Beaufort

[ Est. 2008 · classic yachts · West Country ]

We sail the long way on purpose.

Beaufort is a small charter house of classic yachts and the crews who know them. Bespoke passages under sail — the Western Approaches, the Hebrides, the Norwegian leads — kept the old way: by chart, log and dead reckoning.

See the passages Meet the fleet →
Home port
Dartmouth
Season
Apr — Oct
In commission
0 yachts
15 19 24 12 9 11 14 17 13 8 26 29 21 23 7 5 10 16 12 A B Wk N E S W 50°10′N 06°00′W 0 5 10 nm Chart No. 12 WESTERN APPROACHES SOUNDINGS IN FATHOMS · 1:120 000
PLATE 12 — the Western Approaches compass tracks your heading as you scroll

[ The fleet ]

Four yachts, each with a temper.

Wooden hulls and long keels, kept in commission the expensive way — because a boat you can trust in a following sea is not the one that looks fastest at the dock. Every one is skippered; you crew as much or as little as you like.

Kestrel

Bermudan sloop

The fast one. A 1962 sloop that heels hard and forgives nothing — she rewards a light hand on the helm and punishes a heavy one.

LOA
48 ft
Berths
4
Built
1962

Perdita

Gaff cutter

The old lady. Built 1928, gaff-rigged and bowsprit-proud — slow to tack, glorious on a reach, and the only berth aboard with a coal stove.

LOA
56 ft
Berths
6
Built
1928

Saskia

Bermudan ketch

The long-hauler. Two masts to spread the load, so you can shorten sail without waking the off-watch. Built 1971 for passages that don't end at dusk.

LOA
62 ft
Berths
6
Built
1971

Wren

Folkboat sloop

The little one. A 1958 clinker folkboat for day sails and short hops — two berths, no frills, and the best classroom afloat for learning to feel a boat.

LOA
25 ft
Berths
2
Built
1958

[ Passages ]

Where the fleet goes.

Set routes we know in every weather, or the seed of one you bring us. Distances are rhumb-line and honest; the sea will add to them. The forecast is a suggestion — the sea keeps its own counsel.

  • The Western Approaches

    Falmouth · Scillies · Falmouth

    Out past the Manacles to the Isles of Scilly, anchoring where the chart runs out of names. A classic first passage — open water, but never far from a lee.

    0 nm 6 nights · Kestrel

  • Hebridean Traverse

    Oban · Sound of Mull · Small Isles

    Sheltered water and big scenery — the Sound of Mull, then out to Muck, Eigg and Rùm. Tidal gates to time and seals to keep the dawn watch company.

    0 nm 5 nights · Saskia

  • The Channel Islands

    Dartmouth · Guernsey · Sark

    A short, tide-ruled hop to the last of the old Channel anchorages. Sark has no cars and Sark has no rush; the tidal streams see to the rest.

    0 nm 3 nights · Perdita

  • The Norwegian Leads

    Bergen · Sognefjord · the skerries north

    Inside the skerries where the water goes still and black, threading the leads north from Bergen. Long light, cold nights, and depths the lead line won't reach.

    0 nm 8 nights · Saskia

  • The Solent Classic

    Cowes · Beaulieu · Yarmouth

    A weekend of sheltered short-tacking and the finest harbours in the south — for a first taste of the fleet, or a last one before the boats come ashore.

    0 nm 2 nights · Wren

[ The crew ]

You are in good hands.

Every passage is skippered by someone who has made it before, often in worse weather than you'll ever see. They are quiet, unhurried, and very hard to alarm.

Iain Rasmussen

Master · Kestrel & Saskia

Forty years at sea, half of them delivering other people's yachts across the Atlantic. Navigates by GPS and checks it against the stars out of habit. Will not raise his voice, even when you'd understand it if he did.

RYA Yachtmaster Ocean · 84,000 nm logged

Marta Holm

Mate & navigator · Perdita

Grew up sailing the Norwegian leads and knows every rock in them by its first name. Keeps the paper chart up to date because she doesn't trust a screen to survive a knockdown. Bakes bread on passage; the galley is her watch.

RYA Yachtmaster Offshore · celestial nav

Edvard Solheim

Bosun & relief skipper · Wren

Shipwright by trade — he built half of Wren's interior with his own hands and can fix anything aboard with what's already aboard. Teaches the knots, the reef, and the reason a boat under sail is quieter than any room ashore.

Shipwright · Coastal Skipper · 22 seasons

0 nautical miles logged roughly four times around the world
0 seasons afloat since the first charter in 2008
0 ports of call from Falmouth to the Lofoten wall
0 passages cancelled by weather postponed, yes. we wait for the sea

[ Book a passage ]

Tell us your latitude.

Every charter begins with a conversation, not a calendar. Where you'd like to wake up, how much you want to do on deck, and whether you've sailed before — we'll shape a passage around the answer and put you in the log.

  • Skippered charter — crew as much or as little as you like
  • All provisioning, harbour dues and fuel included
  • Weather windows honoured; safety is never the adventure

Demo form — nothing is sent. See the README.