecker, we use our independence to advise on different options and levels of service. 

Understanding the Skipper Hiring Process

Selecting the Right Skipper: Insights into the hiring process of skippers, highlighting how charter operators ensure they select skippers who are not only skilled but also have the right interpersonal qualities.

Here at SailChecker, we know which Operators are recruiting and retaining the best Skippers in their freelance pool.

Interpersonal Skills of the Skipper

Skippers’ Social Skills: Concluding with the importance of a skipper’s ability to be genial, teach, entertain, and also maintain discretion, ensuring guests enjoy their time aboard while feeling comfortable with their presence.

Here at SailChecker, we know how important the right personality is, whether it’s someone who’s great with kids, someone who likes to teach the basics or someone who knows the party spots, we’ll help you refine your choice and create a better and more enjoyable sailing experience.

• 1. Definition of a Skipper?
• 2. How much does it cost to hire a Skipper?

3. Who decides the Route?

• 4. Can We Have the Skipper’s CV and Sailing Resume?

5. Can I Discuss our Plans with the Skipper in Advance?

6. is the route always certain on a skippered charter.

• 7. Who actually hires the Skipper?
• 8. What will the Skipper NOT DO on a yacht charter?

9. What will your Skipper ACTUALLY do on a yacht charter?

• 10. Who feeds a charter skipper?
• 11. How much Does a Skipper Earn on a Skippered Yacht charter?
• 12. How much do you tip your Skipper on a yacht charter?
• 13. Are Skipper’s Qualified?
• 14. How do you become a Skipper?

15. When Booking a Yacht Charter with a Skipper why can’t we have Open Access to them in Advance?

1. definition of a skipper, how to define the skipper or captain of a boat during a charter.

Let’s start with a formal definition:

Skipper. noun. /ˈskɪpə(r)/ /ˈskɪpər/ ​the captain of a small ship or fishing boat.

You will find the word used worldwide but it is chiefly in use in Europe, especially the UK. In the US and in the Far East, you will see the word interchanged with “captain”, reserved for larger ships in British English. Whichever you choose to use, you are highly unlikely to be misunderstood or even corrected.

In essence, it’s the most senior person on board and in command of the vessel and has some pretty serious obligations under the local laws and the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collision at Sea ( COLREGS ). He or she can, if in international waters, even officiate legally recognised weddings under some circumstances!

In the end, you have to lawfully accept their decisions whilst underway which makes understanding exactly what their responsibilities are when chartering with a skipper (or captain!).

2. How Much Does it Cost to Charter with a Skipper?

Freelance skipper rates for yacht charter.

Chartering with a Skipper. Now that you know you need or want to go chartering with a skipper, how much will it cost to hire one?

Price. In 2024 the most typical price for a chartering with a skipper was between €240 or $240 per day. Whilst advertising rates are per day, it can be difficult to charter for anything short of a week as most skippers are seeking full employment at peak times. The exception is Assisted Sailing .

Assisted Sailing. This is where a skipper joins you for several days at the commencement of your charter. It’s particularly useful if you are a little out of practice, a new sailor, or sailing a bigger boat than you are used to.

How Much Does It Cost to Charter a Yacht. We do recommend you check out our blog How Much Does It Cost to Charter a Yacht  if you would like to piece the whole picture together.

Route Planning for a Yacht Charter

Many charterers are naturally anxious about knowing where they are going and who decides. For some, booking restaurants and other popular attractions along the way is essential.

The route selection is something that cannot ever be guaranteed. There is always a risk the weather plays a small or large part in your decision. Whilst the Skipper has the final say on safety, the primary guest will have a great deal of input into the route. Where there are restaurants that need booking, more than 1 week in advance, your operator will typically reach out to you, in the main, restaurants can be secured during your charter.

SailChecker has a great deal of experience in each location and, as importantly, how each base operates and treats guests. We aim to find what’s a priority for you and match you to the right operator and boat accordingly. 

4. Can We Have the Skipper's CV and Sailing Resume

How much you get to learn about your skipper in advance and can vary and can change at short notice.

On high-end charters, known as Crewed Charters (opens in a new tab), the crew on the boat full-time have resumes and CVs that will be sent to you before booking. On skippered charters, where the boat and skipper are hired separately, skippers more typically come from a pool and for operational reasons, might only be allocated at short notice. This might not always be the case, smaller companies may allocate well in advance and changes are rare.

Planning With Your Crew in Advance is Often Restricted.

Being denied access to your Crew in advance is a common policy from Operators. This ensures that the crew focus entirely on you when you are on charter, and not dealing with communications from charters in the weeks ahead.

In some cases, your  Operator may not know who your skipper is, or leave themselves the ability to move people around at the last minute. This is ‘priced-in’ when compared to Crewed Charters.

SailChecker will always honestly manage expectations about crew access. We are also a team of ex-crew members who can often answer many of the questions without needing to revert to the crew.

Your Planned Route Can Change at Very Short Notice

On many  yacht charter with a skipper,  the route will go exactly as planned and bear a remarkable similarity to the published itinerary by the operator and agent. In other cases, it may differ significantly once the skipper can talk to you and explain the different options available to you.

On top of that, factors like the weather,  sail weeks  (groups of yacht sailing together to party) that might turn idyllic spots into loud music all evening, might mean a tweak to the route without missing out on the a highlight.

The weather is a strong contender to play it’s part too; heading in the direction wind has been coming from for a few days can make the sea uncomfortable to give one example (there are many), but settled later in the week – your skipper will be an expert on keeping you as comfortable as possible. In other words, they won’t know in detail where you will go, only in outline which is always provided in  sailing itineraries  for the area.

7. Who Actually Hires the Skipper?

Freelance skippers are typically are hired directly by the primary guest.

Introduction . This might seem an odd thing to need to know when you’re chartering with a Skipper . But, it can be useful to know as it might not be quite what you were expecting.

Crewed Charter . If you are chartering a boat with a permanent crew , they are almost always salaried or won the boat. If they are employees, they will have contracts with the crewed yacht charter operator. They are very typically a couple who share a cabin which allows cabin space to be maximized for guest use.

Skippered Charter . If you are hiring your skipper separately it’s commonly referred to as a Skippered Charter  (New Window), you are, in essence, adding a skipper to a Bareboat Charter (New Window), like you might add a driver to a hire car.

Key Info . Keep in mind that every crew member will need their own cabin to comply with employment law in most countries. That said, there are lots of exceptions, but it pays not to assume.

Employment Status. When chartering with a skipper in this manner, they will typically be self-employed. The operator will have their own reputation to protect and will always try and work with the best they can find, yet they won’t always be directly responsible.

8. What Will Your Skipper NOT DO on a yacht charter?

Freelance skippers are skilled mariners and won't deal with every aspect of you charter..

Knowing exactly what to expect of your skipper when chartering is key to a stress-free charter from the outset avoiding any misunderstandings. It’s also the most challenging question to answer, as no two operate in exactly the same way, and it can even vary from skipper to skipper even when working for the same operator! All in all, this makes it even more important to know where the lines are and to get your agent’s support. Here at SailChecker, we take this part of organising your charter seriously.

Here is a list of SEVEN things you will typically find your Skipper is unlikely to do as part of your agreement:

