Topsail Adventures Ltd

News from the world of Amelie Rose

Focus on: Destination Dashes

For some people the journey is worth even more than the destination. The experience of being part of a crew working a vessel to her destination is magical in itself and we’ve been lucky enough to share some fantastic examples during our time afloat with Amelie Rose.

From a wild night-time blast through the Goodwin Sands as we returned from filming The Hungry Sailors to a stunning 12 hour passage back from Sark, and not forgetting our “Brest or Bust” trip down channel last year the thing that really stands out for us is the camaraderie of the wonderful crews we’ve sailed with.

There really is no feeling like reaching your destination when you’ve actually worked as part of a team to get the boat there. To make sure that you all have the chance to share in this fabulous experience we’ve added a handful of “Destination Dashes” to our itinerary this year – they’re very keenly priced too, so if you’d like to pile on the miles and see lots of places in a short amount time, read on to find out more…

“Standby” Special Offers

Bookings are going reasonably well this year but we still sometimes find ourselves with an empty berth or two and we know that times are tough for everyone at the moment. It was with this in mind that we started Amelie Rose’s Standby Specials Club.

The idea is pretty simple; a fortnight before each trip is scheduled to run we send out an email to all club members with a truly outrageous price for any empty berths (usually around 50% off the published price). If you can get away and fancy the trip all you have to do is reply to the email and start packing!

You can sign up to the club here on Amelie Rose’s website and we’ll never share your email address with anyone else so you’ll not be deluged with rubbish – just great value offers to come sailing aboard the Amelie Rose without upsetting your bank manager.

New Video Online Now - The St Mawes Pilot Cutter Review

It might be much smaller than some of the other events (last year we had 13 boats) but the St Mawes Pilot Cutter Review packs in just as much fun as the bigger festivals. With boats ranging in size from 38’ to a massive 60’ and a bunch of Skippers all keen to get their boat’s name on the trophy the racing is close but always fun (water fights have been known to break out in quiet weather) and the camaraderie ashore is second to none.

The start of last year’s passage race in Fowey will live with us for many a year as 13 boats jostled in the narrow harbour for the perfect position before Amelie Rose led the whole fleet off towards St Mawes. Two days of round the cans racing followed where the fleet were rarely far apart – in one race much to the chagrin of the race officer as eight boats descended on a very tight leeward mark in one huge shouting/yelling pack. If you love Pilot Cutters then this event is a must do at some point in your life and you can find out how to join us here on Amelie Rose’s website.

If you can't wait to see what the fuss is all about then have a look at this new video - filmed at last years review.

Fabulous Festivals - 3 of the best on Amelie Rose

If there’s one thing that’s better than sailing on board a lovely traditional boat like Amelie Rose, it’s sailing in a fleet of them and we’re lucky enough to get to do this on a fairly regular basis throughout the Summer.

Apparently we’re not the only ones that enjoy this as many of the guests that joined us for last year’s fabulous Brest and Douarnenez festivals have already booked again for some of this year’s offerings.

If you’ve not yet experienced the thrill of sailing in (or even racing amongst) a big fleet of traditional ships then you really have got an amazing treat in store. But don’t take our word for it, read on to see the comments from some of our past guests and a review of three of the most fabulous festivals we have lined up for this year…

Fixing Boats in Exotic Locations - Amelie Rose’s Top 5 Cruising Destinations

Fans of Ratty from the Wind in the Willows will know his oft quoted line about there being “…nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats.” and when the boats are as lovely to be aboard as Amelie Rose we can’t agree more.

Cruising – the big boat equivalent - has also sometimes been described as the process of “fixing boats in exotic locations” so a skippered charter cruising holiday is probably the best way to sample the experience of exploring a coastline by sea, without all of the maintenance and worry.

Over the years we’ve sailed Amelie Rose all over the Channel area and have developed some firm favourite cruising grounds. Read on for our list of perfect locations for fixing things whilst our guests relax and soak up the atmosphere…