Link: http://www.voyagecharters.com

The term luxury yacht refers to a very expensive privately owned yacht which is professionally crewed. Also known as a super-yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht.

This term began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century when wealthy individuals constructed large private yachts for personal pleasure. Examples of early luxury motor yachts include M/Y (motor yacht) Christina O and M/Y Savarona. Early luxury sailing yachts include Americas Cup classic J class racers like S/Y (sailing yacht) Endeavour and Sir Thomas Lipton’s S/Y Shamrock. The New York Yacht Club hosted many early luxury sailing yacht events at Newport, Rhode Island, during the Gilded Age.

More recently, over the last decade or two, there has been an increase in the number and popularity of large private luxury yachts. Luxury yachts are particularly bountiful in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas,

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Link: http://www.voyagecharters.com

Here are some brief points to consider:

Crew overboard.

Common sense is important here. Is your charter yacht sailing in a cold area or was the crew who fell overboard injured whilst falling. If the answer is yes to one of these questions you have less time to get back to the crew overboard because of the heightened risk of hypothermia and drowning. People who cannot swim should wear life jackets or floatation devices and/or remain in the cockpit while underway.

The five general steps to a man overboard rescue are: stop the boat as fast as possible (crash tack if your not going to injure anyone else doing it), remember to get someone to keep their eye on the crew overboard at all times (this can be more difficult than expected and should be taken very seriously); second, provide buoyancy, such as a life ring, to the crew overboard (as close as possible, throw up wind); third, put the boat alongside (take note of which way the wind is blowing to help you wit this task); fourth, connect the crew overboard to the boat; and last, get them onboard.

It is a good idea and can be a fun exercise to practice a man overboard drill on your first day (don’t use a real person). This is good maneuvering/helming practice too if you are a bit out of touch or on an unfamiliar yacht. Remember the old adage for you and your crew: "keep one hand for yourself and one for the boat".

Link: http://www.voyagecharters.com

Before you take your first cruise sailing vacation Take a look at few Cruising Vacation Destinations

Cruise ship is more popular for travelling, and also affordable, you can not only go to those sunny destinations but also to more unusual ports like Hong Kong, Alaska, Norway and the Amazon River.

The caribbean sailing cruise is one of the most popular places for first-time cruisers to go. Among the places to choose from are the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. There is also the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Usually, cruise ships heading for the Caribbean set sail from ports along the Eastern United States coast as well as Florida. The same applies to beautiful Bermuda.

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Link: http://www.voyagecharters.com

Bareboat, flotilla, crewed or gulet charter

A bareboat charter - without hired captain or crew - will give you total privacy and independence, yet besides you as skipper, a second member of your group should be able to sail. With more than 12 persons it is best to rent a second yacht.
If you feel rusty, you can always hire an instructor for just the first day, and study the first 5 chapters of my navigation course.
If you need more guidance a flotilla still offers a lot of privacy, while safely sailing along in a fleet of yachts towards the next port. You will skipper your own yacht, but a flotilla leader will keep a close eye on you. An added bonus for children is the possibility to make friends on the other yachts.
However, if you find a flotilla too restrictive, yet a regular bareboat too much responsibility, you should consider the assisted bareboat charters, the golden mean.

You will get full assistance with a crewed charter. Options are a skipper, hostess, cook as well as an instructor from a RYA sailing school.
A gulet cruise is perhaps one of the most luxurious crewed charters around.

Type of yacht
Only a small fraction of yachts in the east Mediterranean are motor yachts. Moreover, a lot of these motor yachts and motor sailers come fully crewed. For bareboat chartering you can choose between smaller motor yachts (~10%), catamarans (~10%) and a huge fleet of sailing monohulls

Finding a reputable company
Many members of the sailing community have shared their charter experiences with me. Advice on reliable yacht charter companies or reputable gulet companies.

Link: http://www.voyagecharters.com

luxury yacht sailing catamarans, showing the typical Hobie raised platform joining the two hulls, and tall mast.

Stars & Stripes, a racing crewed catamarans
Although the principles of sailing are the same for both catamarans and monohulls, there are some 'peculiarities' to sailing catamarans. For example:
Catamarans can be harder to tack (turn through the wind). Because they are lighter in proportion to their sail size, they have less momentum to carry them through the turn when they are head to wind. Correct use of the jib sail is often essential in successfully completing a tack without ending up stuck in irons (pointing dead into the wind and sailing backwards).

They have a higher average speed.
All boats sail faster when travelling in certain directions relative to the wind with the best speeds typically being achieved when heading away from the wind at about 135 degrees. This effect is much more noticeable with catamarans, even to the extent that it can be more efficient to jibe ('tack' downwind) in zig zags, rather than heading directly away from the wind as a monohull would.

Catamarans are less likely to capsize in the classic 'beam-wise' manner but often have a tendency to 'pole-axe' (or 'pitchpole') instead - where the leeward (downwind) bow sinks into the water and the boat 'trips' over forward, leading to a capsize.

Teaching for new sailors is usually carried out in monohulls as they are thought easier to learn to sail, a mixture of all the differences mentioned probably contributes to this.

Catamarans, and multihulls in general, are normally faster than single-hull boats for four reasons:
each hull of a catamaran is (typically) thinner in cross section than those of monohulls;
catamarans are lighter due to the fact there is no keel counterweight.
catamarans have a wider beam (the distance from one side of the boat to the other), which makes them more stable and therefore able to carry more sail area per unit of length than an equivalent monohull.
the greater stability means that the sail is more likely to stay upright in a gust, drawing more power than a monohull's sail which is more likely to lean over.
Catamarans are especially favourable in coastal waters, where the open spaces permit the boat to reach and maintain its maximum speed. Catamarans make good cruising and long distance boats.