• Pay your deposit. Most boats have a non-refundable element to the deposit. As a charterer, it may come as a surprise to know that in many cases, you are still responsible to the operator and the skipper is responsible to you. If some damage is caused through some extraordinary event, say a surge in water, that the skipper could not have ordinarily made provision for, then the liability falls to the charterer, not the skipper. If the skipper damages the boat, say during docking, he will almost certainly cover that cost and many are insured, yet do not take that for granted.
• Cook . Ok. So there are many great skipper cooks out there, yet it cannot be an expectation. It’s not even possible to demand one, it’s something you might be able to influence through your agent, so if it’s important to you, make it known at the start.
• Serve Drinks or Meals. On the contrary, it’s actually your duty to ensure he is “fed and watered”. This need not be in the style you are feeding yourselves, although it is quite rare to discriminate, yet so long as you discharge your responsibility, the skipper will be more than happy.
• Sail If Unsafe. No matter your crews’ experience, the decision to sail will always lie with the skipper. This can even be at a difficult time in the charter, yet the skipper will always put the safety of the crew and boat before any practical considerations.
• Wash Up! Skippers will always tidy up after themselves if they are preparing their own food for instance, but they will not discharge any domestic duties whilst on board. They take more practical measures, such as stowing garbage, but it will be your responsibility to dispose of it ashore.
• Late Runs Ashore. The way you will get ashore for land-based activities is via the tender. During the day this will often by the Skipper or other crew. Yet in the evening, they will not stay awake to run guests back the yacht after a certain time.
• Provisioning . Your skipper will not do any provisioning. YOu will need to hire a chef or a hostess if you need this doing for you. Many good agents will help you do your initial provisioning remotely so that it is delivered to you on your first day without the requirement to go to the local supermarket.
• Work All Hours. Your skipper will work hard during your charter and will always be on duty if you are underway. Not always on watch in some exceptional circumstances such as a night sail. Whilst when chartering with a skipper, they will always be available for advice and so on at the dock or at a mooring, their duties are considerably curtailed. Typically a skipper should not be working more than 8 hours a day.
• Pre-Charter Support. Charters are pretty intensive for crew ensuring you have the very best time. The last thing you want on your charter is the crew being inattentive because they are dealing with questions from guests of upcoming charters. For that reason, most operators protect their crew by dealing with your questions and pre-charter support up until much closer to the day, if not the day of your charter.
• Teach you to Sail. This is a strange one. This appears in what skippers won’t do and will do. I am yet to meet a skipper who doesn’t love teaching, yet willing students are difficult to find. I once encountered excitable students, only to find their interest wained when I asked them to learn the basic knots! For that reason, some Skipper’s will shy away from any formal teaching that’s not formalised in a syllabus.

A Look at all the Things you Can Expect from your Skipper

So now we have learnt a few things your host won’t do when chartering with a skipper , let’s focus on what you can expect from them.

Here’s our list of what you can expect when chartering with a skipper :

• Meet and Greet . Expect your Skipper there when you arrive. If you are early, he might have some other duties to perform for the previous client before attending to you. As you can see, not much time off in this game.
• Handover/TakeOver. Your skipper will do this on your behalf. It needs to be emphasised, this is typically on your behalf. As the charterer, the liability for the skipper and his actions ultimately rests with you. You can choose to be present or trust your skipper.
• Planning . Whether you’re the type of person to have your trip planned with military precision, or the type to trust in your skipper, the wind, sea and weather might have their own ideas. This is very much part of sailing and the vast majority of trips exceed the client’s expectations because the Skipper, having learnt your preferences and experience levels, is so expertly able to direct you on what will suit your crew.
• Host . Whilst it’s only your duty to ensure your skipper is fed, the skipper can often make a great dinner guest on abord and ashore. Much depends on your preferences and how the relationship develops, yet you will find most Skippers are the “hosts with the most”. Sit back and enjoy their stories.
• Teach Sailing. If you are reading sequentially, this completely contradicts something I wrote in the last segment. It is possible to get teaching skippers outside of a syllabus so that you have some control over the route and what you do (unlike t a formal course). It will rarely lead to a formal qualification, but it will help immeasurably if you’re looking to do won in the future. Here at SailChecker we often go the extra yard to match the right skipper with the right crew to ensure you get the best possible experience.
• Cook . Another contradiction! You certainly can’t expect them to cook for you, yet so many have great skills you might want to take advantage of if offered.
• Tour Guide. Your skipper is likely to be very familiar with the area, and language, you should expect them to be willing and able to help with that.
• Purser . Sometimes the skipper will ask you for a sum of money to cover incidental expenditure. It really helps the crew look after you paying for mooring, fuel, etc. without having to come to you each time. You will always receive a full break down and any unspent APA is returned. What is an APA? Read our comprehensive APA guide.

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10. Who feeds the Skipper on a Skippered Charter?

You are responsible for feeding your skipper throughout the charter.

Responsibility. It’s a clear obligation for the charterer to ensure the skipper is properly provisioned for.

Provisioning on Board . How to provision for your Skipper is a matter of discretion and a decision you can amend as you see fit without upsetting your skipper. They will be more than happy preparing meals from food you have bought for them or to eat your meals whilst about (this is the most common).

Provisioning Ashore . In this case, it might be the Skipper who would prefer to eat alone on the boat to do some work or attend to other matters. If this is the case, you can simply leave some provisions to use, or provide an allowance.

Summary. In the end, chartering with a skipper and feeding them is not an exact science. You should not be afraid of making your own plan so long as they are catered for.

11. How Much Does a Skipper Earn on a Yacht Charter?

Skippers on Skippered Charters will typically keep all of the fee you pay them. This is a little higher than the salaried guys who are get paid whether they are on charter or not and who typically get bigger tips.

Some skippers that are retained by the operators lose a percentage, typically 15-20% for their compensation.

A skipper on a superyacht would get around $5,000 upwards per month dependant on the size of the boat and their experience (plus tips that tend to be bigger than on mid-range charters.)

12. How Much do you Tip your Stewardess on a Yacht Charter

Tips are always welcome and always at your discretion: they do vary from region to region.

How much you tip when chartering with a skipper can depend on a few factors; the price of the charter, location, number of crew, etc. Tips are generally higher in the Caribbean and North America due to the tipping culture.

The  Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association (MYBA)  has suggested tipping guidelines, the general rule is to tip  between 10% and 15% of your weekly charter fee , excluding running expenses and taxes.

That seems about right to us although we do see more.

13. Are Skippers Qualified?

A brief insight into the qualification your skipper is likely to hold.

You’d hope that your skipper was qualified, but that largely depends on where you are sailing, possibly not. In the vast majority of cases, outside of the Caribbean, it will be a yes. In Europe, it will vary from a good qualification to a commercial endorsement.

Here at SailChecker, we have our own commercial endorsed skippers that travel out with our clients who want that reassurance. We do not knowingly charter with any operators not using qualified skippers.

14. How Do You Become a Skipper?

Thinking about being your own or professional skipper.

This is a complex question, there are many recognised schemes around the world and 100’s of training providers. It largely depends on what you want to use your qualification for and what do you want to leave open in the future.

If you care only about chartering and will only sail in these cruising areas then you should read our blog on the International Certificate of Competence (ICC) (New Window).

If you have further ambitions as a professional charter, flotilla, or delivery skipper, then you will find some m, more information here .

More on the Rationale Behind Withholding Skipper's Details

Having paid not an inconsiderable amount of money for the services of a person so central to your sailing holiday, it is inevitable you are going to want to know as much as possible about them. The reason why that might not happen is mostly answered above: In the end, a series of email exchanges will not get you much further forward, you are unlikely to detect the character flaws that the operator has not already been aware of. If you have a request like a yacht charter with a skipper who is:

• Good with children
• Enjoys teaching
• Is good company
• Is unobtrusive when not needed

Are all matters your operator will take into consideration when

Any Last Questions on Chartering with a Skipper

Are you considering chartering with a Skipper?

Give us a Call or Send us an Email.

We’re here to help., +44 8000988118, +1 8443351306, +30 8008481290, +61 730678907.

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Skippered charter is an excellent choice if you have never chartered before. When it comes to yacht charters, skippered options offer a world of advantages that can transform your sailing vacation into an unforgettable and stress-free experience. Whether you're a novice sailor or a seasoned seafarer, the inclusion of a professional skipper can elevate your journey in numerous ways.

Skippered Charters: Elevating Your Sailing Experience

Chartering a skippered yacht has many advantages. Hiring a Skipper on your charter yacht is an excellent choice if you have never chartered before, particularly sensible when you lack a sailing license or other relevant qualifications required for chartering a yacht on your own. Additionally, a skipper imparts their sailing know-how to the crew members and provides guidance on tasks aboard. The Skipper is responsible for a smooth sailing trip, considering weather conditions, local factors, and onboard equipment. The experienced Skipper possesses excellent knowledge of the desired sailing area and is the perfect companion for a yacht charter. A skippered yacht charter means you'll have a highly skilled captain at your service throughout the trip.

