2026 sailing plans update
Page Updated: 19th December 2025
Our 2026 calendar continues to evolve as we book boats and hear from our members which trips are most in demand. The latest position follows. If you have not yet told us which trips you are interested in, please do so by the end of the year as we will be allocating places from January onward. You can still express interest after this date, but you may not get your first choice. See note at the end of the calendar regarding number of choices and support to enable those with low income to sail.
Volunteer crew familiarisation.
Date: 25 April to 29 April 2026
Number of days: 4.
Start and finish: Southampton Town Quay.
Cost: £220
Voyage summary:
An opportunity for new sighted volunteer crew and old friends to learn about what we do on our trips and how we empower and support visually impaired sailors. Our experienced visually impaired sailors will put our sighted crew through their paces and help them to learn new skills so as to be able to confidently enable visually impaired people to sail.
Experience builder.
Date: 29 April to 3 May 2026, and 3 May to 7 May 2026
Number of days: Two trips each of 4 days
Start and finish: Southampton Quay
Cost: £220.
Voyage summary:
Each of these trips is for visually impaired adults with little or no sailing experience. If you didn’t sail with us in 2025 or have only sailed a handful of times this is your chance to do an early season trip and decide if you wish to put your name down for others later in the year.
Greece flotilla.
Date: To be confirmed – May or September
Number of days: 7
Start and finish: UK airport, TBC but likely to be Gatwick or Manchester
Cost: Approx £850 including flights, to be confirmed.
Voyage summary:
An opportunity to join a group of other boats, a flotilla, making our way between Greek islands returning to the start point at the end of the week. Opportunity to enjoy local hospitality each evening. We previously called for expressions of interest in this trip. We have enough crew to fill a boat and we will hold a waiting list and may repeat again later in 2026 if there is enough interest.
If you have previously expressed interest in this trip, no need to do so again, we are
working hard to find the right combination of crew, boat, date and price.
Forth of Clyde – Scotland explorer.
Date: 13 to 20 June.
Number of days: 7
Start and finish: Largs Marina. Cost: £385.
Voyage summary:
This is a popular destination with excellent sailing and opportunities for exploring ashore if the weather is not kind. This year we will havetwo yachts cruising the west coast of Scotland.
Milford Haven, Wales.
Date: To be confirmed June or July.
Number of days: 7.
Start and finish: Milford Haven Marina.
Cost: £385.
Voyage summary:
With the support of our friends at Pembrokeshire Cruising we will sail the sheltered waters of Milford Haven. If the wind is in our favour we will visit Skomer, where we may see and hear puffins, guillemots and razorbills. Those who have sailed with us in these parts will know this is an excellent cruising area for new
and experienced sailors.
Plymouth and the Southwest.
Date: 14 – 20 July 2026.
Number of days: 7
Start and finish: Plymouth. Cost: £385.
Voyage summary:
Enjoy the beauty of the South West Coast of England. If you are very lucky you may even have the company of dolphins along the way.
Cross Channel Trip.
Date: 12 to 19 August 2026.
Start and finish: Cowes
Cost: £385.
Voyage summary:
Our popular return trip from the Isle of White. Will wind and waves be on your side and allow you to make it all the way to the Channel-Islands. Cross-channel sailing includes periods where little or no input is required. Perfect if you like to relax with the sounds of the sea for company. This trip is only suitable for those who have sailed before.
Young Adults – aged 18 to 25.
Date: 30th August – 2nd September 2026
Number of days: 4.
Start and finish: Southampton Town Quay
Cost: £25, with thanks to the Powell Family Foundation for their generous grant.
Voyage summary:
Sail between ports on the south coast of England and Isle of Wight and take a swim in the waters in Osborn Bay.
You will have the chance to take part in all activities of running and operating the yacht, and can do as much or as little as you wish. The boat will call into different local ports as part of the event, so you will be able to enjoy shore side activities as well as sailing during the day – this really is an amazing event and the feedback we have had from the trips we ran last year has been fantastic.
South Coast explorer.
Date: 11-18th September 2026
Number of days: 7. Start and finish: Portsmouth
Cost: £385
Voyage summary:
Take in several ports on the South West Coast of England with opportunities to enjoy the scenery and local hospitality.
Other possibilities:
Trustees are working on 1 or 2 other ideas which we will share if we can make them happen as well the option of a further Mediterranean trip in September or if there is
sufficient interest.
About our trips:
How to book and concessions for people with low income. Our trips include accommodation, safety gear, and meals and snacks onboard. They do not include food and drink while ashore, or alcoholic drinks aboard or on shore. Waterproof clothing it is not included but where required may be available to hire at additional cost. When onboard you will share a cabin with another person of the same sex.
To request a place on a trip:
Visually impaired crew: To request a place on a trip contact Membership Secretary Dee Jones on membership@visa-gb.org.uk.
You may express interest in up to 3 trips and in preference order with the trip you would most like listed first. We will aim to offer 1 opportunity to sail to as many people as possible before considering 2nd preferences.
