The FlexiSail East Coast fleet includes two Oceanis 343s, which are ideal for cruising in the picturesque River Orwell, and surrounding East Coast areas.

The acquisition of the East Coast fleet now brings the total number of yachts in the FlexiSail UK fleet to 16. “We are very excited about extending our geographical coverage,” says FlexiSail Managing Director Richard Pierpoint. “This is just the first step in a strategy to expand our UK coverage. It means that our members can take advantage of an exchange scheme which we will be evolving in line with our geographical expansion. They can then enjoy the experience of sailing in different locations.” FlexiSail anticipates that other locations will follow.

“We are also looking for new owners on the East Coast who would like to participate in the FlexiSail programme, which dramatically reduces the costs of running a yacht,” adds Richard. “We are particularly looking for a model like a Jeanneau 379 with a lifting keel which could take advantage of the many shallow nooks and crannies that are to be explored in the area.”

Nigel Rodliffe comments “I am very pleased to have rebranded the fleet to the FlexiSail name. Because of the resources that the FlexiSail network can provide, with their innovative iCalendar booking system, marketing and exhibition presence, I am looking forward to some very strong support for members wanting to sail the East Coast and Thames Estuary .”

FlexiSail will be holding a launch day in Ipswich on Saturday 25th February onboard the yacht Pippin between 11am – 4pm. Visitors who want to know more about FlexiSail will have a chance to meet owners Richard and Sue Pierpoint, as well as Nigel. Tea and coffee will be available, and people can take part in a demonstration of the booking calendar and a tour of the yacht. Pippin is to be found at Woolverstone Marina on Pontoon B20 flying the big red FlexiSail flags. Everyone is welcome.

Richard and Sue Pierpoint welcome you to the London Boat Show

We are delighted to announce that not only will we be exhibiting at the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show from Friday 6th to Sunday, 15th January, but this year we are taking our brand new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379. She will be arriving straight from the factory shrink wrapped and gleaming to be exhibited before continuing her journey to the Solent where she will be joining our fleet in Lymington for the start of the 2012 season.
You will find us on the ‘board walk’ in the South Hall at ExCel on Stand M015 where we will be looking forward to meeting you and introducing you to existing members and owners that will be helping at the show. Come and hear about our great incentives for new members to sign up at the show.
If you are new to the concept of ‘membership’ sailing this is a great opportunity to find out more. As an owner you can offset your costs, enjoy free sailing and receive an income, or as a member you gain exclusive access with a range of membership packages of up to 42 days a year to enjoy with your family and friends at a fixed known cost with no surprises.
FlexiSail is all about flexible sailing. You can choose between FlexiPrime, FlexiPeak and FlexiOff-Peak membership options. It is all about getting you on the water with a solution that meets your needs and budget, including weekend or weekday centric options in addition to our FlexiPrime and FlexiCrew memberships.
To be launched alongside our flexible sailing options is our brand new 3rd generation iCalendar online scheduling system with crew, fleet status, weather and more – all fully integrated and easy to use.
FlexiSail continue to lead the ‘membership’ industry with their flexible memberships, integrated approach to boat access, training and social programme, and to cap it, a quiver of new boats for spring 2012!
Make sure you fit us in during your day at the show and we are sure you will be impressed.
We look forward to seeing you on Stand M015 in the South Hall Board Walk.

Sailing and socialising with crews, friends and families just got easier

Our new 335

Leading boat share membership company FlexiSail has added a whole new dimension in choice when it comes to how often the member uses their FlexiSail yacht and what they pay for it. Until now there was a single fixed monthly fee and usage for each member’s chosen FlexiSail yacht, but now the company is offering a truly flexible options structure.

Monthly subscriptions on selected yachts will now be available in a flexible and variable combination of weekend and weekday options plus free last minute days either at the weekend or during the week. FlexiPrime is the company’s existing extremely popular membership package and gives access to regular weekend and weekday usage throughout the year. FlexiPeak membership is centred on weekends with fewer weekdays, while FlexiOff-Peak membership is designed for members who would like to sail during the week and benefit from the lower prices. The allocated days fit into FlexiSail’s booking rotations, ensuring that usage is spread throughout the year, and is fair to all members.

“We are pioneering this new system in response to the comments and requests from our members, as well as prospective new members,” explains Richard Pierpoint of FlexiSail. “We can now offer a FlexiOff-Peak subscription from as little as £360 a month, for example for our Beneteau 34.7 or our Beneteau Oceanis 343. FlexiOff-Peak members get up to 36 days per year of sailing with four weekdays and two free last minute weekdays in each rotation.”