The Benefits of Charter Boat with Captain

One of the most significant advantages of a skippered yacht charter is the inclusion of a professional skipper. Having a skipper on board means you can relax and focus on enjoying your vacation, leaving navigation and safety to the expert. This is particularly advantageous if you lack a sailing license or other necessary qualifications for chartering a yacht on your own. Your captain is not just a navigator; they are your key to a smooth and enjoyable sailing vacation. Your skipper can act as your personal guide, suggesting the best anchorages, pristine beaches, and charming villages that are off the beaten path. With a skipper at the helm, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that you're in safe hands. They are well-versed in handling the yacht in various conditions and can make quick decisions to ensure the safety of everyone on board. This is especially valuable for less experienced sailors or those who simply want to relax without the stress of navigating. Perhaps the most significant advantage of a skippered yacht charter is the peace of mind it brings. With a skipper on board, you can relax and fully immerse yourself in the vacation experience. Navigation, safety, and decision-making are all handled by the expert, allowing you to focus on enjoying the journey to the fullest.

Sail with Confidence: No License Required

Skippered charters suit many types of travelers and sailors. This type of charter is tailor-made for those who lack sailing experience or have just started sailing. There are times when you simply don't want to be in command or you are new to sailing and just want to grow your confidence. In a skippered charter, a skilled skipper takes charge of sailing the yacht for you. While sailing can be a source of joy for everyone else, it can be quite a demanding task for the skipper. For those interested in learning the art of sailing, having a skipper on board is an opportunity to expand their knowledge like no other. The skipper willingly imparts their sailing wisdom to crew members, offering hands-on guidance and sharing their passion for the sea. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced sailor, you'll have the possibility to deepen your sailing know-how while relishing your vacation.

Responsibilities of Your Hired Skipper

A skipper's responsibilities on a sailing or boating trip are extensive and vital. They ensure safe navigation, operate the vessel effectively, and prioritize the safety of the crew and passengers. This includes understanding weather conditions, handling sails and the boat's mechanics, and anchoring securely when needed. Staying informed about current and forecasted weather conditions is crucial. Skippers need to make informed decisions regarding when to sail, when to take shelter, and how to adjust the course based on changing weather patterns. The skipper is responsible for anchoring the boat securely when necessary and safely mooring it when docking or tying up at marinas. Local knowledge and adherence to environmental regulations are also part of their role. The skipper should set an example in this regard.

How to Hire a Skippered Yacht

Skippered charters are your ticket to a sailing adventure like no other, where relaxation and enjoyment take center stage. At YACHTICO, we understand that every customer has unique preferences. Whether you have your heart set on a sleek catamaran, a classic sailboat, or any other type of yacht, our diverse fleet has a wide range of sizes and configurations. This means you can customize your sailing experience to perfectly match your group's size and desires. Booking a skippered charter with YACHTICO is a breeze. When you make your reservation online, you have the option to include a professional skipper in just a few simple steps. We make it convenient for you to have a seasoned captain join your journey, ensuring that every moment is smooth sailing. It's important to keep in mind that your hired skipper requires their own cabin, as they are obligated to stay onboard. This arrangement is essential to ensure a harmonious and enjoyable voyage for all.

Skippered Yachts to Choose from

Best places for yacht charter with skipper.

The best places for yacht charters with a skipper can vary depending on your preferences, but here are some stunning and popular destinations worldwide:

Croatia's Adriatic coastline is renowned for its rugged beauty, crystal-clear waters, and its array of thousands of islands and islets. The coast enjoys relative shelter, making it an ideal destination for smooth sailing. The islands are conveniently close to each other, allowing for effortless island-hopping adventures. While many travelers opt for bareboat charters, there's a growing trend towards skippered yacht charters in Croatia, and it's easy to see why. This convenient way to explore the Croatian coastline offers numerous benefits. Experienced skippers not only possess an intimate knowledge of the waters but also a deep understanding of local culture, history, and hidden gems. They can recommend the finest local restaurants, helping you immerse yourself in Croatian culture and ensuring your journey is rich and authentic. Croatia's cuisine is a delightful fusion of Mediterranean and Balkan flavors. On a yacht, you can savor the freshest seafood, indulge in local wines, and relish traditional dishes at waterfront restaurants and taverns, embarking on a culinary journey you won't soon forget. Skippered charters in Croatia provide unparalleled flexibility when it comes to planning your itinerary. Whether you wish to explore historic cities such as Dubrovnik and Split, swim in secluded coves, or visit picturesque islands like Hvar and Korčula, your skipper can tailor the journey to your preferences, ensuring a personalized adventure. Croatia's historic towns, including Dubrovnik (Known as the "Pearl of the Adriatic), Split (with the famous Diocletian's Palace), and Šibenik (and its impressive St. James' Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Nearby, the Krka National Park showcases stunning waterfalls.), are conveniently located along the coast, making them easily accessible by yacht. With a skippered yacht charter in Croatia, you'll create memories that will last a lifetime. Croatia's captivating coastline awaits, ready to be discovered.

Tip: Vis - This remote island offers unspoiled natural beauty, secluded bays, and charming fishing villages. It's an excellent destination for those seeking a peaceful and authentic Croatian experience.

2. Greek Islands (Greece)

With their timeless allure and diverse landscapes, these islands are a treasure trove of experiences for every traveler. The historical depth of the Greek Islands is unparalleled. Greek islands are home to some of the most important ancient civilizations, including the Minoans on Crete, the ancient Greeks, and the Byzantine Empire. The Greek Islands are steeped in mythology, with many islands believed to be the birthplaces of ancient gods and heroes. Greek cuisine is celebrated for its diversity and use of fresh, local ingredients. While the BVI offers its own delicious fare, the Greek Islands' culinary scene provides a wider range of traditional dishes, from moussaka and souvlaki to fresh seafood mezes and baklava. From the iconic architecture of Santorini to the ancient ruins of Delos and the medieval charm of Rhodes, the Greek Islands provide a more diverse range of cultural experiences. This historical richness can add a profound layer of exploration to your sailing journey.

3. Key West

Key West, with its unique charms, offers the perfect setting for boat rentals with captains. Thanks to Key West's temperate climate, you can enjoy sailing adventures year-round. Whether you're escaping the chilly winters elsewhere or seeking a summer getaway, Key West welcomes you with open arms. What truly sets Key West apart are its exceptional well-protected anchorages. These safe and tranquil spots provide a haven for sailors, making it easy to drop anchor and bask in the beauty of the surroundings. Whether you desire a peaceful night's rest or a serene lunch stop, Key West's anchorages have you covered. But Key West's allure doesn't stop there. The Florida Keys are renowned for their diverse marine life, featuring colorful fish, playful dolphins, graceful sea turtles, and breathtaking coral formations. Sailing in these waters not only grants you a picturesque experience but also opens doors to thrilling snorkeling, diving, and wildlife observation opportunities.

Explore More Destinations for Skippered Charter

With a skippered charter, you're in command of your journey while a skilled captain takes care of navigation and safety, ensuring a worry-free and personalized sailing experience.

Remember, a skippered charter isn't just a reservation; it's an invitation to embark on a unique maritime escapade where you can enjoy the voyage to the fullest, knowing you're in capable hands.

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Skipper responsibilities: when people’s lives depend on our choices

The fatal shipwreck opposite the harbour of Rimini, Italy, last April 8th, in which 4 people lost their lives , brings into the foreground a matter which is often underestimated, namely the responsibilities of a skipper . Of course, the task of elucidating the real causes and possible responsibilities of this tragedy will fall to investigators.

What is certain is that the skipper, or better, the captain of a boat takes an enormous responsibility every time he sails off and starts sailing with his crew, even when the latter is made up of few relatives and friends. His responsibility is always moral but it can sometimes become even civil and penal.

This level of awareness, especially among those for whom sailing is not a job, is not always present. If, on one hand, it is true that we can’t let the weight of this responsibility crush ourselves, ruin our boat holiday and stress our guests, on the other hand, it’s equally true that  we mustn’t underestimate the effects of our choices.

It’s up to us, as boating license holders and captains of the boat, to decide, for example, whether to sail off under bad weather conditions or not.

In itself, this decision doesn’t involve any kind of infraction . It’s not an overtaking in an area where this manoeuvre is not allowed, which represents a punishable situation regardless whether it provokes an accident or not. If we have decided that sea, boat and crew conditions are good enough to go out to sea even if the sea state is 8, no one can “give us a ticket”. In case of accident, however, we will be criminally responsible for this choice.  

Not only because it’s physically impossible to stay at the wheel nonstop but also because a 1992 Ministerial Circular of the Italian Civil Code clearly establishes that driving a boat doesn’t consist “in steering physically a boat… but it means to be responsible for the command and supervision of all the operations required for sailing which cannot be delegated to third parties”.

