We enjoyed being back on a boat again (first time in over six years); seeing dolphins swim with the boat was a wonderful experience, we enjoyed being at the helm, meeting new people, seeing new places, swimming off the boat, the Italian food on the boat, and the French food a couple of evenings at restaurants. The trip wasn’t without its challenges. As two English people on a boat of Italian speakers, I was pleased to be able to speak some Italian but perhaps inevitably my 18 year old daughter found mealtimes hard as she was unable to understand or join in any of the conversations. It was good that the two boys were able to speak good English and one of them even French and the three youngest members of the group (which included my daughter) all got on well together. Federico is a very experienced sailor and the Bavaria is a sound sailing boat with a great swimming platform. I think Federico will feel more comfortable with his next crew of mostly young men and sailing to Sardinia. With our group he was tense quite a lot of the time and he seemed to favour the two 15 year old boys who were indeed a valuable asset to the group. However, even if women may be physically weaker, they can still become competent sailors. Our impression was that Federico didn’t believe this. There were a few minor boat issues which if resolved could have made for a more comfortable time on board: the toilet in our cabin was very hard to operate (I have sailed on many boats and have never experienced a boat toilet so hard to pump out - from the start it was difficult and only got worse throughout the trip); there were no boat cushions for use on deck; and no fans in the cabin - it was so hot at night being July in the South of France. My daughter was able to sleep on deck on a very thin camping mat provided by Federico but that wouldn’t have worked for me. I hope that my comments will be seen as constructive feedback rather than negative. For us personally we experienced highs and lows at different points of the trip. We will certainly not forget the sailing week or the people on board and overall as a crew of different nationalities we got on very well.

Internship at the top! Fabienne is a great captain who makes you want to learn! Thank you for this great experience!

Excellent week on the boat with nice companions and exceptional skipper Manuel, attentive to all our needs and always ready to offer us alternatives to please everyone. To be repeated!

It was a great experience... Olaf TOP👍