We offer different types of sailing trips on the Montana. First of all, there are the Atlantic passages. These are HIGH SEA passages and are very different from the REGATTA trips and the HOLIDAY trips we offer.

On any sailing trip, Markus will be your professional skipper, but not your entertainer or cook. However, he knows the locations on the sailing trips very well through many years of experience and can give you many insider tips for shore excursions, snorkelling spots, restaurants and more.

On any sailing trip, the crew will mostly look after themselves when it comes to eating, sleeping and living on board. If you are hungry, you make yourself a sandwich and ask your fellow sailors if they would like one too - if you take care of each other, it lifts the mood and the experience for everyone. In the evening, you can cook on board and reflect on the day while eating together.

Although Markus can operate the boat on his own and he has done a lot of single-handed sailing, you will be asked to do some or all of the following - don't know how to do it? Markus will teach you.

You can stand at the helm, assist with all sailing manoeuvres, help with mooring and unmooring, help with launching and retrieving the dinghy. You can also help with cooking, washing dishes, keeping order and much more. All activities are adapted according to your sailing experience and can be learned very quickly even by beginners.

This may sound like a lot - on any sailing trip there will of course also be long periods of relaxation. First the ship is looked after, then the skipper and crew are looked after and beyond that there are many opportunities to enjoy the sailing, the nature, the sea, the peace and quiet or the shore excursions.
No matter which sailing trip you book, it will certainly be an unforgettably positive experience.

Before that, two more notes:

1. SAFETY FIRST!
Markus takes safety on board very seriously and he will familiarise you in detail with the safety equipment and the safety rules on board. He expects his crew to follow the safety rules.

2. ONBOARD BEHAVIOUR:
It is always expected that you handle the boat and its equipment with care and caution. This includes walking on the teak deck only with suitable shoes that do not cause any damage. Furthermore, smoking is not permitted under deck or in the event of a nuisance to other fellow sailors. Alcohol may not be drunk while sailing and drugs are of course not tolerated on board at all.

The Swan 48, designed by Sparkman & Stephens, is considered by many sailors to be one of the most beautiful sailing yachts ever built - with good reason.

However, the Montana is NOT a typical, modern charter boat that focuses on the "wellness factor" of holiday sailing. That is why the holiday cruises are planned with a maximum of 4 guests. Typical charter boats sometimes offer more space with a similar boat length but are also often occupied with twice the number of guests. Space is always tight on board all boats of this size, so please take this into consideration when packing your wardrobe and equipment. A suitcase with a hard shell is not suitable as luggage for a sailing trip. Please use a sailing or travel bag that can be easily stowed away when empty.

On holiday sailing trips, the well-being and wishes of the guests are paramount. There are far fewer time constraints here than on regattas or Atlantic passages.
The sailing trips are planned in such a way that the itinerary can easily be completed in the time available. This means that you can influence the schedules of the sailing trips in consultation with Markus and your fellow sailors. You can integrate shore excursions or wait for the weather to improve before sailing the next leg.

On these sailing trips, it's not just about the "sailing itself", but about realising your ideas of a beautiful and eventful holiday with the help of sailing.

Each crew member gets his or her own berth in the front or rear cabin. These cabins each have their own washroom. Storage space is also not as tight as on offshore passage or regatta trips, which are sailed with more people and provision. The saloon and the bar can be used without restriction during the day, only the navigation area is off-limits.

The Montana is a vessel designed, built and equipped for ocean passages.

On these offshore sailing trips, it is especially important that you know what to expect. Conversely, it is just as important that Markus knows who is coming. For this reason, Markus usually has a telephone conversation with you before the trip to compare mutual expectations.
It is also possible to take a sailing beginner on an Atlantic crossing, but it depends on their willingness to learn and their ability to integrate into the team. In any case, most crew members with sailing experience will be on board. On the Atlantic passages we will sail in watch system. The watches are assigned by Markus according to sailing experience. The watch system is "sacred", for example Markus will not take seasickness into consideration. (Usually, seasickness is no longer a problem after a few days at sea anyway). These sailing trips are sailed very conservatively. A weather update is obtained every day via the stationary satellite phone.

WEATHER:
We choose our routes based on the seasons. But once we are underway, we get what we get. You can prepare for any weather and route accordingly, but you can't change it and ultimately you sail in the weather that prevails. This can be strong winds, especially on the passage from the Caribbean to the Azores. Fortunately, the S&S Swan 48 is an extremely robust vessel. The Montana is also one of the few in this series to be equipped with the strong wind rig.
Sometimes it is wet and uncomfortable and probably even frightening. In addition, there can be seasickness, sleep deprivation and physical exertion. This is all part of the emotional rollercoaster that is ocean sailing.

"Without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet!"
- from the film Vanilla Sky -

On Atlantic passages, the available resources must be used sparingly. This includes electricity. Charging mobile devices is possible in principle, but it cannot be expected to charge various devices all the time. Showering and washing clothes on the ocean is only possible with salt water.

BELOW DECK:
Each crew member gets his or her own berth. Especially on ocean passages, the pilot berths in the saloon are very popular, as they are close to the ship's centre of rotation and therefore the forces exerted on you by the ship's movement are smaller than in the bow or stern cabin. On these sailing trips, you need to stow enough drinking water and provisions, which further limits the storage space available. Keeping your belongings orderly is an important virtue.

The classic S&S Swans have also appeared as regatta boats and have already won various regattas.

Regatta sailing is sporty sailing. If you want to book a regatta trip, you should have some sailing experience. If you don't have any sailing experience, it may be possible to take you along, but you shouldn't be the timid type and should have an appropriately sporty constitution. Before the regattas, at least one training day is planned, here the positions are assigned, and the actions are practised. At regattas we sail with spinnaker and/or gennaker. It is helpful if you already have experience with these sails. On regattas, quick decisions and manoeuvres are sometimes necessary, so the commands can sometimes be a bit louder. You should not confuse this with criticism or blame. After the races, you can of course also sail outside the assigned position.