In short, in case of accident, even if the helmsman is a relative or a friend, the responsible for the event is always the captain of the boat. The law is clear and article 2054 of the Italian Civil Code establishes that ” the driver of a vehicle (according to the law, the boat, too, is a “vehicle”) equipped with no rails is obliged to refund the damage caused to people or things … if he doesn’t prove that he did everything he could to avoid the damage itself “.

Furthermore, article 414 of the Navigation Code establishes that, when we sail with some friends on board, the responsibility of the captain is applied only when he acted in negligent or imprudent manner.

So, the negligent skipper pays for damages and is criminally responsible for eventual accidental personal injuries and negligent homicide.

Jurisprudence offers a multitude of examples of condemnations of skippers who have been responsible for irresponsible misconduct and, vice versa, of absolutions, even in very serious cases, because the accident and, sometimes, even the death of a crew member have been proven to be accidental and the captain did everything he could to sail safely.

All rules and codes apart, there is always the moral issue. As already mentioned, when we go out to sea with other people, even in the case of a short cruise, we are always responsible not only for the well-being of these people but, above all, for their safety . In addition to being aware of our competence, we must scrupulously check that everything is orderly on board , that equipment is efficient and reachable, that life-saving equipment (lifejackets, life raft and belts) are handy and useable in few seconds and that weather conditions are good and safe according to our course, boat and passengers.  We have to inform our guests about the use of the on-board equipment and radio, without getting them warned or nervous.

And we mustn’t be afraid to say not and be unpleasant . Many skippers maybe nicer than us have made some mistakes that have often provoked no accidents but that, sometimes, have unfortunately resulted into fatal events.

Once everything is done scrupulously and seriously, we can enjoy our sailing experience and have fun with our friends.

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• Cyclades Islands
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• Booking Procedures

SAILTHEGREEKISLANDS.com

The ultimate way to discover and sail the greek islands is on board your own private, comfortable, economical and environmentally friendly sailing yacht..

SAILING DESTINATIONS

CYCLADES ISLANDS

IONIAN ISLANDS

SARONIC ISLANDS

DODECANESE ISLANDS

SPORADES ISLANDS

NORTHERN GREECE

Did you Know?

THE WHOLE TRIP CAN COST LESS THAN JUST BOOKING A HOTEL WOULD.

When you organize your family and friends to share in the trip with you, a yacht charter will cost less than booking a hotel would, and your transportation from port to port is included . Our yachts can accommodate from two up to twelve persons.

TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF

5-Star Reviews!

From the moment of initial contact with Captain Yiannis, everything was seamless.

Our experience has been nothing short of exceptional.

From the moment of initial contact with Captain Yiannis, everything was seamless. This company and the entire team could not have been more helpful! We live in the USA and never had a problem with communication. The Catamaran we selected was the Lagoon 450F. It was beautiful, spacious, clean, and easy to live on for a week as we sailed to beautiful beaches.

The Ionian Islands we visited were breathtaking, especially Kefalonia – it was our favorite! Above all, the feeling of safety that Captain George ensured throughout our trip made our journey even more memorable. We can’t wait to experience it again.

So, if you’re looking for an unforgettable sailing experience around the Greek Islands with a professional company and a knowledgeable and friendly guide, look no further!

Caroline Groeneveld July 7, 2023

Read More Inspiring Experiences...

The Great Greek Adventure

We have seen many islands thanks to Yannis, who has an unsurpassed knowledge of the, and we might add amazing docking skills! Matoula has been an amazing hostess, a wonderful cook and always gracious with a beautiful attitude. We will never forget our Great Adventure!

Danny and Karen June 7th 2019

A safe pair of hands, experience and unlimited knowledge.

We’ve just spent a week sailing the Greek islands with Captain Yiannis. If your looking for a safe pair of hands, experience and unlimited knowledge of the Greek islands then Yiannis is the captain you need.

Jeff Brown May 10th 2019

Great knowledge of the area and its history.

Excellent week of sailing in the Greek Islands with Yiannis. He has great knowledge of the area and its history. He showed us unique beaches and key sites on the islands. A memorable week of adventure, drama, and weather. A great first visit to the country of Greece and its islands. Recommend Yiannis as a skipper and guide for your trip.

David and Suzanne Kelly September 25, 2021

The kids enjoyed jumping off the boat and even steering.

We made it back safely and happily to Paros today. Yianni showed us secluded beaches, surprising chortas and agreed to take us to santorini even though he hates sailing there! The kids enjoyed jumping off the boat and even steering it on occasion. It’s a beautiful part of the world and we’d definitely recommend exploring it.

Christine August 22, 2021

Yannis is a superb captain

First and foremost, Yannis is a superb captain. He is a true professional and puts the comfort and safety of the guests first. We had a superb week and thanks to the knowledge of Yannis we visited hidden beaches and places that were sublime. Yannis is passionate about sailing, and we all improved our sailing skills and learned about sailing this magical part of the world.

We cannot wait to return and know that Captain Yannis is our go-to Greek master of the seas.”

Kim Cornwall and friends October 14, 2021

The best tavernas for dining and the most interesting places to visit.

My friends and I had a terrific sailing trip with Cpt. Yiannis. We sailed islands from Athens to Milos for a week. [...] Captain Yiannis was not only an outstanding skipper, but he also is a very knowledgeable tour guide. [...] Also, he had tremendous knowledge of any island we stopped on the way and recommended the best tavernas for dining and the most interesting places to visit.

The captain was very professional and sailed extremely safe and responsible. Great guy, a great captain, thank you, Captain Yiannis!

Remis – Boston, USA June 26, 2021

Yannis gave us the ideal family yacht

We had a wonderful week of sailing in the Saronic Gulf end of August. Yannis gave us the ideal family yacht for this bareboat charter trip . Together with the charter company we felt us in very good hands, for all questions we had. Except in this year 2020, with these special conditions!

Thanks Yiannis.

Marc Schwarz September 6, 2020

WHY SAIL WITH US?

“We are a Reputable Yacht Charter Agency with Over Two Decades of Experience. Our Authorization, Reliability, and Trustworthiness Have Been Affirmed by More than a Hundred 5-Star Reviews from Highly Satisfied Guests.”

“We Serve as the Authorized Representatives for All Yacht Charter Companies in Greece.”

“Our Expertise Allows us to Meticulously Search, Evaluate, and Provide You with the Best-Priced, High-Quality Yachts that Meet Your Requirements, Precisely at the Location Most Suited to Your Needs.”

• We have 99 % Happy Clients in 22 years of Sailing.
• Your number one choice for VALUE Yacht Charters around the Greek Islands!
• Personalized Top-Quality Service.
• With our knowledge YOU WILL GET The Perfect Yacht for Your Requirements.
• Wide Choice of Top-Quality Yachts on 15 Bases for the Greek Islands.
• Over 2,000 Top of the Line Monohulls and Catamarans.
• Damage Waiver Insurance with Low Security Deposits.
• Easy booking and payments.
• Well-Equipped And Maintained Fleets.
• Fully trained and experienced teams.

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Searching for boat?

• Get a Quote If you are looking for yacht charter in Croatia, this is the easiest way. Just fill out the form and we will check for all available boats for rent and send them to you. You will also get a dedicated manager to help you out.
• Online Boat Search We have 2 booking systems. Some boats are available in our online boat booking system and you can see them here. If you want to get all the boats, fill out our “Get a Quote” form.
• Contact us We would love to hear from you. Contact us here.
• Hire your skipper & hostess Looking for skipper, cook or hostess for your sailing holidays in Croatia? Hire your skipper & hostess for a yacht charter in Croatia.
• Why rent a boat in Croatia with us Where Is The Difference? We go an extra mile for you.
• Best price guarantee Its guaranteed! Boat rentals and yacht charter in Croatia at The Lowest Prices On The Market!