Concessions for those with low income:
Trustees may offer up to 1 place on each UK voyage at a concessionary price of £100 to anyone who could not otherwise afford to sail with us. Contact Membership@Visa-gb.org.uk to discuss if this applies to you.
Any offer is at the discretion of trustees with no right of appeal. No individual will be offered more than one concessionary place per year. A deposit must be paid and you must be able to fund your own travel.
Offers of concessions are subject to affordability to the charity and there is no guarantee of any minimum or maximum number of concessionary places.
You can contact us now to express your interest in any of these 2026 events, just get in touch with Dee Jones, membership@visa-gb.org.uk.
How to book:
You’ll need to email membership@visa-gb.org.uk stating which trip, or trips, you are interested in please state your preference, e.g, first choice and second choice. If you want to talk to Dee, our membership secretary, Dee can be called on: 07920 144614.
Before you book please note the following:
- All participants must be reasonably fit and able to climb stairs and get on and off the yachts, be able to walk unaided and be able to get to marina from their home and back again.
The sighted volunteer crew are there to help guide when you get to the marina and throughout the sailing trip but they are not trained to lift anyone nor are they a substitute for carers. So you must be able to dress, undress and wash yourself. - Participants must be able to wear a life jacket and to do this on the sailing yachts we use, must have a chest size of less than 135cm (53 inches).
- Participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements and costs from home to and from the marina or point of departure.
- To secure your place you will need to pay a deposit. All participants must have travel insurance that includes medical and cancellation cover to ensure that if you cancel you are not out of pocket. We will only refund monies in certain circumstances. See our Booking and Cancellation Policy here. Our Aims | Visually Impaired Sailing Association of GB | VISA
- If bad weather is forecast we will not sail but there are plenty of things to do around the boat and we are often moored near places we can visit.
- Please ensure you bring waterproofs and suitable non slip footwear such as non marking trainers or deck shoes. If you don’t have any you may be able to hire from the yacht provider but there is no guarantee of this.
- All participants must read our Code of Conduct Code of Conduct – VISA-GB and behave accordingly.
- All our trips rely on us having suitably qualified volunteers. In the unlikely event that there are not enough volunteers available the trip may have to be cancelled. We will let you know as soon as practicable. If the trip is cancelled you would receive a full refund but we would not be able to refund any cost of travel.
- All our volunteers give their time free of charge and we are grateful to them for helping us make our sailing possible.
Kit List:
If you are sailing in the UK you need to prepare for all types of weather, so make sure you bring the following:
Waterproof jacket & trousers, warm hat & sun hat, a good base layer, a fleece or other warm second layer, a ‘necker’ warmth around the neck, deck shoes, or non marking trainers, and warm socks, if you are doing a lot of sailing a good pair of sea boots is a wise investment. A spare pair of non-marking shoes in case one pair gets wet.
Visa GB offer some branded sailing clothing and merchandise at very competitive prices through our partner, and you can find details of these and buy here: VISA GB Clothing visagb
The sun does shine so make sure you bring sun tan lotions, dark glasses, a sun hat or cap, a
long-sleeved t-shirt and shorts.
Sleeping, a sleeping bag & pillow. Wash kit and towel. Shore side clothes and a few changes of clothes but don’t go mad as we need to keep luggage to a minimum. If you have a soft bag with wheels rather than a suitcase it’s best as storage is at a premium. Please bring a tea towel and a couple of clothes pegs, there are never enough onboard! Any questions about the kit please ask your skipper or our membership secretary can bee emailed at membership@visa-gb.org.uk
Do you need experience?
Yes & No! First of all, we need to know if you do have any experience of sailing, maybe in dinghies or yachts, if you have great if you haven’t then no problem. We’ll make sure that there is always a good mix of people on the boat so the experienced sailors can help those who just want to have a go. Visa-gb will make sure that we get you on the right trip, a gentle cruise with regular stops is better for the least experienced while the ones who’ve done it before might go cross-channel or do a bit of racing. Don’t worry if you’ve never set foot on a boat before as every sailor takes great pride in helping someone new to this wonderful pastime.
What does it Cost?
We aim to make every trip good value for money, we can’t give you an exact figure but so you can budget you should reckon on between £55 & £75 per day, racing can be more expensive due to extra boat costs, this depends on sponsorship, cost of the yachts etc. The self-funded trips abroad will cost more as we do not subsidise these trips.
Remember that includes all your food and soft drink but not your travel to and from the yacht.
Our trips are great value and we hope you agree. Just so you know we are not in this to make money and every penny goes on the trip and no one gets paid!
To help spread the cost and make it easier to budget we are happy to receive three equal payments, first a deposit to secure your place, one payment 8 weeks before the trip and the final four weeks before your trip. Please see our booking, cancellation and insurance policy [insert link]
BOOKING, CANCELLATION AND INSURANCE POLICY
Our policy for booking, cancellations and insurance can be found here, and should be read by participants before booking: Our Aims | Visually Impaired Sailing Association of GB | VISA
Updated September 2025
