LIVINGSet Sail in Style! Inside the Ultimate Travel Adventure Experience of 'Yacht Week'
Summer vacation options are vast these days, with new variations of trips and tours in different parts of the world popping up every year, making holiday choices endless for traveller's seeking an overseas getaway, however in the world of ultimate luxury and adventure travel, few experiences rival the exhilaration of Yacht Week.
Yacht Week is a sailing adventure journey like no other, set against the stunning backdrop of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas that has quickly become a bucket list travel experience for tourists worldwide seeking the yachting life adventure of a lifetime.
The Yacht Week journey is about so much more than just the destinations—it's about the voyage itself. They say you never forget your first, which is very true of this experience, as OK! got an exclusive VIP experience onboard our first Yacht Week and the unforgettable ultimate travel adventure on the high seas it promised.
A Birds Eye View of the infamous Circle Raft during Yacht Week.
The Yacht Week adventure begins the moment you step aboard your private yacht with your fellow sailors and embark on your sailing trip for the week. The first decision of the Yacht Week journey begins with choosing whether you're boarding with a group or just looking for a cabin.
Options are available for all types of sailors, whether you have a group of up to 10 friends you'd like to charter your own yacht with, or if you're a solo sailor or with a small group seeking other sailors to fill your yacht cabins. All variations are welcome as the Yacht Week team partners people up in different combinations dependent on needs, and how bare essentials or luxurious you wish to make your experience. One necessity that every yacht is provided with is a skipper, who most importantly will sail the yacht, but also act as a leader onboard the vessel as you set sail on the charter.
" I grew up on fishing boats with my Dad," explains Finn, the skipper of our yacht for the week, "Every week it's a new group of people to get to know, a whole new dynamic of people to watch experience Yacht week for the first time. It's pretty incredible".
That special experience Finn speaks of is one that many come seeking every year as Yacht Week season begins.'The Summer of Love', was the name of the Yacht Week 2024 season, with week long routes in Greece, Sicily and the original Croatia route ,which was the route sailed on this particular journey.
A Row of 'Yacht Week' Boats Sit Docked Ready to Take off on Voyage.
" We went for the no frills yacht option. No air conditioning, no host," explains Tyson, 25, from Toronto who was onboard his yacht with three friends also from Canada. Tyson and his friends ended up cabin matched with four girls in their mid twenties from Brazil. " We got lucky, it's been a great cabin match for us with our yacht",Tyson says with a coy grin on his face.
The cabin booking system tries to be as gender split as possible, and for those not wanting to risk putting the fate of their yacht mates grouping into someone else's hand, there is Crew Finder; a Facebook group that works as sort of an internal nautical friend finder, where you can find your ideal travel companion group and form your own yacht crew without the aid of the Yacht Week cabin booking system. Despite many yacht mates been assigned together seemingly at random, there weren't many complaints of ill matched cabins that could be observed on this route with most Yacht Week guests expressing their surprise at the quick bonds that had formed from day 1, with strangers quickly becoming a family unit onboard, and the close living quarters onboard forcing you to become very comfortable, very quickly, with your fellow sailors.
That aforementioned host Tyson and his friends chose to forego from their trip, is an optional addition on a Yacht Week charter, where each yacht has the option for an onboard host who can cook meals for you and provide that added luxury of waking up and not having to worry about which one of your cabin mates is going to boil a egg, or even brew some morning coffee for the group. The host can take care of all that, and forget about a simple boiled egg for breakfast, it's quite amazing what the Yacht Week hosts are able to cook up in a simple yacht galley, often whipping up onboard meals that could rival local restaurants with all the added special touches and impeccable presentation.
" I first came as a guest for yacht week in 2019 ", explains Babi, the Brazilian born host of our particular yacht. " After that week I knew I wanted to keep coming back to Yacht Week, so I decided the easiest way to do that was to work for Yacht Week".
As a Yacht week host, Babi is assigned a different yacht each week where she must complete the weekly grocery shopping for the yacht and decide what meals she'll cook for her assigned group, while also having to take into account food allergies or any dietary requirements of the onboard guests; no small feat in today's world of various picky preferences eaters. From vegans to gluten free, creating a meal that suits all tastes and preferences can prove more than a little challenging at times, but Babi considers it well worth it.
" I love my job, sure it can be difficult at times, but its hard to complain when this is the backdrop every day.'" she says as she stares out into the crystal blue Croatian waters.
Another day of paradise in and out of the water on 'Yacht Week'.
Yacht Week was born almost as a joke in 2006, when friends from Sweden, William Wenkel, Johan Kuylenstierna and Erik Biörklund decided to create a travel adventure for explorers and sailing enthusiasts like themselves. The inspiration struck while they were skippering sailboats during family sailing holidays the previous year and they realized they were able to visit stunning, often secluded locations only reachable by boat, but the trips primarily only catered to families.
Wanting to offer a similar experience for close friends, they approached their charter company and persuaded them to reserve a few boats for the following summer. The idea took off from there, and the rest is history; Yacht Week was born. Today, that close-knit group of friends has grown into a vibrant community of over 70,000, with no signs of slowing down. Yacht Week has united adventurous souls, vast seas, and a collective of musicians, collaborators, sailors, and partygoers with more than 1.4 million guests having joined the Yacht Week experience to date over the past 18 years since it's inception.
A mid sea Floatie Party for Tunnel Raft Day on 'Yacht Week'.
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" We all met through our husbands actually," explains Rachel, 32, who hails from Texas and was experiencing her first Yacht week with five girlfriends, all military wives currently stationed with their husbands on service in Northern Italy.