• Skippered Yacht Charter If you don’t know how to sail or if you like some help, you can have a skippered yacht charter option. You can rent a skippered catamaran, sailboat, motorboat or gulet in Croatia.
• Crewed yacht charter Get spoiled by a completely crewed yacht charter on your sailing vacations in Croatia.
• Bareboat yacht charter If you have a skippers license and experience, you can charter catamaran, sailboat or motorboat and sail away.
• All-Inclusive Yacht Charter Croatia It offers you the ultimate all-inclusive sailing holidays. Along with a knowledgeable captain and gourmet chef.
• Catamaran charter Catamaran charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Sailboat charter Saiilboat charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Power Catamaran Power catamaran charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Motorboat charter Motorboat charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Motoryacht charter Motoryacht charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Gulet charter Gulet charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Luxury yacht charter Luxury yacht charter in Croatia with skipper or bareboat. From Split, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Trogir or Istria.
• Available boat types Boat types available for charter in Croatia.
• Online Boat Search Find available boat here.
• Our marinas Where can you charter a yacht from in Croatia. Check out all our marinas.
• Guide to Catamarans Charter in Croatia
• Sailing areas About sailing areas in Croatia in general.
• Split yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Split, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Dubrovnik yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Dubrovnik, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Sibenik yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Sibenik, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Trogir yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Trogir, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Zadar yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Zadar, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Kvarner yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Kvarner, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Istra yacht charter About chartering a yacht from Istra, boat rental and sailing holidays, with catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, luxury yacht or gulet.
• Get inspired The greatest adventure on sea! Sailing in Croatia is fun. Get inspired.
• Sailing holidays About sailing Holidays in Croatia
• Set Sail in Croatia: Your Guide to an Unforgettable Adventure
• Booking procedure Boat rental booking procedure
• Skippers licenses For bareboat charter in Croatia it is a necessary to have this.
• Take with you
• How to rent a boat How to rent a boat in Croatia
• Yacht takeover When you arrive to marina this is what you need to do
• Yacht Charter Costs What to expect regarding all the expenses and costs
• 7 days charter
• Last minute yacht charter
• Yacht Charter Check-in guide
• What is APA
• Nautical charts
• Standard boat equipment
• Boat petrol stations
• Winds in Croatia
• Frequently asked questions
• Short term yacht charter
• Early booking Early bird discoutns for yacht charter
• Boat anchorages
• Marinas in Croatia Croatian marinas
• Important phone numbers
• How to rent a boat How to charter a yacht in Croatia?
• Weather conditions
• How Sailing Works
• Cabin yacht charter
• One way yacht charter
• Comprehensive Guide to Yacht Charter Croatia Costs: Everything You Need to Know

Yacht Charter Croatia

• About us About SkipperCity
• Our story How it all started?
• Contact us We are looking forward to hear from you.
• Our partners We work with hundrets of boat owners. Here is a list of our partner Yacht charter companies in Croatia.
• Our Skippers We work with the best!! Here are some of our skippers details.
• Client reviews / testimonials
• Why choose us? Why rent a boat in Croatia with us
• Best price guarantee Yes, we guarantee the best boat price on the market!
• Booking terms and conditions
• Data confidentiality and Privacy policy
• Sitemap Lost? Here is a map for you.
• Impressum Some boaring data about our company.
• Yacht Charter Affiliate Program Start making money from yacht charters.

Ready to sail?

Yacht Charter & Boat Rental in Croatia

Best sailing holidays in croatia are waiting for you….

When it comes to chartering a yacht in Croatia , Skippercity stands out as the top choice. Whether you’re in search of a c atamaran, sailboat, or motorboat for your sailing adventures in Croatia, our team is ready to assist you. Reach out to us and sail at any of our locations including Split, Trogir, Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Vis, Hvar, Pakleni otoci, Kornati, and more.

What can we offer?

Skippered yacht charter

Croatia's stunning coastline is a sailor's paradise, and our yacht charter and boat rental services with a skipper ensure you experience it in style. Our expert skippers know the waters like the back of their hand, guiding you to the most breathtaking spots while you relax and enjoy the journey. Whether you're looking for a romantic escape, a family adventure, or a group excursion, our fleet of catamarans, sailboats or motorboats is ready to make your dream sailing holiday a reality.

Bareboat yacht charter

Embark on a solo sailing adventure in Croatia by chartering a boat, provided you possess a skipper's license, VHF radio license, and sufficient sailing experience. Bareboat chartering in Croatia stands out as a highly popular and appealing option. Ideal for those with sailing expertise who prefer the freedom to create their own itinerary, it offers the best choice for a personalized sailing experience. Catamarans, sailboats, and motorboats are all available for rental in Split, Sibenik, Trogir, and Dubrovnik...

Crewed yacht charter

Indulge in the ultimate luxury experience with a fully crewed yacht charter during your sailing holidays in Croatia. This opulent form of yacht chartering offers a bespoke and personalized touch, catering to the discerning preferences of those seeking an unparalleled maritime adventure. Croatia presents a diverse selection of fully crewed yachts, ranging from spacious catamarans and elegant sailing boats to classic gullet charters and high-end motor yachts.

All inclusive yacht charter

Experience the epitome of luxury with our all-inclusive yacht charters in Croatia, featuring a private crew to ensure an exclusive vacation tailored for friends and family, ideal for parties or special events. Our fleet boasts yachts with three to six double cabins, each equipped with an en-suite private bathroom. Indulge in the ultimate luxury by booking our all-inclusive yacht charters, complete with a private crew, creating an exclusive getaway perfect for friends and family gatherings, parties, or special events.

Your sailing vacation in Croatia begins here.

Available yachts for charter in croatia.

Croatia’s coastline is a sailor’s dream, and with our boat charter services, you can experience it in the vessel that suits your needs. From sleek motorboats to spacious catamarans, we have a wide range of boats available for charter. Whether you’re looking for speed, comfort, or something in between, our fleet has you covered. So why wait? Book your boat charter in Croatia today and set sail on the adventure of a lifetime.

Catamaran Charter

Charter catamarans are available for rental in various locations across Croatia, including Split, Trogir, Sibenik, and Dubrovnik. Catamarans offer more comfortable sailing experience. Opting for a catamaran rental in Croatia allows you to bask in maximum comfort while enjoying the thrill of sailing. If you lack experience with sailing catamarans, you have the option to rent one with a skipper. Choose from renowned models like Lagoon, Bali, and Nautitech for your charter. For those seeking ample space and stability, a catamaran charter is the ideal choice.

Sailboat Rental

Exploring Croatia through sailing with a sailboat promises remarkable and unforgettable moments, given the abundance of over 1,000 islands to discover. Sailing holidays in Croatia commonly revolve around two options: bareboat charter (which involves renting a boat without a captain) or skippered charter with a captain at the helm. Opting for a sailing boat charter in Croatia is favored by those seeking a more dynamic experience at sea, prioritizing the sailing sensation over sheer comfort.

Motorboat Rental

Motor yachts combine speed and comfort, making them an excellent choice. If you prioritize good times and comfort at sea, motor yachts are the ideal option. We offer advantageous rentals of motorboats. Select from a range of options such as Bayliner, Elan, Prestige, Beneteau, and more from our charter offerings in Croatia. Our Motor Yachts and Power Boats cater to individuals who appreciate a dynamic pace, whether changing destinations daily or seeking a retreat from civilization. They provide a perfect means to explore the scenic coasts, numerous islands, and cities along the Croatian shoreline. Enjoy the freedom and speed of motor yachts for an unforgettable maritime adventure in Croatia.

Power Catamaran

Embark on a thrilling maritime adventure with our Power Catamarans available for charter. Whether you prefer a skippered rental or the excitement of a bareboat charter, our versatile catamarans, ranging from 37 to 70 feet, provide the ultimate cruising experience tailored to modern charter clients. The spacious layout ensures comfort and entertainment, featuring modern amenities seamlessly integrated for a luxurious onboard experience. With easy maneuverability, even sailing novices can navigate confidently. Choose a Power Catamaran for your next vacation and experience the perfect blend of comfort, modernity, and the exhilaration of the open sea.

Motor yacht Rental

Renowned for their swift and efficient navigation, motor yachts allow you the freedom to chart your course, uncovering hidden coves, vibrant coastal towns, and secluded islands at your own pace. From the historic cities of Dubrovnik and Split to the tranquil beauty of the Kornati Islands, Croatia's diverse landscapes become easily accessible for exploration with the flexibility afforded by a motor yacht. Renowned for their swift and efficient navigation, motor yachts allow you the freedom to chart your course, uncovering hidden coves, vibrant coastal towns, and secluded islands at your own pace. From the historic cities of Dubrovnik and Split to the tranquil beauty of the Kornati Islands, Croatia's diverse landscapes become easily accessible for exploration with the flexibility afforded by a motor yacht.