“We are talking to a broader audience these days,” continues Richard Pierpoint. “Whilst our FlexiPrime membership is hugely successful, plenty of retired and self employed people are happy to sail during the week and avoid the crowds, so the FlexiOff-Peak suits them perfectly. Alternatively, those constrained to primarily prime time sailing have the option of a FlexiPeak subscription which provides two weekend days, one weekday, and a combination of free last minute weekend and weekday days.” He adds “I am confident that we are now offering a product that more closely matches today’s varied lifestyles.”

FlexiSail, whose fleets are based in both Hamble and Lymington in the Solent, offers a range of modern sailing and motor boats, all immaculately maintained and with running costs taken care of.

Whilst initially one might think that a calendar is simply a calendar, FlexiSail has created a state of the art system that addresses the needs of members with lots of neat useful features and made the system easy and fun to use. Beneath the surface the system ensures that each member receives his or her fair share throughout the year.

Central to the redesign is the ability to support a Bespoke Membership programme. Starting from the membership options of FlexiPrime, FlexiPeak (weekend biased) or FlexiOff-Peak (weekday only), a member can design their own membership by adding weekend or weekdays to create a membership that exactly matches their needs. Consequently, FlexiSail membership will appeal to a wider audience than ever before.

Members receive instant feedback on their historical, current and future bookings, benefit from time-saving automated calculation of remaining allocation, and have the ability to block book multiple days with a single click. Members who have dual membership on both sail and power can flip between calendars at will.

New features also include ‘Fleet Status’, which provides an instant snap shot allowing members to see which other members have booked out other boats at the same time. Members can contact each other to plan cruising in company or get-togethers at destinations. FlexiSail prides itself on the social aspect of its membership programme and this is a valuable addition to the booking system.

FlexiSail’s FlexiCrew membership is now also fully integrated with the iCalendar. Members needing crew for any occasion can view the FlexiCrew database and instantly see FlexiCrew members’ qualifications, experience and availability, together with all their contact details. Arranging suitable crew could not be easier.

“We have placed a great deal of resources behind developing this ground breaking all-new FlexiSail iCalendar,” commented FlexiSail’s Richard Pierpoint. “The new iCalendar is completely bespoke to FlexiSail and is without doubt the cleverest, most integrated, simplest and fastest booking system available in the boat share membership industry. Owners and members are going to be able to manage their bookings faster and at a much more integrated level by also seeing the weather, tides, training opportunities and social events all in the one place!”, he concluded.

The spacious cockpit on the Dufour 375

FlexiSail, the UK’s most popular boat share membership company with fleets in both Hamble and Lymington in the Solent, has added four new yachts to its rapidly expanding fleet of modern cruisers, each of which are shared by up to seven FlexiPrime members and owner enjoying 42-plus sailing days per year.

FlexiSail is welcoming a brand new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379 to its fleet which the company will be exhibiting at the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show before taking her to Lymington for the start of the 2012 season. The yacht, like the rest of FlexiSail’s managed fleet, is a great all-round easy to handle comfortable performance cruiser, perfect for the FlexiSail members to take friends and family sailing.  On 16th December 2011 ‘Cruising World’ magazine announced the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 379 as Best Midsize Cruiser 36 to 40 feet and the best Domestic Boat of the Year.

Two more new yachts will also join FlexiSail’s Hamble fleet in March 2012. They are a Dufour 335 purchased by an existing member to upgrade to ownership, and a Jeanneau 33i purchased by an existing owner-member.

The Dufour 335 is the latest model from Dufour and is unique in providing a performance hull, brilliant accommodation and a large cockpit with twin wheels, making helming a real pleasure. The Jeanneau 33i, like her bigger sister the 379, is built for comfort as well as speed and both have very comfortable live-aboard accommodation down below.

A new Dufour 375 arrived into the Hamble fleet in December 2011 and the members are already enjoying this twin-wheeled performance cruiser offering a spacious cockpit, wide side decks to move around on, and great visibility whilst sailing in uncompromising quality and comfort.

FlexiSail owners benefit from a significant financial return with all the maintenance, running costs, and management stress taken care of by FlexiSail, leaving them to enjoy carefree sailing.

“We are very excited about adding these four new yachts to our fleet,” commented Richard Pierpoint of FlexiSail. “They are brand new state of the art cruisers and we know our members are going to enjoy sailing on them.”

