Sunsail: UK Avis 308

Elle, Finn and Caraig made our experience 10/10. Had a BLAST would definitely come back again. Best lead crew ever, what a week!

I booked and paid for a premier yacht (ie 1-3 years) with air-conditioner which was confirmed in a contract. When I arrived in Sardinia I found out that the yacht we had been allocated was a 2017 model with no air-conditioner. The condition of the yacht was one that had been well used. It was very dishonest of Sunsail.
The situation was worsened as the water tanks had a bad smell, so we decided to empty the tanks and replace it with fresh water.
During our trip we found that due to the age of the yacht the door handle's kept on falling off. The wind speed had to be reset whenever we started the engine and the autopilot did not work. We then found out that both gas cylinders were empty.
Last time we book a Sunsail charter.

Fabulous experience with a very informative, helpful & friendly Skipper called Ben!
Having never sailed before this was a novel experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. The boat was really well equipped & I understand very spacious 44.4ft. Showers were great .. small problems with aircon but only a niggle! Loved waking up in a different place, weather was beautiful & sailing both calming & exhilerating!
We snorkelled & swam in crystal clear waters around Greek Islands … would highly recommend!

Sharon was very helpful and friendly with clear instructions and response to any issues

Could not fault the team or the kit. Welcoming and friendly staff, great boats, and a wonderful location (Athens).

Very responsive engineers who were quick to call me and guide me through some of the tech and using the generator (which I had been told about in the briefing but forgotten!).

Excellent bareboat charter. Boat was great with no issues and actually sailed well even with generator, air con etc . Good helpful advice throughout the holiday.

Easy booking, great destination and a WONDERFUL skipper.

Hired a Jeanneau 34.2 bareboat from Lefkas. Supposed to be 3+ years old and was in fact 8 years old and it showed.
Maintenance poor - the clutches only ran when open, which made it hard to adjust sails; mainsheet reef had been mis-rigged; and the main sail halyard track was so poorly maintained that it had to be winched up the last 2 metres(!) of the mast.
Additionally the main water tank was supplied mostly empty - we had to refill with 110 litres after just 2 days (only 2 pax on boat, and hardly showered). And every time you turned on water it smelled of waste/bilge - clearly the lines had not been sanitised.
Windlass we were warned about lacking power, but the biggest issue was that it just intermittently failed to work - not entertaining when trying to stern moor under cross wind in a busy harbour!

Interior of yacht extremely tired, various issues with curtains falling off tracks, cupboards not shutting. Battery also inadequate for even a night off of shore power - no suggestion that the sole solar panel (not the 2 advertised) was adding anything at all. Needed to run the motor.

Staff at Lefkada are very good, smooth check-in and comprehensive handover.
Catamaran exceeded all expectations, very clean and everything worked which from past experience with other charters is definitely not the case. The boats are very well maintained. Will book with Sunsail again for certain.

General condition of the Yacht was good with clutch’s, sails, anchor winch, ropes, winch’s in good condition. However we were disappointed because of the smell in the lower deck to the point a few of us had to sleep on the upper deck. The smell was a combination of dirty, uncleaned waste tanks which hadn’t been taken out and cleaned over time and also a combination of glycol and diesel which permeated the lower deck which was accentuated while the air conditioner was on.

So unable to use the aircon while in marinas and smell made it very uncomfortable to sleep in the evening with 35 degree plus.

We did bring this up before leaving port only to be fobbed off telling us it will dissipate as the lower deck had been closed. Sadly to no avail.

Look forward to hearing from Sunsail to resolve this issue.

We chartered a Jeanneau 410 bareboat from Sunsail (Corfu) for a fortnight, as we have done on several previous summers. This year we had another terrible experience with Sunsail.
We booked and paid months ago for a Premier yacht (ie 1-3 years old) and a 2023 yacht was confirmed in our contractual paperwork. Without any explanation, Sunsail allocated us a 5 year old yacht. The condition of the boat was that of a very well used yacht, causing us to check the yacht’s documentation and discover it as a 2020 yacht. This is not what we contracted and we feel it very dishonest of Sunsail.
The situation was worsened by both holding tanks being blocked from day 1. We had the distinct impression from Sunsail Support that they rely on the charterer inheriting the problem & needing the holding tanks pumped during their holiday, causing considerable time and hassle, rather than Sunsail sorting problems between charterers.
The last time we chartered from Sunsail (Corfu) we switched to our second water tank during the 1st week, only to taste diesel in the water and wasting a day of our precious holiday to reroute and get the water tank flushed.
We will never use Sunsail again!