Gulets Charter

Gulets and wooden motor sailors in Croatia offer a distinctive sailing experience and a relaxed approach to exploring the Adriatic. Our gulets are exclusively chartered, including the captain, cook, and additional crew members for larger vessels. Gulets chartering in Croatia represents a unique sailing class, crafted in the style of traditional Turkish trading ships. These boats vary in size from 14 to 35 meters, accommodating up to 20 berths, making them highly sought after for tourist charters. Uncover the beauty of wooden gulets in Croatia and charter one here to sail through Istria, Kvarner, and Dalmatia.

Luxury yacht Charter

Indulge in the opulence of fully-equipped and luxuriously furnished luxury yachts in Croatia. The dedicated crew ensures that every detail on board is taken care of, leaving you to simply relax and enjoy. Our yacht rentals, available with a crew, come at the most competitive prices. Opting for a megayacht charter is an excellent decision as it offers comprehensive amenities and luxurious comforts, alleviating any concerns during your journey. For a stress-free vacation, choosing a fully-equipped megayacht is the perfect solution.

Working with the best!

Cooperating with the best yacht charter companies.

Great companies! Excelent service!

And many more ...

Croatian sailing holidays for your family and friends, best yacht charter.

There is recipe for a great yacht charter and best sailing vacations. Here is what you need:

• A great yacht charter agency that understands you needs
• A great boat to charter with good price
• A great skipper that knows the area, the boat and is people frendly
• A great support during your sailing

Catamaran, sailboat and motorboat rental in Croatia

Available boat models.

Find available catamarans, sailboats, motorboats, gulets and luxury yacht models for your yacht charter vacations in Croatia.

Boat rental croatia

About Boat rental in Croatia: Split, islands of Kornati, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Trogir and Sibenik.

Our marinas in Croatia

Where are boats are from? Check out a map of starting marinas in Croatia where we can rent you your dream boat

Online boat search

Look for available catamaran, sailboat, motorboat, gulet or luxury yacht.

Last minute boat rentals

Ready to grab your bags and go? Check out our last minute boat rentals.

One Way Yacht charter

Want to embark in one marina and leave the boat in another?

Short term Yacht charter

No time for standard full week boat rental? We might have a solution for you.

Early Boat Booking

Grab the best discounts by booking your boat early. You know how the saying goes? (Early birds...)

About boat rental discounts

Here are some informations about boat rental discounts.

Looking for boat rental in Croatia?

Set sail in paradise: explore croatia with skippercity.com – croatia yacht charter, unforgettable sailing adventures await in croatia.

Croatia, with its turquoise waters, picturesque islands, and charming coastal towns, beckons sailors of all levels. Whether you’re a seasoned skipper seeking independence or a curious first-timer yearning for relaxation, SkipperCity.com unlocks the magic of the Adriatic Sea, crafting dream yacht charters for every desire.

Explore Your Options: A Fleet for Every Preference

At SkipperCity.com, your Croatia yacht charter begins with the perfect vessel. We boast an extensive fleet exceeding 13,000 yachts , catering to diverse preferences and sailing expertise:

• Catamarans: Experience unparalleled stability and comfort, ideal for families and groups seeking a luxurious and spacious adventure ( Croatia catamaran charter ).
• Sailboats: Embrace the classic charm and thrill of traditional sailing, perfect for exploring hidden coves and reconnecting with nature ( Croatia sailboat charter ).
• Motorboats: Discover the coastline at your own pace with our exciting motorboat charters, ideal for those seeking a faster pace and the ability to cover more ground ( Croatia motorboat charter: ).

Tailored Experiences for Every Sailor

We understand that every sailor has unique needs. Choose from three distinct Croatia yacht charter options to personalize your dream adventure:

• Bareboat Charters: Experienced sailors with valid licenses can embark on an independent adventure and create their own itinerary ( bareboat Croatia charter ).
• Skippered Charters: Relax and soak in the scenery while a professional skipper handles navigation, ensuring a safe and comfortable journey ( skippered Croatia charter ).
• Crewed Charters: Indulge in ultimate luxury with a dedicated captain and crew catering to your every need, from gourmet meals to activity planning ( crewed Croatia charter ).

Explore Croatia’s Diverse Regions:

Embark on your adventure from various locations across Croatia, each boasting unique coastal landscapes and hidden gems:

• Split: Sail from the vibrant city towards Brač, Hvar, and Šolta islands ( Split Croatia yacht charter ).
• Dubrovnik: Discover the “Pearl of the Adriatic” and explore the Elaphiti Islands ( Dubrovnik Croatia yacht charter ).
• Šibenik: Navigate the Kornati Islands National Park, a haven for untouched nature ( Šibenik Croatia yacht charter ).
• Zadar: Explore nearby islands like Ugljan and Pašman, known for natural beauty and traditional fishing villages ( Zadar Croatia yacht charter ).

Hassle-free Booking and Expert Guidance:

Our experienced team is here to guide you every step of the way. We offer:

• User-friendly website: Search for yachts based on dates, duration, and number of guests.
• Extensive fleet details: Compare different yacht options and view detailed features and amenities.
• Personalized assistance: Get expert advice and support throughout the booking process for your Croatia yacht charter .

Beyond the Yacht: Immerse Yourself in Croatia

Your Croatia yacht charter adventure extends beyond the vessel. Explore charming coastal towns, discover hidden coves, savor fresh seafood delicacies onboard or at waterfront restaurants, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Start Planning Your Dream Today:

Contact SkipperCity.com today and embark on an unforgettable Croatia yacht charter experience. Explore the magic of the Adriatic at your own pace and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Charter Yachts from Split, Trogir, Sibenik, Dubrovnik,...

Sailing and boat rental guides.

• How to rent a boat in croatia
• Boat booking procedure
• Boat take over procedure
• Yacht charter costs
• Marinas in Croatia
• What to take with you on a boat
• Valid skippers licenses
• Frequently Asked Questions
• How sailing works
• Nautical Charts Croatia
• Boat pertol stations
• Sailing areas
• Sailing is fun
• Split boat rental
• Dubrovnik boat rental
• Sailing holidays in Croatia
• Šibenik boat rental
• Trogir boat rental
• Zadar boat rental
• Kvarner boat rental
• Istra boat rental

Who are we and what we do? You can read about it here.

What is our story? How did we start?

We would love to hear from you!

Our partners

We work with many great companies.

Our skippers

We gathered some info from couple of our skippers here.

Client reviews

What our customers have to say about us?

Why would you rent a boat with us? What makes the difference?

Best price guarantee

Yes, we guarantee the best boat rental price in the market.

Booking terms

You can find booking terms and conditions here

Maybe it will help you find what you are looking for.

A bunch of boring data about site owner

+44 20 7139 8644

Skippered Yacht Charter Greece

With over 2000 greek islands and countless miles of coastline to explore, there is no better way to experience them than with family and friends on a skippered yacht charter..

There aren’t many places in the world as perfect for sailing than the Greek islands. From the moment you step on board, you will feel welcome, relaxed and completely at ease; ready to discover warm turquoise seas and golden beaches in the glorious summer sunshine. Live a unique experience, relax and recharge your batteries, explore incredible islands, learn to sail if you like or sit back and enjoy the serene journey.

Where to Charter a Yacht in Greece

The greek islands, ionian islands, cyclades islands, saronic islands, dodecanese islands, sporades islands, yachts in greece.

Hot Yachts and Cool Catamarans

The Skippered Charter Experience

A typical day is whatever you want it to be, skipper + optional hostess/cook, find out more – see the guides, discover the greek islands, yacht brochure, the skippered charter guide, what our customers say.

Thank you! It was a perfect sailing and everything went great. Thea is an excellent skipper and we had a very good time. We are starting to plan our next sailing trip and we are going to try to book as soon as possible. Thank you for everything again. Arturo

Arturo & Family, Mexico, Skippered Catamaran Yacht Charter, Greece

What an amazing experience we have had. Great boat, amazing skipper. Thanks for all your help and advice and for answering all our questions before and after we booked. We always felt so safe with Christos and he was great company and a true professional. See you next year!

Will and Amy, Berkshire, Skippered Yacht Charter, Ionian Islands, Greece

Well, what  can I say, last year we had a fabulous holiday with you but this year was simply fantastic and truly exceeded all our expectations (which as you know are high!) The first week with Cameron as skipper was excellent as he was a well mannered, helpful and skilled… read more

McWhirter Family, Scotland, Skippered Yacht Charter, Ionian Islands, Greece

Thank you for the best family holiday we have ever had! We loved the support from the crew and our yacht Marea was amazing and the envy of our friends who booked elsewhere! We’ll definitely be back next year!