He adds, “2011 has been an excellent season for FlexiSail. We have diversified the brands of the yachts that we have in our fleet, so there is something for everyone. I have no doubt that we have the most beneficial ownership package in the business, illustrated by our success in an otherwise difficult marketplace.”

FlexiSail’s boat share membership programme is clearly appealing during harder economic times which is demonstrated by the company’s continuing growth. Richard continued, “Over the past 15 months we have been able to expand our fleet from 10 to 14 boats, building strongly on membership numbers in the same period. Our members are really in for a treat with our ‘quiver’ of new yachts to sail. We are also adding more motor boats to our fleet in 2012 and welcome enquiries from existing and would-be owners.”

The Member (Group or Family) Mentored Training is a tailored package providing help and tuition to sailors who have signed up to the FlexiSail programme of 46 days per year exclusive possession of one of FlexiSail’s fleet of yachts, so that they can confidently take the helm and handle the crew work.

FlexiSail offers the standard RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses, but often newcomers to sailing can find these too intense and pressurised. This results in discomfort with the new responsibilities that paper qualifications bestow upon them. Many people prefer to gain more experience and learn at their own pace before setting out on their own. After all, learning should be a fun leisure pursuit!

Richard Pierpoint of FlexiSail explains, “People are taking valuable time off work to do sailing courses, and don’t necessarily want the ‘boot camp’ approach! We identified a real need to provide members with structured training over a longer period to build their skills steadily. Our Mentoring approach was born and initial feedback already demonstrates that people are better prepared for taking over as skipper and crew when they take the yacht out for themselves and are loving the whole process.”

The Mentored Training Package is tailored to meet the requirements of 3 levels of experience. These are termed Genoa – for the novice to Day Skipper giving 12 days training on the water, the FlexiSail detailed syllabus, Day Skipper Theory and VHF; Mainsail – for the Competent Crew to Day Skipper, as per the Genoa, but with 10
days training on the water; and Spinnaker – for the Day Skipper wanting to do more with 8 days training on the water and a detailed syllabus.

The Mentoring Packages add extra value by incorporating the initial £700 fee for the induction that each new Member undergoes when they sign up to become a share member in one of FlexiSail’s immaculately maintained cruising yachts. With membership all maintenance, insurance and berthing are taken care of, so members are just free to enjoy their time on board with their family or friends from just £550 per month.

“The level of interest amongst owners putting their boats into a boat share membership scheme, where up to seven members can share the costs, is definitely a growing solution for keeping costs down,” comments FlexiSail Managing Director Richard Pierpoint. “In addition we are getting more of those all important members signing up where the boat is effectively theirs for 46 days of the year. It’s a great way to go sailing.”

At the Southampton Boat Show, FlexiSail not only signed up the new members but also used the show to welcome a new Dufour 375, a quality cruising yacht, into the fleet and a second motoryacht, a Nimbus 340 Commander. Both boats will be based in the company’s Hamble fleet. FlexiSail is the front running company in the UK with the largest boat share membership.

“Now that FlexiSail has extended the fleet to include motor yachts as well as sailing yachts our audience of potential clients for boat share membership has widened,” continues Richard Pierpoint. “We had not just a noticeably increased volume of traffic to our two berths during the Southampton Show, but a heightened quality of visitor too, in that the enquirers were seriously considering the FlexiSail option . The position of our pontoon berths also put us in front of a very good footfall of general visitors. We are expecting a lot of follow-up business in the coming weeks.”

“The Show indicated to us that in relatively austere times boat share membership is a growing sector which keeps the price of going sailing and the cost of owning a boat in check”, he says.

FlexiSail also used the Show to successfully promote their “Mentoring” training packages and sailing training courses that give members more time and attention than standard courses offer.

‘Hello All

Sherlyn has made a video of the broach, The Surf and the “mahusive” wave
(me also helming) with some commentary from Graeme and Luke which even now
may be up on the website.  It’s very good.

We are beam reaching at about 10kts towards Cape Town heading due east.
We’re hoping to get to the westerlies before they go so we can get the
kite up and speed up: if we don’t, the prospects of a good place become
less likely as does a reasonable downtime in CT.

Morale is better having got the boat a bit drier in the last couple of
days.  I enjoyed Darkness on the Edge of Town (three times) through the
boat hi-fi last evening – pretty surreal sailing through the South
Atlantic keeping to a compass course of 090+/- 5 degrees as the sun sets -
one of those magic moments we do this for!  I hope the others liked it
too.  But it’s still pretty wet and there is enough water coming over the
deck to stop us having the hatches open.

