It has always been a key part of our mission here at Topsail Adventures to spread the message about how amazing we find the experience of sailing aboard a traditional boat and to get as many people aboard as possible to find out for themselves. Looking back over the years we think we’ve been pretty successful too. We’ve had guest crew from 6 – 86 years old, we’ve had many crews of mixed gender as well as some all-female trips (including, notably, our Pilot Cutter Review winning team) and, whilst we don’t record (or care about) the sexualities of our guest crew we do know that we’ve had a number of LGBT folks aboard as well as people of many different faiths and people with no faith at all.

We’ve also had a wide range of people with reduced abilities sail with us – from deaf crews to those missing limbs. Our continued support of the Guernsey Set Sail trust has seen us sail with a number of youngsters on the Autism spectrum as well as many with ADHD and learning disabilities and a smattering of adults with mental health issues such as depression or anxiety disorders.

Sailing with Guernsey kids for the Setsail Trust

We realise that we can always do more however, and with this in mind we have now launched a specific Inclusivity policy for the Amelie Rose. The aim of this is to make it clear to anybody from any protected characteristics group that they will be welcome aboard and that protections are in place to ensure that they will be able to enjoy their adventure free from discrimination and disrespect from anyone else aboard.

In support of this policy we have updated our terms and conditions as well as other documentation in the bookings process (e.g. bookings forms, joining instructions) making it clear that we expect all guest crews who sail with us to treat each other with the respect due to all people and including details of what to do in the event of any issues.

This is the first time we’ve written anything like this and so we’re sure that we have a lot more to learn. With this in mind we invite you to read the policy (available at https://www.topsail-adventures.co.uk/topsail-adventures-inclusivity-policy/) and let us know your thoughts either by email to ahoy@topsail-adventures.co.uk or via the Contact Tools on our website (https://www.topsail-adventures.co.uk/contact-us/)