Conquer the Bay of Biscay!

This trip features an epic 1,000 NM+ delivery across the Bay of Biscay from Southampton to Lisbon! Be part of the very first trip of the Summer Programme!

About The Trip

This trip will obviously be fairly intense and involve spending the best part of a week on Skylark whilst underway. It is recommended that you have some prior sailing experience to come on this trip. If you are relatively inexperienced but have a taste for adventure then you are more than welcome to join us.

That being said, we must of course ensure that there are enough experienced people in the crew on the trip to run it safely, as we will be sailing day and night in a watch system. If you are in any doubt of whether you should sign up to this trip then please feel free to get in touch with Conor Bolas (profile).

This trip will be an excellent mile builder and you will learn a lot of passage making skills and knowledge. You will also get experience of sailing in a wide range of conditions both during the day and night, as well as living and sailing in a watch rotation system.

 

Passage to Lisbon

The passage to Lisbon from Southampton will be in excess of 1,000 NM. This will involve a full non-stop Bay of Biscay crossing and passage to Lisbon that will last around 8 days. This of course depends on the timings and the weather conditions.

Things I personally am looking forward to: sunsets and rises away from land, whales and dolphins, bioluminescsnce, spinniker sailing, stars at night, practicing astronavigation, playing games on board and getting to know each other. 

Once in the vacinity of Lisbon, there should be some opportunity to do some cruising in this pretty area. We can also spend some time relaxing and enjoying the city while staying on the yacht. I reckon we will be in need of rest and relaxation and of course that will incolve several beers at the nearest bars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skipper

This event will be skippered by experienced club skipper, Conor Bolas (profile). A bit bit about Conor:

"Hi, i'm Conor. I was commodore of the club in 2018/2019 and am now out in the world of work after my atmospheric chemistry PhD at King's. I have been on and skippered many adventurous trips with CUYC, but this will be the longest. I did the 5-day crossing of the North Sea from Southampton to Bergen via Amsterdam in 2017 as first mate and since qualifying as a skipper I have taken Skylark across the channel a few times, been out to the Scilly Isles and also crossed the Kattegat (Baltic Sea) from Gothemberg (Sweden) to Keil (Germany), as well as many other trips. I absolutely love this kind of sailing and I am sure it will be a healthy mix of exciting, relaxed and fun! I am always keen to explore where we are visting and I am hoping that we see some whales and other big marine life! I like to cook on board, mexican burritos is a favourite of mine and I am always keen to try something different." 

 

 

 

Flights and Organisation

Outbound flights are obviously not neccessary here, but you will need to be in Southapmton and on the boat  at the latest in the evening on Friday the 13th May. 

The trip will formally finish on Saturday 28th May in Lisbon. If you would like to fly back immediately you may do, or you could linger in the city a while. There may be some flexibility as we are likely to arrive in Lisbon earlier than that. 

Please do not book any flights untill your place on the trip has been confirmed and you have spoke to the trip organiser.  

Please see the tab "What to Bring" for details of what to bring.