About the Carolina 1815

Sail Scotland aboard “Carolina 1815 of Dundee”, a 40' Laurent Giles sloop. The yacht was originally built in 1976 and totally refurbished in 2006 for Carolina House Trust, a registered charity established in 1815 to care for vulnerable young people. “Carolina 1815” is a classic long keel comfortable passage maker that does not slam into waves when working to windward. Her sailing characteristics and performance are very different to the modern light weight cruisers offered by most sailing schools and charter companies.

To support the trust’s charitable activities the yacht is available to the public on a commercial basis with the trust’s Skipper/Yacht Master Instructor aboard. Carolina House Trust is registered with RYA as a Training Centre providing practical and theoretical Sail Cruising Scheme courses. An early enquiry presents opportunities to develop sailing activities to meet the needs of RYA trainees and other interested parties. Although several periods are reserved for the Trust’s young people many dates remain available for commercial bookings.

The itinerary for 2009 is currently being finalised and the yacht will be based at Oban Marina from the end of April until October. Oban is an ideal starting point for exploring Scotland’s west highland shores, sea lochs and islands which lie between Cape Wrath and the Mull of Kintyre. For more dedicated sailors there is an opportunity to make a 10 day St Kilda cruise from Oban or Kyle of Lochalsh both of which have good public transport connections with other Scottish towns and cities on Citylink and Scotrail services.

At the end of the Scottish cruising season the yacht may return to Dundee via the North of Scotland or, depending on interest, the Caledonian Canal. If there is sufficient demand, the passage between Scotland’s East and West Coasts may be split up into several parts and an opportunity taken to cruise the Orkneys and Fair Isle from Wick or Scrabster. Then the latter part of the 2009 season will be spent sailing from/on the River Tay.

Budding Day Skippers, Coastal Skippers and Yachtmasters can be given tuition while skippering the yacht and gaining experience to meet RYA Cruising Scheme requirements.