Chartering With SMSC: What Visiting Crews Should Know
Not every visit needs a coach aboard. If you and your crew already know your way around a fast multihull, chartering is the straightforward option — a boat for the time you're on the island, without a training program built around it.
Here's what's actually worth knowing before you ask.
Charter vs. Training: Which One You Actually Want
These are genuinely different products, not two versions of the same thing. A charter puts you and your crew on a boat independently, at your own pace and with your own plan for the time on the water. A training program puts a coach on or near the boat with you, building specific skills through real-time feedback.
What You Can Charter
SMSC's charter fleet draws from the same boats used in training: F18 catamarans, Diam 24 trimarans, and the larger ORC 50. Which one makes sense depends heavily on your crew's actual experience, not just what looks fastest.
The Diam 24 in particular has trim and weight-placement habits that are different from what most sailors expect, even experienced ones — it's usually worth a session of training before chartering one, rather than assuming general multihull experience will carry over cleanly.
What to Have Ready Before You Ask
The faster you can answer a few questions, the faster you'll get a real answer back: how many people, what experience level — ideally specifics, like boats sailed, racing background, any multihull time — what dates, and roughly how long you want the boat for.
Being upfront about experience isn't a formality. It's what determines which boats are a sensible fit, and whether a quick briefing is enough or a training session should come first.
Making the Most of a Short Window
If your charter window is short, build in some slack for weather rather than planning every hour on the water. Saint Martin's trade winds are reliable through the winter and spring high season, but a single day of light air or a passing squall can still reshuffle plans.
That's less of a concern during the December-to-April stretch and more of one if you're chartering during the shoulder months — worth factoring in if you're working with a tight schedule rather than a flexible one.
Ready to Talk Through a Charter?
Send over your group size, experience, and dates, and we'll help you figure out which boat fits — and whether a charter alone is the right call or a training session first would set you up better.