Bareboat Yacht Charter

HURST POINT YACHT CHARTERS LIMITED

Lymington based bareboat yacht charter at the spectacular western end of the Solent

Tel 01590 623765 mob 07932 140878
or email info@hurstpointyachts.co.uk

Yachts can be hired on a bareboat charter basis (without Hurst Point skipper) provided the bareboat qualifications and experience below are held by the skipper and first mate.

If you are lacking in any of these aspects, we can arrange the training necessary for bareboat charter with our approved sailing schools. These are small schools with local knowledge handpicked to provide first class instruction. We can also provide you with some informal refresher training for a half day or evening in advance of your charter with friends or family. This will allow you to familiarise yourself with the yacht. We concentrate on the aspects that are most likely to get you into trouble such as berthing and reefing the mainsail. Alternatively you may wish one of our skippers to accompany you for part of the first day of your charter to point out and demonstrate the sailing controls.

Our aim is to ensure as far as we can that you have all the skills and knowledge necessary to safely handle the yacht and have a wonderful time sailing as a result. The last thing we want is to withold money from your security/damage deposit of £750 to £1000 depending on the yacht is required to cover any uninsured loss or damage. This can be higher for bareboat racing charter. Fortunately incidents are rare despite the often challenging conditions.

On Handover of the yacht at the marina
There are four parts to the handover:
- a safety briefing
- demonstration of the yachts sailing equipment
- inspection of the yachts condition and inventory
- explanation of the domestic equipment on board
One hour should be envisaged for this activity. For some yachts, we have a yacht manual which we send you with the joining instructions explaning most of the things covered in the handover.

The standard times of bareboat holidays are as follows:

Day Charter: 0830hrs to 1800hrs

Weekend Charter: Friday1800hrs to Sunday 1700hrs

Weekly Charter: Friday 1800hrs to Friday 1600hrs or Sunday 1900hrs to Sunday 1700hrs

We can however accommodate late night hand over if required or late arrival by use of our mobile phone contact number.

Please see below the yachts we have for bareboat charter, note that all apart from the Bavaria 47 (Hamble) and Oceanis 311 (Christchurch) are marina berthed Lymington

PRICES
These prices are a guide and relate to a high season bareboat weekend which is our most popular charter type. The price generally includes VAT at 20%, fuel and gas, berthing home marina, wet weather gear hire, cleaning of the vessel at the end of the charter and free parking.Prices for all other charter types can be found on the detailed Pricelist

HOW TO BOOK

Please get in touch with us now using the contact details above to check on availability. If you are happy with the dates we will reserve the yacht in your name for a few days and email the booking forms. A 25% booking deposit is requested to confirm the charter with the balance paid a few weeks prior to the charter.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR BAREBOAT

1) Day sailing in the Solent.

The RYA Day skipper course completion certificate is taken as evidence of ability to skipper a pleasure yacht by day in good weather and local waters. The International Certificate of Competance (ICC) which is accepted on the Continent as evidence of ability to skipper a yacht is also acceptable provided a sailing log book is held showing the same practical experience required for the Day Skipper course, ie 100 sea miles in tidal waters, 5 days at sea and 4 night hours.

2) Solent night sailing, Coastal Passages day and night up to 20 nm offshore. Cross Channel day passages.

For all of these trips, the RYA Coastal Skipper practical course completion certificate is required. Coastal passages would be limited to Weymouth to the west. For cross Channel trips, a limitation of Force 5 forcast wind strength and good visability would be imposed. The ICC is required in addition to the RYA certificate for visits to EEC countries.

3) Coastal no limitation, Cross Channel night crossings, all weather.

For these types of sailing, the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore practical course completion certificate is required. The ICC is required in addition to the RYA certificate for visits to EEC countries.

Notes

• In all cases, the first mate should be capable of taking control, given the nature of the proposed voyage, in the event that the skipper becomes unfit.
• Overseas sailing certificates or membership of yacht clubs cannot be taken into consideration as the basis of awarding is unknown. In these cases the procedures below would apply.

• The Maritime Radio Operator Certificate should be held by the skipper or one of the crew.
• The RYA First Aid certificate is recommended by the MCA to be held by someone on board. This is because a SOLAS First Aid kit is carried with supplies for treating serious injuries and crew should be familiar with the contents. However there are a number of other First Aid qualifications which are acceptable alternatives.
• For those with no certificates but with considerable sailing experience, it is possible to charter bareboat. Here the pre requisite would be provision of a copy of a sailing log book showing sea miles, previous experience of the type of trip planned, the size of yachts sailed and experience as skipper.
• Where no log book is available, it may be possible to take other documentary evidence into account such as booking documentation with other charter companies. This will be considered by Hurst Point Yacht Charters and if we feel sufficient experience is held, we will accept the Booking Form and impose a sailing limitation if necessary. Where we are unable to decide on the information given, we may request that an ICC be taken on day 1 at a price of £45. The knowledge required is detailed in the 'RYA Book of the International Certificate of Competence' by Bill Anderson price £10.99 (ISBN 0-7136-6248-4) available from our Nautical Books Shop The examiner will then decide if in his view the charterer together with his party is capable of operating the yacht bareboat and propose any sailing limitations. If the examiner is unable to recommend bareboat charter based on the limited time available for the test, then a skipper will accompany the charterer.

