Leg 3/2020
8 – 19 May: Portosin/Galicia/Spain – Crossing the Bay of Biscay – Lymington/The Solent/UK, 600+ nm
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Crossing the bay of Biscay is in the dreams of many sailors. Not many coded sail training boats or charter vessels offer this, since it means that the boat in question needs to comply to stringent rules to do this. Regina Laska is commercially coded by the MCA for offshore sailing, see the safety philosophy on Regina Laska page. Regina Laska does fulfil all safety rules for crossing the Bay of Biscay and thus I can offer this type of offshore sailing.
This leg is more special than this! If you are planning to take the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Exam one day, you first need to have done an ocean sailing leg covering more than 600 nm nonstop sailing.
It is not necessary to hold a RYA Yachtmaster Offshore certificate to join this leg (however you need to be a Yachtmaster Offshore when taking the RYA Ocean exam later). It is, however, highly advisable that you are an experienced sailor before joining this leg, e.g. having experienced at least one non-stop sailing covering more than 100 nm on a previous Reginasailing leg.
The big difference to coastal sailing is the feeling that you cannot just stop, get off or take a breath. It’s the psychological challenge to know “we are out there now” and have to face it. For some, the knowledge that there are more than 4,000 m of water depth under the keel is a daunting one…
Having said that, we do not take any chances! Therefore, we have allocated no less than 10 days for this 4-5 days sail, leaving us just as many days to explore Galicia or, if we are quick, arrive in England early.
This is good, since it gives us ample time to practice celestial navigation and preparing the crew for the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean exam which is due on 18 and 19 May in The Solent.
Advanced weather routing, both from ashore as well as onboard weather interpretation of synoptic charts, routing software and satellite communication will be used to allow for a safe and quick crossing.
Before you join, it would be advisable to either join on one of Reginasailing’s Yachtmaster Ocean theory courses or that you prepare yourself by reading for instance the RYA Astro Navigation Handbook and Tom Cunliffe’s The Complete Ocean Skipper.
Price: EUR 3,750 per person including all food consumed onboard, harbour fees, diesel etc