Galicia 2024

Yacht Skylark Tracker

Track Sailing Yacht Skylark as she crosses the bay of biscay to reach our summer base in Vigo, Spain

What is the Summer Programme?

The Summer Programme is for many CUYC members, the highlight of the year. We are proud to take our Yacht, Skylark, from her home in Ipswich on a journey to somewhere more scenic and exciting. The summer programme typically lasts at least a couple of months and is split into several week long trips with a new crew coming on board each week. This year the destination will be Galicia. Although the summer programme has stopped here briefly before in previous years, this year will be the first time ever that CUYC will be doing week long cruising trips in Galicia. There are 9 weeks planned over the summer. 3 of these trips are adventurous deliveries and will involve lots of overnight sailing, with two of them crossing the biscay! The other 6 weeks will be more relaxed and cruising around the Rias and beaches. All trips will have both a qualified Skipper and a First Mate provided by CUYC who are responsible for the safety and navigation of the yacht. There will then be 6 additional crew members on board. All crew members work together to sail the yacht and prepare meals together etc. On cruising trips you will typically sail for a few hours each day to a new anchorage or port and stop there for relaxation, swimming, sunbathing, hiking or whatever you fancy doing for the rest of the day. On the more adventurous trips you will typically sail for anywhere from 2 to 6 days at a time depending on the trip and will split into watches to continue sailing the boat throughout the night. All cruising trips are organised in line with the usual sign-up preference policy. For the more adventurous trips while we try to operate them using the usual sign-up preference policy, we may need to offer some spaces to more experienced sailors and limit the number of novices to ensure an overall safe crew. 

On most trips most of the crew have  never met before but by the end of the week of working together and enjoying the sun together you will make new friends and become part of the CUYC family. 

How do I sign up?

To sign-up please sign up and pay for the trip that you are interested in. We will start confirming Junior members immediately as long as there is space available. After the sign-ups have been open for one week, on Monday 6th May we will start confirming Seniors and Affiliates for any remaining spaces. For more information on the sign-up policy please see here. 

It may be the case that some weeks fill up, whilst others still have spaces in them. If you have applied for an oversubscribed week we may contact you to ask you if you’d like to do an alternative week instead. To speed up this process and help to get yourself a spot on the summer programme you can write in your sign up note which other weeks you’d also be available for. 

How much does it cost?

You must be a member of Cambridge University Yacht Club to come on one of our trips. Our membership fee is currently £30 per year and is paid when you pay for the first trip you sign up for. The trips themselves for this Summer Programme are priced as below. Junior members are any current students of the University of Cambridge (verified using Raven). Senior members are alumni and research staff and Affiliates are friends of the Club without a necessary direct link to the University. If you think that your current membership status is incorrect please email commodore@cuyc.org.uk with evidence (e.g. your degree certificate) and we will confirm your membership status. 

CUYC is a student society and does not operate to make a profit. The money that you pay for the trip cost goes towards the club’s operating costs and Skylark’s maintenance and upkeep throughout the summer and the year. Any surplus is saved year on year for the purpose of eventually purchasing a new boat to replace Skylark in years to come. 

In addition to the trip cost you must also pay for all of your expenses including food and a share of the cost of diesel and marinas during the week. Usually these expenses are in the region of £100 per person per week. You must also pay for your own transport to and from the marina. Crews often coordinate their travel together from Cambridge. For the more adventurous offshore trips you may also wish to hire waterproofs and boots from the club, for the cruising trips in Spain they won’t be necessary. 

Total costs:

1. £309 Trip Cost (More for seniors and affiliates as above)

2. £30 Membership (if not already paid this year)

3. Flights and/or Trains

4. Expenses (~£100)

5. Waterproof and Boot Hire (£15 and £5 respectively, only needed for the more adventurous trips)