We invite you to make a no obligation enquiry for our Solent yacht charter services. If you have time, here is what other people have said about us regarding past chartersTESTIMONIALS

OUR PROMISES TO YOU

Payments We will look after your deposits and advance payments for your yacht charter. We are a limited liability company with all the reporting commitments that entails such as Annual Accounts and Companies House returns so we intend to be around for a while, in fact we have been operating since 2003. We are also VAT registered which is of benefit to Corporate organisations booking with us.

Safety. We promise to ensure that we offer only charter yachts which we have the greatest confidence in. Regarding our flagship Dotty Dot, we go family sailing in her ourselves including cross channel so we are as keen as you to ensure that everything is in order. We promise to keep all the life jackets serviced, the life raft contents renewed every year, the engine well maintained and all the other things that need to be done.

Value for Money. Charter yachts are incredibly expensive to run and maintain. However we promise to charge fees that give only a moderate return and to ensure that ours are amongst the lowest prices if not THE lowest.
This involves not only keeping an eye on what our competitors are charging but also including things in the price that would normally be extra such as wet weather gear, cleaning of the yacht on return and diesel fuel. Other items such as marina parking, gas, mooring fees at the marina and shore supply electricity are also included.

Hand over We promise to hand the yacht over to you in a first class condition. This means that the deck holding tank will be empty (you would soon know about it on a port tack if not - phew!), that water and diesel tanks will be full and the yacht clean inside and out.

General It is not our style to attempt to make you responsible for defects that have arisen during a charter that we should take on board ourselves and never have we done so. In fact we are extremely loathe to ask you to put your hands in your pocket for things such as fenders and boat hooks that have gone overboard because we do not want to finish on a sour note and want you to come back as many do!

VESSEL CERTIFICATION

A vessel to be used for sailing yacht rental should carry the following certification, originals of which should be held in a file (or sometimes attached on the inside of a port light) kept on board the yacht. When booking seek confirmation that these are held and will be available for inspection when joining the yacht.

1) Certificate of Coding.
This is a Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA)/Department of Transport(DoT) requirement for charter vessels in commercial use. Certificates are renewed annually and additionaly there is a disc (similar to a car tax disc) which must be attached to the inside of a port light. The coding category is shown on the certificate and disc. Make sure that the yacht which you are intending to charter has the Certificate of Coding relevant to the voyage you are planning as this will have a bearing on the safety features and equipment carried. The coding categories are:
Category 6 - Up to 3 nautical miles(nm) from a nominated departure point or land in favourable weather and in daylight
Category 5 - Up to 20 nm from a nominated departure point in favourable weather and in daylight
Category 4 - Up to 20 nm from a safe haven in favourable weather and in daylight
Category 3 - Up to 20 nm from a safe haven
Category 2 - Up to 60 nm from a safe haven (ie across channel)
Category 1 - Up to 150 nm from a safe haven.

2) Life raft Certificate of Servicing and Testing.
Charter yachts should carry life rafts conforming to SOLAS B requirements. This stipulates a greater degree of equipment and capability than a life raft for private pleasure yacht use. SOLAS B life rafts have to be serviced annually and a new certificate issued.

3) Ships Radio Licence
This is authority to use the VHF equipment on board, usually a fixed installation and a hand held. The licence is issued by OFCOM and must be renewed annually. The licence is a car tax disc style which must be attached to the inside of a port light.

4) Certificate of Insurance
Issued annually, this must be endorsed for bareboat and skippered yacht charter with a 3rd party liability minimum of £3,000,000.

5) Certificate of British Registry
Issued every 5 years, this is the ships ownership document with details of the registered owners.Essential to carry on board if crossing the Channel as failure to produce if boarded by officials can result in the impounding of the vessel. The registration number is required to be shown on the coach roof port and starboard and on the stern.

6) Gas Installation Certificate
Gas being one of the biggest risks on board a yacht, an annual inspection should be carried out by a CORGI approved technician and a certificate issued.

7) Engine Service Record
A marine diesel engine requires regular service. One hours running equates approximately to 50 miles of a car engine, so 200 running hours are equivalent to 10,000 miles on the road. The oil needs to be changed every 100 hours approximately. Other important items are annual change of the coolant, sea water impeller and fan belt. The service record should be up to date.

8) Sea Start membership.
No statutory requirement for this for Solent yacht charter but a must nevertheless. Covers engine/transmission failure and fouling of the propeller up to 3 nautical miles offshore. Permit attaches to inside of port light.

Copyright 2003-2011 Hurst Point Yacht Charters Limited Bareboat Charter All Rights Reserved