Oldfield Family, London, Yacht Charter Ionian Islands, Greece

We have just finished our charter with your company. We have had a great week… Your skipper Mikey was a major contributor to our enjoyment of the week.  He was very  personable, hard working, calm, flexible and did his utmost to ensure each of the six of us felt included… read more

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The Ventura County Fire Department responds to a fire aboard the Conception dive boat off the coast of Southern California on Sept. 2, 2019. (Ventura County Fire Department via AP)

Jerry Boylan, right, captain of the Conception, arrives at federal court in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Barbara Chan, whose brother Raymond “Scott” Chan was among the 34 victims of a fire on the scuba dive boat Conception, holds a photo of the victims on Oct. 24, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

A family member holds a photo collage of the 34 victims of the Sept. 2, 2019, fire aboard the dive boat Conception at federal court in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.

The Sept. 2, 2019, blaze was the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history, and prompted changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and several ongoing lawsuits.

The victims included Lisa Fiedler, 52, of Mill Valley.

Captain Jerry Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year. The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seaman’s manslaughter. It was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.

Boylan’s appeal is ongoing. He faced up to 10 years in prison.

The defense had asked the judge to sentence Boylan to a five-year probationary sentence, with three years to be served under house arrest.

“While the loss of life here is staggering, there can be no dispute that Mr. Boylan did not intend for anyone to die,” his attorneys wrote in a sentencing memo. “Indeed, Mr. Boylan lives with significant grief, remorse, and trauma as a result of the deaths of his passengers and crew.”

The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet from shore.

Thirty-three passengers and a crew member died, trapped in a bunkroom below deck. Among the dead were the deckhand, who had landed her dream job; an environmental scientist who conducted research in Antarctica; a globe-trotting couple; a Singaporean data scientist; and a family of three sisters, their father and his wife.

Boylan was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard. Four crew members who joined him also survived.

Thursday’s sentencing was the final step in a fraught prosecution that’s lasted nearly five years and repeatedly frustrated the victims’ families.

A grand jury in 2020 initially indicted Boylan on 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter, meaning he could have faced a total of 340 years behind bars. Boylan’s attorneys argued the deaths were the result of a single incident and not separate crimes, so prosecutors got a superseding indictment charging Boylan with only one count.

In 2022, U.S. District Judge George Wu dismissed the superseding indictment, saying it failed to specify that Boylan acted with gross negligence. Prosecutors were then forced to go before a grand jury again.

Although the exact cause of the blaze aboard the Conception remains undetermined, the prosecutors and defense sought to assign blame throughout the 10-day trial last year.

The government said Boylan failed to post the required roving night watch and never properly trained his crew in firefighting. The lack of the roving watch meant the fire was able to spread undetected across the 75-foot boat.

But Boylan’s attorneys sought to pin blame on Glen Fritzler, who with his wife owns Truth Aquatics Inc., which operated the Conception and two other scuba dive boats, often around the Channel Islands. They argued that Fritzler was responsible for failing to train the crew in firefighting and other safety measures, as well as creating a lax seafaring culture they called “the Fritzler way,” in which no captain who worked for him posted a roving watch.

The Fritzlers have not spoken publicly about the tragedy since an interview with a local TV station a few days after the fire. Their attorneys have never responded to requests for comment from the Associated Press.

With the conclusion of the criminal case, attention now turns to several ongoing lawsuits.

Three days after the fire, Truth Aquatics filed suit under a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law that allows it to limit its liability to the value of the remains of the boat, which was a total loss. The time-tested legal maneuver has been successfully employed by the owners of the Titanic and other vessels, and requires the Fritzlers to show they were not at fault.

That case is pending, as well as others filed by victims’ families against the Coast Guard for what they allege was lax enforcement of the roving watch requirement.

The Independent Journal contributed to this report.

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Captain gets 4-year sentence for Conception boat disaster

J erry Boylan, the captain of the Conception dive boat where 34 people died amid smoke and flame over Labor Day weekend in 2019, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for negligence that contributed to the disaster.

U.S. District Judge George Wu said he found Boylan "incredibly remorseful" and that he had not "intended to do something bad."

The judge called it "one of the most difficult sentencings I've ever done," and said he was taking the 70-year-old Boylan's age and health into account, as well as the unlikelihood that he would re-offend.

The judge also rejected the prosecution's claim that Boylan had abandoned his ship.

Hearing those words, Boylan began to tremble and wipe away tears. He could have received up to 10 years in federal prison for his conviction on what is colloquially called seaman's manslaughter.

The lighter sentence — and the fact that the judge is allowing Boylan to remain free until after a restitution hearing — left many of the victims' family members furious.

"There's no justice," said Robert Kurtz, the father of one of the victims. "He's not even being remanded. He's still free."

After a two-week trial, a federal jury in November found Boylan committed gross negligence in the deaths of the 33 passengers and one crew member who were trapped in a windowless bunk room when the boat caught fire before dawn on Sept. 2, 2019 off Santa Cruz Island.

Boylan had been a captain for 34 years but failed to appoint an overnight watch , ignoring the Certificate of Inspection requirements hanging in his own wheelhouse.

Nor did he institute adequate fire safety drills. Prosecutors argued that this left his poorly trained, panic-stricken crew effectively useless amid the fire, which possibly originated in a trash can some time after 2:35 a.m.

As the flames spread, blocking the exits for those crowded in the bunk room below, a member of Boylan's crew twice ran right by a 50-foot fire hose overhead. Boylan himself called in a mayday at 3:14 a.m. and jumped overboard, which prosecutors described as abandoning ship.

But Boylan's attorneys with the federal public defender's office called it "an unstoppable inferno" and said there was little he could have done after waking amid the flames. His attorneys also argued that Boylan, in failing to use an overnight watch, was merely following the custom of the company that owned the boat, Truth Aquatics, and did not know that he was imperiling passengers. Prosecutors called it the "blaming your boss" defense.

Families of the fire victims packed the 9th floor courtroom in downtown Los Angeles Thursday. Many came with posters of their loved ones, and some wore shirts that said "34 fearless divers" and "forever remembered." For nearly two hours, families read victim impact statements to the judge.

Yadira Alvarez said her 16-year-old daughter, Berenice Felipe, who died on the boat, was in her last year of high school.

"Her wings were cut," Alvarez said. As she displayed photos of her daughter on the screen, Boylan kept his head bowed. She demanded the maximum ten-year sentence for Boylan, even though "ten years for him is nothing," adding: "He is not a victim."

During the trial, the families endured graphic testimony about the effort to recover the bodies from the charred boat 56 feet below the surface. They watched a 24-second video, found on an iPhone recovered from the wreck, recording the victims' last moments alive.

On the tape , voices could be heard exclaiming, "There's got to be a way out!" and "There's got to be more extinguishers!" and "We're gonna die ..."

Boylan did not testify and has remained free since his conviction. Prosecutors said he was guilty of manslaughter if his negligence caused even one of the 34 deaths.

Boylan's lawyers, and his supporters, pleaded for leniency before the sentencing.

"There's no way to undo this tragedy," said defense attorney Georgina Wakefield. "Mr. Boylan is not a bad man. He wishes every day that he could go back in time and change what happened ... I've never represented anybody who is as grief-stricken."

Defense attorneys argued that none of the Truth Aquatics boats, nor any other boat in the waters off Santa Barbara, used a roving night watch at the time, and that it was unfair "to punish him for the failings of an entire industry."

Giving Boylan a stiff prison term would not serve to deter further catastrophes like this one, the attorneys argued, since the dive boat industry has already implemented safety reforms as a result of the Conception fire.

Defense attorneys asked the judge to sentence Boylan to house arrest and community service, characterizing him as a man with "almost no family" whose "job was his life." He was now an isolated 70-year-old man who sleeps 1 1/2 hours most nights, rarely leaves home and "has been crippled with pain and guilt in the years since the accident," according to a pre-sentencing defense memo.

The memo said Boylan, who was making a wage of around $44,000 after decades as a boat captain, now survives on social security and can't afford payments on the trailer where he lives.

Baron Kelly, who worked on Boylan's crews and considered him a mentor in seamanship, described him as among "the most conservative" of the Truth Aquatics captains, a skipper who drilled his crews in how to handle dive-related emergencies.