" We wanted to do a girls trip together, so we decided on Yacht Week because we'd heard a lot of great things about it and thought it'd be such a different vacation experience than just spending a week in a hotel in Europe somewhere," Rachel says.
The promise of a travel experience outside the norm is one that many have been drawn to of late, with the typical European vacation no longer satisfying the average traveller who seeks an experience a little more outside the box than what may have been yearned for in the past. After all, in the days of social media influencers and aspirational travel adventures, spending a week onboard a yacht is a travel vacation that's sure to make anyone's instagram followers more than a little envious.
" We are ready to win the Yacht Week regatta. We have a whole Texan cowgirl theme ready to go" Rachel says.
This regatta she's referring to is another Yacht Week highlight, where each yacht dresses to a chosen theme, as the yachts form a parade on the seas, with sailors going all out with effort to claim the victory trophy as the Regatta winner for the week.
An 'Under the sea' theme, Winter wonderland Christmas and a performing circus act were just some of the highlights of this weeks regatta, but they were no match for the 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' themed yacht, armed with costumed Oompa Loompas and Golden Ticket themed bathing suits ,that ended up claiming a much deserved Yacht Week regatta victory. Watching the absolute insanity of 40 plus yachts sailing through the Croatian seas, filled with sailors dressed in different themed outfits while busting out dance moves and battling it out to take victory, is a win for anyone lucky enough to bear witness to a Yacht Week Regatta.
The Yachts Set Sail For The 'Yacht Week' Regatta Event.
" I was worried we'd maybe be too old", confesses Jana, 36, a New Zealander traveling with her friend Renee, 35 " We'd always wanted to do Yacht Week, but figured we'd never find enough friends who could come. When we realized we could be matched with other pairs of friends and solo sailors to make up a full yacht, we decided to just go for it and booked in."
The question of age is a common one for group travel adventures like Yacht Week, and can sometimes be a cause for concern for potential sailors who feel they may not be young enough to participate, especially if judging by the social media videos and online photographs that tend to highlight an early 20's crowd, often frolicking on inflatables in the water while knocking back beers like a college frat party. However once aboard your Yacht Week experience it quickly becomes apparent that Yacht Week is so much more than the debaucherous partying and endless drinking that it may initially appear to be and there's a wider spectrum of ages than just early twenty somethings.
"The 9's are out sweet spot" explains Barry Gifford, CEO of Yacht week, "29 and 39, is an age where people really want to do something like Yacht week, but may not have a group of friends who can just drop everything and go sailing around Europe for a week"
While partying is definitely a highlight focus of Yacht Week and the weekly sail itinerary definitely has more than a few unforgettable parties on schedule, the community of a Yacht Week sail group forms so quickly through these parties that they can truly be whatever experience guests want to take from them. Whether that experience be sitting in the corner with a small group taking in all the festivities from afar, or dancing the night away on the crowded dance floor keeping the party going late into the night, there's an experience that can be accommodated for every preference. One of the scheduled nights perfect for this is the 'Garden of love' party that takes place at the Yacht week owned Fort George in Vis, Croatia. This Croatian fortified citadel from the 19th century that overlooks two natural bays of Vis, is a venue that could easily stand in for a location in 'Game Of Thrones', and provides an incredible locale for an epic party venue that puts the average indoor nightclub setting to shame.
Another highlight of the week is the Circle and Tunnel raft events, which you've likely seen many photos of from Yacht Week marketing materials and previous Yacht Week guests social media posts. That birds eye drone view of a perfectly formed circle or two tunnel lined rows of all the yachts for the week docked in perfect symmetry in the middle of the crystal blue bay look almost CGI generated they're so visually breathtaking, but we can confirm there's no cheeky editing tricks here, it truly looks as spectacular in reality as the photos depict.
The Tunnel Raft party in particular ends up serving as quasi nautical house party hopping event, as sailors climb aboard each others yachts in search of whichever social vibe they are feeling for the occasion. While some Yachts might be celebrating in a more low key fashion with quiet chats over drinks and perhaps a game of cards, others are taking the party up a few notches and welcoming fellow sailors onboard into their home for the week, and dancing the night away on whichever yacht has ultimately become the unofficial party host boat for the night.
" I love that we've become the party yacht for the tunnel raft." says Megan, 24 ,from New York, who's catamaran yacht she set sail on with six girlfriends had become the unofficial party host yacht of the night " As long as nobody messes with our playlist, we are happy to keep this party going to sunrise" she says with a smile, clearly proud to play host yacht to one of the most memorable Yacht Week experiences that serves as an ultimate group bonding experience.
An Incredible Birds Eye View Of The 'Tunnel Raft' Day on 'Yacht Week'.
After the Yacht Week experience sadly comes to an end for another week, with all the yachts safely docked back at shore and the sailor guests having to return to the reality of life on land once again, it's impossible to label the Yacht Week experience as just another vacation. It’s a week long journey that allows you to break away from the daily routine of life and get onboard with an escape to a new reality of life on a yacht, where every day of the week brings a new adventure.
"Everything we do is dedicated to the guest experience. We really feel the weight of making sure we live up to being the best week of our guests' lives." explains Yacht Week CEO Barry Gifford.
This guest experience Barry refers to is clearly a top priority for the Yacht Week team, and been witness to the camaraderie that is built so quickly among sailors throughout the week is truly something special. From strangers on day one to some lifelong friendships formed by Day 7, Yacht Week offers an experience like no other, blending relaxation, celebration, and adventure into one unforgettable journey that one needs to experience themself to really understand what an unforgettable travel escapade it is.
If you're ready to join the adventure and experience the Yacht Week phenomenon, bookings are now open for 2025 Season.
Start planning today for a sailing adventure of a lifetime, and get ready to check Yacht Week off your travel experiences bucket list!