There is lots of bird life but no whales etc.  Albatrosses abound, happily
all very alive, as do shearwaters.

Not much else to report: I can absolutely vouch for Sherlyn’s diary
comment that five headsail changes in a day is indeed absolutely
knackering.  But it does, or will, make you stronger!

Thank you for all your support

Jonathan’

This update is brought to you by FlexiSail. Jonathan is a FlexiSail member and living out his burning ambition to undertake the Clipper Round the World race from start to finish.

www.flexisail.com

“Dear All

Here I am still in the South Atlantic. We are heading south to pick up the
westerlies which should shoot us to Cape Town. It’s likely to cause us to fall
back in the placings which we hope will be temporary. We have been making some
good easting and today put our clocks forward for the second time since leaving
Rio.

Conditions are calmer then 48 hours ago which is better generally and especially
for sleeping. I found the slamming as we fell of the waves threw me around my
bunk too much and so I’d hsd very little sleep for several days. Also the
design of the boat down below is not user-friendly and so we had not enough time
for eating and dressing (you can imagine we’ve been in full oilskins), and
everyone has been working hard and not sleeping so morale went down. Today was
quite pleasant and things are better.

Yesterday an albatross flew into the sail and bounced off it onto a shroud
(chunky metal thing). Alby seemed to be OK and I think self-inflicted death
won’t cause a problem for us – let’s hope not.

I’ve been working pretty hard on deck and behind the wheel, and yesterday
(Sunday here now) on mother. The advantages of mother are meant to be sleep
(from c2230 to 0445) and a shower: I managed a shave but almost no sleep which
was not ideal. But we rustled up the meals on time and they were eaten which is
what matters. And we did some cleaning. IAll I’ll say is I fell much better
now than 48 hours ago.

It’s getting colder as we head south and I’ve been in thermals for a few days
now. Managing one’s body temperature is hard as you need lots of clothes but as
soon as you do something physical you get quite hot. For nights we split the
watch in half and do 30 min up on deck and 30 down below, Luke and I helming for
each 30 min. I have helming gloves which are good, so far: otherwise I keep up
my core temperature and my hands either keep warm or get warm when they dry out.
But this environment is not good for them!

Sherlyn is making a video of the excitement over the weekend which I hope will
be published. We have an automatic CCTV which she downloaded from which will
give a sense of how it was. Our casualties are improving, and Tim who cut his
head was on deck today which was good. As Cath here says, “All is well on the
good ship Lollipop”!

Best

Jonathan”

This update is brought to you by FlexiSail. Jonathan is a FlexiSail member and living out his burning ambition to undertake the Clipper Round the World race from start to finish.

www.flexisail.com

“Dear FlexiSail,

You may now have seen the news of today that Tim cut his head last night.
I was off watch so missed the actual event, but recognise the situation.
Luke and I have been helming alternately on our watch and have seen a lot
of big waves coming through, including one which completely drenched the
three of us in the steering position, and we’ve had more than we can count
which have made some people quite wet. There’s no trouble staying awake
on the helm at night in these conditions, as any sleepiness is rapidly
banished by a shower of ice-cold salty water at about 30kts.

Clipper didn’t publish our other bit of news though it may be in Sherlyn’s
daily blog, which was that we broached in a 50kt gust when Luke was
helming, following which we got down the yankee and were flying along
under staysail and main. I was heavily involved on the foredeck getting
(wet and) the yankee down, following which was having a spell on the helm.
A big gust came through, which you deal with by bearing away, so I ended
up running down the surf, and managed to get the boat surfing at 22.2 kts
which is thought to be a boat record. Our watch on deck were all cheering
and grinning: I was trying to keep the boat straight and in roughly the
right direction. It was AWESOME! All in all it was a big day as we had
several sail changes including getting down the main so we could replace a
broken reefing pennant, We had a fairly quiet, and cold, night doing 30
min off and on the helm in our watch and are now back in a regular pattern
and pushing a bit harder. We had a few quieter hours so people could
recover (Tim is not our only casualty but the others (2) are only bruises
and a couple of cuts) and get some sleep in.

We’ve seen lots of albatross which are fantastic, and huge; also many
shearwaters of several different types. The air is incredibly clear and
the sky blue when not grey-black.

Best

Jonathan”

This update is brought to you by FlexiSail. Jonathan is a FlexiSail member and living out his burning ambition to undertake the Clipper Round the World race from start to finish.

www.flexisail.com