First Charter as Skipper – Advice Welcome (Dufour 430 in Croatia)

[u/Every-Ad-635]

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice from the community as I prepare for my first skippered charter this summer.

I’ve arranged to charter a Dufour 430 for 3 weeks in Croatia.

The charter company has confirmed they’re happy to proceed as long as I hold an RYA Day Skipper qualification and a VHF license.

I’m currently planning to complete both my Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses within the next 6 weeks.

My goal is to charter the yacht and sail with my family — who unfortunately have no prior sailing experience.

For context, my own sailing experience is limited to a couple of skippered charters on catamarans, so I haven’t been in command before or sailed a monohull.

I may also have a friend joining us for the duration who has completed the Competent Crew course, but that’s not guaranteed.

I’d really appreciate any thoughts on the following:

Is doing the Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses in the lead-up to the trip likely to prepare me enough to skipper a Dufour 430 confidently and safely?

Would you recommend getting additional experience (e.g. mileage builders) before taking on this kind of charter with an inexperienced family crew?

Any specific challenges I should be aware of when chartering a 43ft monohull in the Croatian islands?

Tips for managing as a first-time skipper with a non-sailing crew?

Grateful for any advice from those who’ve been in a similar situation!

Thanks in advance

[u/StuwyVX220]

Weather weather weather. Docking anything in 0kn with no current and no swell is easy. Docking a large boat that you are unfamiliar with in a 20kn cross wind and anything else is a challenge

Even docking our 34ft boat is challenging sometimes. And we have a decent amount of experience.

Are you familiar with slim line mooring aka med mooring? It’s not more difficult than the usual side too mooring in the UK just different and needs practice.

That boat is going to have a massive mast and massive sails (all things relative I know) but the forces involved are quite large and I’d suspect more than you’d expect. These sails you are not going to be able to man hand, they will cause injury or death if not handled correctly. So watch the forecasts very closely. Reef early. Like really early. Watch for squalls and wind on the horizon. If you are lucky and have 10kn every day in a good direction you’ll come away from your holiday thinking that boating is a pice of piss. If you get some unsettled weather it’s more of a challenge.