"I have spoken with Jerry many times since the accident and his grief is colossal," Kelly wrote in a letter to the judge. "At one point he told me he was sleeping in his living room because his bedroom didn't have enough emergency exits. Some days when I would reach out he was too distraught by grief to speak at all."

Another of Boylan's former crewmembers, Shannan Johnson, described him as "one of the company's most reliable and responsible captains."

"Jerry is a good man. He did his best and then some," Johnson wrote to the judge. "Yet that night the negligence was trusting that what had been safe and successful for 30 years all of a sudden wasn't."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .

Skipper pulled from sinking yacht in RNLI rescue

• West Country
• Monday 6 May 2024 at 7:25am

A skipper has been rescued from a sinking vessel in Cornwall .

Falmouth Coastguard launched both RNLI Penlee lifeboats to the yacht at 11pm on Saturday 4 May.

The 32 ft (10m) yacht had grounded in poor weather conditions off Penzance promenade.

It was pulled free of rocks and towed to Newlyn harbour by rescuers.

According to rescuers, t he yacht had suffered hull damage which caused it to take on water.

A spokesperson for the RNLI Penlee station said: "To assist the elderly skipper the Penlee all-weather lifeboat put an RNLI volunteer on to the yacht who quickly informed coxswain Patch Harvey that the vessel was taking on a lot of water.

"The yacht had suffered hull damage while aground and for the next two hours the yacht was pumped out every 20 minutes until nearer to high tide when it was towed to the north pier so it could dry out, [and] at low tide assess the hull damage.

" Both RNLI lifeboats returned to station at 2:15am Sunday morning to wash down and refuel in preparation for the next service."

Enchanter trial: Maritime NZ opens case against fishing boat skipper Lance Goodhew over capsize that killed 5 men

Shannon Pitman

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Lance Goodhew on day one of his trial on a charge brought by Maritime New Zealand at the Whangārei District Court. Photo / Michael Craig

• The three-week trial for Enchanter skipper Lance Goodhew started in the Whangārei District Court today.
• Goodhew faces a single charge of breaching his duties as a worker on the vessel and in doing so, allegedly exposing individuals to a risk of death or serious injury.
• Two charges against his recreational fishing charter business were dropped today as there was no evidence.
• The Enchanter was hired by a group of friends for a game-fishing trip to the Three Kings Islands in March 2022.
• The fishing boat capsized during bad weather, killing Geoffrey James Allen, 72, Michael Patrick Lovett, 72, Richard Eldon Bright, 63, Mark Keith Walker, 41 and Mark Kenneth Sanders, 43.

The deckhand on board a vessel that sank killing five men has given a first-hand account of the chaos that ensued when the Enchanter was engulfed by a monstrous wave.

“It was instant, half a second,” Kobe O’Neill said about the moment the wave hit and flipped the boat, before going on to explain he had just two minutes to try to escape as water poured in through broken windows.

O’Neill was the first person to give evidence at the start of a three-week trial against his boss, skipper Lance Goodhew , in the Whangārei District Court today.

Goodhew is facing a single Maritime New Zealand charge of breaching his duties as a worker on the vessel and, in doing so, exposing individuals to a risk of death or serious injury. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a $150,000 fine.

Judge Philip Rzepecky started the judge-alone trial earlier in the day by acknowledging all those who died, and the survivors and their families who had travelled to participate in the trial or listen in remotely.

“This is a serious maritime tragedy and the other people who survived who, no doubt, went through a traumatic ordeal, including Mr Goodhew, so I acknowledge them and I also acknowledge and welcome the families and victims.”

The court heard O’Neill had worked as a deckhand for Goodhew for four seasons and was in training to become a skipper.

O’Neill said on Saturday, March 19 the vessel was anchored at Little Bear Bay in the Three Kings and they were aware the weather would be rough in the morning and ease off in the afternoon.

The group decided to fish the bay in the morning and then head to Princes Island to hook kingfish.

Video footage was played of the men fishing at Princes Island, which showed the swell of the sea.

Family members of Mark Sanders, one of the men who died, became openly tearful as they watched the video of one of his last joyous moments.

Further footage was played of the journey back and when asked to describe his thoughts of the sea state, O’Neill responded: “One and a half to two metres.”

He clarified that the height of the waves was difficult to measure as the sea was always changing.

They took their normal route towards North Cape and O’Neill said they would usually anchor there on the final night before the six-hour trip to Mangonui.

He said when the wave hit, it came portside and the vessel rolled instantly.

O’Neill said after the windows blew out, they had two minutes to get out as water poured in.

He struggled to get on the upside-down hull but as he did he noticed Mike Lovett floating face-down in the water. He dove in and held Lovett for two hours, trying his hardest to save him.

An emergency beacon floated past, but he said it took 15 minutes to activate the device as it wouldn’t turn on. They then waited in the water for four hours for help to arrive.

Sloppy, gnarly and scruffy weather

Maritime New Zealand’s lead counsel Sam McMullan opened his case by saying Goodhew breached his duties under the Health and Safety Act 2015 and in doing so, exposed passengers to the risk of death or injury.

“The Enchanter should never have been where it was. The weather was poor and a significant front was passing, the conditions were described as ‘sloppy, gnarly and scruffy’,” McMullan said.

The lawyer said the weather was a key topic of discussion throughout the trip and Goodhew himself had interpreted the weather as “nasty”.

McMullan said when the Enchanter left Mangonui on March 17, 2022 there was no dispute Goodhew knew a weather front was coming with estimated 30-knot winds forecast for March 19.

Despite that knowledge and armed with multiple weather navigational devices, Goodhew took his passengers 80km north and, over the coming days, the weather forecast was upgraded to a gale warning.

McMullan said Goodhew discussed the weather regularly with his passengers and was also receiving six-hourly updates from his onboard weather systems.

The case will hinge on the decisions Goodhew made at the Three Kings Islands and North Cape that allegedly contributed to the catastrophic outcome.

The weather passing over the Three Kings had reportedly been so bad that multiple vessels in the area had set anchor. But about 1.30pm on March 19, Goodhew decided to leave.

McMullan said although the weather had slightly improved, the sea was still rough and most seafarers understand the risks presented after a front has passed.

“The fact the Enchanter arrived in North Cape a short time after the front had passed through should have given him pause for concern that the area may still be encountering the effects of weather that had passed through,” McMullan said in opening.

When Goodhew was interviewed by Maritime New Zealand he described the conditions as dark, with visibility between 20 to 50 metres in front of him, and said he was going side-on into waves.

Although Goodhew said the Enchanter was in about 50m of water, MetOcean disagreed and would give evidence the water depth was likely less than that, the lawyer said.

McMullan said Goodhew was also within three nautical miles of the coastline and it was those combined factors at North Cape that placed Goodhew’s passengers at a reasonable risk of injury or death.

“It’s all of those factors together, he was travelling in the conditions he was, the proximity he was to North Cape in low light, all increased the risk of the situation.

“The marine environment is a complex one and it takes time to go into effect. Based on the information he had and not exercising a degree of care in his decisions, as we see the consequences have been catastrophic.

“He breached the act. It is his duty to positively take reasonable care. That is an encapsulation of what the case is about,” McMullan said.

‘Catastrophic’ consequences

Between 7.40pm and 8pm a wave described by Goodhew as “taller than the roof” struck the Enchanter, ripping the cabin and flybridge from the hull.

Goodhew’s lawyer Fletcher Pilditch KC said his client firstly wanted to acknowledge the deceased and also the survivors and the trauma they have lived through together.

Pilditch said the prosecution needed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that no responsible skipper would have left the Three Kings.

“There’s a risk in cases like this where one mariner would have made one decision and another would have made another.

“What the prosecution is trying to do is, based on the information, [say] no reasonable mariner would have made that decision. We have the fact two people would make two different decisions, doesn’t make it unreasonable.”

‘Complex and challenging’ decisions

Pilditch said the decisions at North Cape were more complex and he challenged the prosecution’s theory that being within three nautical miles of the coast placed more risk on the vessel.

“The prosecution are setting [their] mark or raising a flag that there is a distinction to be drawn on the three nautical miles outside and within, but they need to show why it’s unsafe or risky to be closer than three [for a skipper] generally known to be a confident master,” Pilditch said.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tōkerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.

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