Brexit: Unsure sailors sacrificing sunshine for certainty

UK sailors switching sailing holidays abroad to the UK this summer:

• Greece & Croatia yacht charter searches down 33% (bookings down 40%)
• UK yacht charter searches up 300% (bookings up 200%)

It’s been a week since the Brexit vote, but the seismic waves of the UK public’s decision are already being felt by businesses across the country – and sailors are just as affected as anyone. 

PlainSailing.com – a yacht charter website which allow users to charter yachts in England, Scotland, Greece and Croatia – have reported that the number of people searching to book or hire a yacht in the UK has increased three-fold, and bookings have tripled! 

Conversely, interest in chartering yachts abroad has plummeted as people adopt a ‘wait and see’ strategy – seemingly putting their concerns about the economy and misjudged worries of potential travel restrictions ahead of their concerns about the weather (Croatia and Greece offer the attractions of guaranteed sunshine and pleasant waters, whereas sailing in the UK is more challenging, but colder and wetter).

Searches for Croatian and Greek yachts fell by 33%, and bookings are down by 40% (and Greek Island bookings were already somewhat down on prior year due to the refugee crisis reducing the attractiveness of the Greek islands as a holiday destination).

Adi Togs, Manager of PlainSailing.com said “The uncertainty in the market means that our customers are sacrificing the sunshine this year, and turning their attention to sailing closer to home.  The views and sailing is just as good – if not better – in the UK, but you do miss the sunshine.”

“Whilst the average yacht owner is unlikely to be too perturbed by the result of the referendum – since they are statistically more likely to have voted Leave – you do not need to be rich to charter a yacht for a week or so, and it is these people who are substituting foreign holidays for sailing in the Solent or the West Coast of Scotland”