Leg 12/2027
8 – 18 Sept: Bangor/Belfast/North Ireland – Crossing the Bay of Biscay – La Coruna/Galicia/Spain, RYA Ocean Qualifying Leg: 600+ nm
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.
We will use the sextant for celestial navigation following the Yachtmaster Theory Ocean while crossing the Bay of Biscay and then switch over to Tidal Sail training following the Yachtmaster Offshore Theory Course once arriving along the Irish coast.
This leg is, in other words, the best of both worlds: practical Ocean sail training with hands-on practical celestial navigation as well as Offshore sailing in one of the most thrilling tidal waters of Europe. This leg is therefore a good preparation for both the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore as well as RYA Yachtmaster Ocean, would you fancy to undertake the exam at some point.
It goes without saying that we will enjoy the cozy pub atmosphere with Irish music in the beginning of the leg in Ireland!
Depending on the weather we will first sail around Ireland and possibly all the way down to Dublin before heading out for our nonstop RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Qualifying Leg, which must take no less than 96 hours and cover a minimum distance of 600nm.
Most probably, we will pick a weather window just after a front has passed, and then sail in the ridge before the next front reaches us. This should give us good speed and good winds.
Once in Galicia, we then spend the remaining days in this fantastic cruising ground!
See here for an article in German magazine YACHT about a similar Ocean Qualifying Leg when I did a similar drip from Brest to Lisbon in 2025.
So many sides of the Bay of Biscay. I have crossed the Bay many times by now and each time is individual and a fantastic experience!
A wonderful calm night on the Bay of Biscay.
The breath of the Atlantic with a never ending swell, even when totally becalmed.
It’s difficult to capture the rising and falling swell of the Atlantic, which more look like hills than water. It needs to be experienced in real!
Windy upwind sailing on the Bay of Biscay, which is yet another face of the Bay of Biscay. Not my favourite, I can reveal.
Celestial navigation with a cup of coffee in the morning!
Often, the Bay of Biscay is calm enough that we can do the celestial calculations together in the cockpit while being underway.
Not until you have crossed an open sea, you appreciate the cozy and safe berth on a Hallberg-Rassy. Also the toilet makes sense, and so does the Hardtop, and all the grab rails on a Hallberg-Rassy after you have crossed the Bay of Biscay. In a marina you might consider these features as “narrow”, “restricted” or even “cramped”, even on a large yacht as Regina Laska. Once you have experienced real ocean sailing, however, you understand why everything is planed into detail to suit comfortable ocean sailing. And that safety and comfort results from the design of an ocean-going sailing vessel.
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.
Weather-Fax, TimeZero as well as Predict Wind (see above) is being used for weather routing.
Waiting for noon-site.
Feels like crossing the Atlantic!
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 4,190 per person including all food consumed onboard, harbour fees, diesel etc. Restaurants come extra at shared cost.