We hired a 3 year old Beneteau 40.1 from Portorosa, Sicily which is managed by Sailitalia. Everything on the boat worked as it should and from a sailing perspective we had a great time. However, we reported a pungent combination of toilet and fuel smells before we departed and were fobbed off with ‘that’s normal’. The fumes were so bad in some cabins that some of the crew slept on deck all week. Later in the week we found diesel in the bilge which went some way to explaining the symptoms. On return there was a lack of care factor from the administration. Our hope was that the next customers didn’t have to suffer the same discomfort. I then visited other charter boats managed by other companies in the anrea and confirmed that the atmosphere in our boat was anything but ‘normal’. We were very disappointed with the attitude of a large organisation with such a good reputation.

This was our second year running bareboat Sunsail 46. Boat was immaculate again. We had exactly same boat last year and there had been no deterioration which was impressive. Team at the base are brilliant and really helpful. Weather and wind fab. Stern mooring with a cross wind at Poros was entertaining, but locals are fantastically helpful and no damage done!!

This was our second trip from Lefkas and our fifth Sunsail holiday. Last year we joined the flotilla from Lefkas this year chartered the same boat for two weeks bareboat. We were on a 34.1 monohull with self tacking jib and electric winch, perfect for a couple getting on in years. We took an early check in option and had the best 2 week sailing holiday to date. We knew the boat, excellent sailing weather with greek food and hospitality combined to make a first class experience. I could do it all again next year and quite possibly will. Watch out Sunsail Lefkas - We'll be back !

Recently chartered a 42ft sailing catamaran from Sunsail in Raiatea, French Polynesia (Tahiti). The experience was the best we have had in all yacht charters I have done. This location of Sunsail/Moorings is smaller compared to many of their other locations. The team here is great and takes pride in their boats and service to customers. The pre-charter briefing was very good and they were very prompt to send a boat out with a mechanic to fix a couple of issues we had during the charter.

We bareboat chartered a 41.3 Dufour which was splendid. It sailed well and was extremely comfortable and well appointed. We had a superb holiday and would especially recommend the Pakleni islands. Only improvement with the boat would have been a bow thruster, but otherwise, a great experience. Top tips: Groceries are much cheaper if you buy them your self in nearby shops rather than pre-ordering. And no need to pre-pay 420 euros for fuel as you will never use that much in a week on a sailing boat. We only used ~ 40 euros of fuel and filled up ourselves - it wasn't difficult. Thank you

Our Croatian Flotilla holiday (Brač) our first us and our Sunsail Team (Adam, Jesse and Becky) were brilliant and defiantly 10/10.  The itinerary was perfect and our boat (Harmony) was an 8 berth and perfectly adequate for our needs, clean, modern and well equipped, comfortable beds and clean linen and towels.  We hired 2 paddle boards for our party of 8 but 1 would have been enough as they do restrict access on deck.  The morning briefings led by Adam were professional and well delivered, lots of key information given as well as options for lunch stops, questions always welcomed.  Sailing bareboat under the Sunsail umbrella was perfect for us as it provided support when we needed it and was so useful when entering/leaving the harbours.  Becky was super at her job and the organised events were pitched at exactly the right level and I think every boat in our flotilla participated, the breakfast on the first morning and the G&T evening were unexpected but very nice and were a great way to get to know the crews in our flotilla.  Overall Sunsail as a company delivered a  "dream come true" experience (of course the fabulous conditions helped !!) and they should be very proud of Adam, Jesse and Becky who are great ambassadors for the company.

Professional outfit. Adam, Jesse and Becky were the reason things worked out so well!

The SunSail 454 catamaran we rented in Corfu, Greece was in excellent shape and clean. The SunSail Customer Service Team ( Korina T. and Christina B.) were professional, thorough, and extremely attentive. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.

The Sunsail Team are very friendly and helpful. This is the 6th time I have been with them. There can be issues with the technology but there’s always a human being to speak to who can help.
The boats are excellent. Technical backup is always there to help if necessary.