Our beautiful Beneteau First 40.7, Skylark, will leave Ipswich at the end of May and sail to Bergen via The Netherlands to begin our Norwegian adventure. We'll arrive in Bergen in time for the start of the summer vacation and then spend the summer running a series of trips cruising the beautiful coastline of Western Norway that are one or two weeks each. Norway makes for fantastic sailing, and in the summer the weather is mild. In June, July and August there's a good proportion of midnight sunlight, which will give us even more time to explore the dramatic landscape. The furthest north we plan to go is the city of Tromsø and the near-by famous Lofoten islands, a magnificent archipelago inside the Arctic Circle. There's no better way to explore the Fjords than by boat!

How Does it Work?

CUYC is a student-run yachting society; we own two yachts and Skylark, the yacht we're sailing to Norway, is our bigger and more modern one. The Summer Programme is an annual tradition for us, we've run them for as long as we've been sailing and we've visited many of the best sailing grounds in Europe. This year we decided to go to Norway after seeing how amazing it was on a short trip there in 2013. It's basically a relay, with skippers and crews doing one or two weeks on board and then passing the boat over to the next crew at one of the changeover ports marked on the map above. You fly into one of the changeover ports and out of the other, it's really satisfying to not just have enjoyed yourself sailing, but also to have sailed between two places on your own epic voyage.

We have a mix of 'adventurous' sailing and cruising to make sure we cater to everyone's needs. Adventurous sailing involves sailing at night, probably sleeping on the boat while it is moving, and covering the largest distances - you don't need to be an experienced sailor to do this and it's a brilliant experience, there's great team spirit and if you're looking to develop as a sailor it's the best thing to do. The cruising weeks are much more relaxed, spending the night in a marina or at anchor (unless the crew wants to sail) and having all the time free to explore. If you're new to sailing these might be the best weeks for you.

Skippers, First Mates and Safety

Like many outdoor pursuits, if done badly or by people who don't have relevant experience and aren't properly qualified, sailing can be dangerous: this is why we make sure that on every trip there is a fully qualified club skipper and first mate. They've sailed with the club for years and spend time before the trip carefully planning the route, all the meals you'll have on board and they will coordinate flights to make sure everyone gets to the right place at the right time. If you've not sailed before then the skipper and first mate will teach you everything you need to know early on in the trip so that you can get hands-on with the boat and leave feeling like a salty seadog. Each page has a biography of the skipper on it, and if you have any questions related to a specific trip then they're the best person to talk to.

Life on Board

Living on a boat is similar to living in an exciting sea-caravan, everything you need is there and there's always a surprising amount of storage! But space is still tight, so don't bring a big heavy suitcase - for more packing advice see the 'What to bring' tab on the trip you're interested in. Skylark has a small kitchen with hobs, oven, and fridge; we try to do as much cooking as possible on board and you can cook anything you could do in your kitchen at home. There are 3 cabins, each with space for two people to sleep in sleeping bags and then also two single beds in the main room, meaning we can sleep 8 on board comfortably. 

Skylark has sails and an engine - we try and sail as much as possible, but when leaving or entering a harbour or using our anchor we use the motor to give easier control of the boat. She also has electricity on board to charge phones and cameras etc. There is a diesel heater in case it gets a bit chilly. The yacht is also kitted out with state-of-the-art GPS navigation equipment and a wide range of other high tech gear which the skipper and first mate will be keen to show off and tell you all about.

Flights and Expenses

It's really important that you don't book a flight until the skipper has been in touch! Your place on the trip may not be confirmed immediately, as we try to give students priority and accommodate people who want to sail together; please wait until you've had a definite message from the skipper. We have tried to pick locations and dates with easy changeovers, at time of writing you can fly to and from the changeover ports on the alotted days either direct to London or via Oslo and for under £120 one way. 

Expenses for the trip (food, berthing in marinas,  etc.) are split evenly between the crew once the trip is over and this is organised by the skipper or first mate; the expenses are then billed to your club account for you to pay off via PayPal.

The £170 per week trip fee is for the use and maintenance of the boat and the organisation behind the trip, it's much cheaper than chartering with an agency, which also wouldn't include the keen, experienced and fun skipper that you're bound to have.

How to Sign up and Testimonials

To sign up, you need an account on the club website, then just click "Sign up" on the trip you want to go on, and you will be walked through the procedure. Your place won't be confirmed at first because we try to give certain groups, like students, priority over alumni members or affiliate members. If your place isn't confirmed you will receive a full refund, so don't worry about that.

After our last summer programme over 95% of people said they would love to do it again and Norway was a popular destination - so we expect this year to fill up quickly. Don't delay, sign up now!

Summer Stash!

When you sign up for a trip you will have the option of ordering a summer programme fleece, these will be extremely useful when sailing in Norway, we worked with Cotswolds to get a heavy discount on a really high-quality fleece and will be selling them for £28.99. They are embroidered with the CUYC flag and “Summer 2017” so they will serve as a great reminder of the trip. The fleeces are AYA Crevasse's, you will have the option to order one when you sign up for a trip. Unless you give us a different delivery address when ordering we will have all the fleece's delivered to us in central Cambridge for you to collect. Any questions please contact commodore@cuyc.org.uk.

This is conditional on us meeting the minimum order requirement. If we are unable to do that we will refund everyone the cost of the fleece and any additional postage - however, this is very unlikely.