Why sail with us?

Experience

If you want to become a capable and confident offshore sailor, the best thing you can do is go to sea with experienced skippers on well prepared yachts. It does not matter how much you have read or how much inshore sailing you have done, going offshore on an ocean going yacht is whole new experience and a key step to preparing the offshore sailor. As your skipper’s, we have completed more than 500,000 nautical miles of coastal and offshore passages, competed in more than 800 yacht races and skippered multiple blue water ocean crossings during the past decade alone. This includes 3 global circumnavigations, 23 Atlantic Crossings, 20 Tasman Crossings and extensive Pacific Island sailing.

Great leadership

Imagine combining your best school camp experience, with a capable well organised sailing team and the natural ability for creating team morale, regular humour and a highly personalised experience. Having led teams from 7 to 700 in size on the water, in community organisations and in business, we have the ability to take a bunch of strangers and form a cohesive, friendly, functioning team, in no time at all. To have an exceptional experience on ocean, you need to be part of a great team.

Safety first

We have found that the more sea miles we have under our belts from all sorts of conditions, the more our focus on ‘safety first’ has developed. On Andar, Awen, Silver Fern, Sea Breeze III and Te Kaihōpara we spare no expense when it comes to safety equipment, use of technology and boat preparation. You can be confident our safety standards will give you peace of mind when heading offshore with us. 

There are countless examples of delivery skippers in the news and on social media who went to sea on a tight schedule, on ill prepared vessels they were unfamiliar with, that they sailed short-handed with one or two “free” delivery crew, then ended up in trouble. These boats often have stressful, poorly prepared voyages, with equipment failure and crews arriving exhausted, swearing never to step aboard a yacht ever again. Choose your skipper and vessel wisely, your life depends upon it.

Experienced team

We have an experienced team in excess of 100 professionals to draw upon. This group includes experienced sailors, Masters, Chief Mates, industry craftsmen and professionals; many of who regularly sail onboard our yachts. At any time we have a crew of 8-12 onboard depending on the style of race, regatta or passage we are doing. Each year our team collectively sail more than 75,000nm

Real-time, hands-on training

You will learn more onboard Andar, Awen, Silver Fern, Sea Breeze III and Te Kaihōpara in just a few days, than you will learn from months of reading sailing books. Our hands-on, fast-track learning environment, immerses you straight into offshore sailing. You’ll become confident within hours of getting started and relish the opportunity to learn from the extensive knowledge of those around you. From navigation to sail management and trimming, plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems, watch planning, heavy weather preparation, making landfall and weather analysis; we’ll teach it all in plain, everyday english. Every race, expedition, regatta and ocean passage is different and we always have to adapt to the challenges, conditions and weather we face. You'll become part of the team and decision making process, the moment you step aboard. 

David Hows’s sailing philosophy

The more offshore sailing I do, the more I plan for every scenario. As a 24 year old, I did my Private Pilots License and also completed my Commercial Pilots theory subjects. I chose not to make a career out of flying, but it taught me something I have carried through all of my ocean sailing miles and thats to always have Plan B in the back of my mind. What if we can't get into that anchorage? What if the engine stops? What if we can't fix that pump? What if he don't get there before dark? What if we lose a halyard?... The list can be endless, but my propensity for taking tools and spares that match the risk and expected conditions, has meant we have always had the ability to respond to difficult situations and set backs with a Plan B, that has ensured our safety, sea worthiness and ability to continue our race or our passage safely. Over the years my first yacht ‘Ocean Gem’ became stronger (and heavier) as we upgraded and updated gear, to ensure we are always 'match fit' and ready to face the most extreme conditions.

We sold Ocean Gem and purchased the 72-foot steel yacht ‘Silver Fern’ in mid-2020. Silver Fern takes safety and reliability to the next level, with a robust steel yacht, purpose-built, redesigned and re-launched in 2004 to go anywhere in the world, spending 2005 - 2016 circumnavigating the globe and visiting more than 70 countries. In 2023 we purchased Te Kaihōpara and in 2024, we purchased our first superyacht motor-vessel: Sea Breeze III and the IMOCA Open 50 and Open 60 yachts: Andar, and Awen.

Confidence in the seaworthiness of your yacht and capability of your team is what gives you confidence and peace of mind at sea. Its almost never about luck. A successful ocean racer once sailed to me "the good sailors get the good luck". I respect the ocean, the weather and the power of mother nature. Safety and prevention is always our highest priority. As I learned with flying, many a private pilot has died from "get there-itis" by pushing on ahead into deteriorating weather, because of a rigid deadline. A wise man once said: "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." While sailing is a lot more forgiving than aviation, any fool can go to sea.

Small personalised crew

We include 8 - 12 paying crew on each ocean passage, expedition or regatta (plus 2 commercially licensed, Ocean Sailing Expeditions Skippers), for a maximum ocean passage crew of 10 on Silver Fern and Magic Miles and 12 on Salt Lines and Te Kaihōpara. We've got bunks for everyone and plenty of room for our crew in the pilot houses, cockpits, cabin tops and in cabins. With a modest passage crew, we can easily meet each person's specific needs, whether it be more time at the helm, learning navigation or practicing sail trimming. On ocean races and regattas, we’ll have a larger crew of 15  (including experienced race crew) to meet the demands of competitive round-the-clock racing. We work together on a two-team watch system, to maintain boat speed 24/7.

Professionally managed and operated

Ocean Sailing Expeditions adheres to international maritime safety standards by operating our sailing vessels: Silver Fern, Andar, Awen and Te Kaihōpara in “Unlimited Commercial Survey” under Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) or the Maritime and Coastguard Association (MCA) . Sea Breeze III is in survey with Maritime New Zealand. We also hold permits and/or obtain the required approvals to operate in the various marine parks, world heritage environments and protected fiords we visit. We aspire to make an impact every day by strengthening the communities, protecting nature and wildlife, and preserving the cultural riches of the areas we operate in. We are members of Sustainable Travel International and the Adventure Travel Trade Association. We report live weather at sea daily, to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s as members of the Volunteer Observing Ship (VOS) Fleet.

Find out more about joining us for ocean racing and regattas or ocean passages. Check the sailing calendar.