Lucy Greenhill and Geraint Hamer, founders of the Nautica Collective, discuss launching their by-the-cabin sailing company that fills the gap between luxury charters and party cruises. The long-time friends and experiential travel experts are creating a new category of boutique yacht experiences for millennial travellers, combining refined design with community connection on group trips across Europe and the Caribbean.

What prompted you to launch the Nautica Collective?

Geraint Hamer: Lucy spent about 10 years in yachting and I'd worked at Flash Pack in boutique adventure travel. The idea came from the fact that there's nothing affordable and easy to put together for people who just want a nice sailing experience but are busy and don't have the time or expertise to charter and organise it themselves. It felt like a natural fit.

How does the model work?

Lucy Greenhill: Our main product is by-the-cabin bookings where we put people together on curated experiences. That includes the yacht, skipper, private chef on board, all onboard meals, fuel and mooring. We're opening up this category to people who maybe don't have 10 friends to fill a boat - it's them and one friend, or a group of four. Being in my late thirties, it's quite hard to get a big group together unless it's a landmark event.

We do private charters as well for special occasions, but the focus is really on making sailing accessible to smaller groups.

Who is your target market?

GH: We use the term "aspirational luxury" internally. It's not for someone who books first class flights and can afford super yachts, but it's not budget party boats either. It's sort of smack bang in the middle - people with disposable income who want a really nice experience with like-minded travellers. We're targeting people in their late twenties through early fifties who can afford a three to four grand holiday and value connection alongside quality experiences.

We vet everyone who books - we ask questions, get to know them and ensure they're aligned with the community vibe we're creating on board.

What's included in the experience?

LG: Everything on board is included - all meals, all your breakfasts and lunches. Depending on whether it's four days or eight days, it's one dinner or three dinners included. We curate land-based itineraries but don't package in land meals or activities because we want to give people free time to explore by themselves if they choose. Your skipper, fuel and port fees are covered. We don't include flights, insurance or transfers since people are making their own way at different times.

The four-day experiences start at £1,795 per person based on sharing, and eight days from £2,950. Peak season pricing goes up to around £3,500 to £4,000 depending on destination.

GH: We only use 48-foot boats no older than 2022. You can take a cabin exclusively if your budget allows, or share with someone you bring. Most boats have five cabins, so maximum 10 people on board. The cabins are intimate spaces - usually double beds - so we wouldn't put strangers together.

What does a typical itinerary look like?

GH: As a guide, you spend about 70-75% of the time on the water, 30% on land exploring destinations. We try to show them authentic experiences but in areas where it's less crowded. One thing we noticed testing Mallorca - everyone drives up through the mountains into Palma, then to Sóller. That route gets really heavily populated. Simple solution: just do it in reverse and hit everything when people are moving on.

There are excursions depending on destination - cooking classes, restaurant experiences, diving into ruins in Greece and the Balearics. We try to give them a good blend of water and land-based activity.

You have a host on board as well as the skipper?

GH: Yes, we've got a host on board outside of the skipper to ensure the group feeling is there. If you have five groups of two that don't know each other, you need someone to glue them together. In the first day or two there'll be experiences curated around breaking the group up and getting them to know one another. The product is built in a way that facilitates connection, as is the host's training.

How did you source the boats and crew?

LG: Mainly from my contacts from working at The Yacht Week for several years. I reconnected with partners from there and also went to Düsseldorf Boat Show and Palma Boat Show at the start of the year. On the skipper side, it's through the community of people who worked on yacht week and are now doing more private charters. All the chefs are super yacht-trained through a company run by someone who ran the Chef Academy at Yacht Week.

How was your first trip?

GH: Our first group went out three weeks ago and it was all five-star reviews. People were mostly surprised by how big the boat was and how much space there was. Lots of positive feedback on the food and the mix of activities.

LG: What surprised us was that although it was quite rough leaving Ibiza port and people felt a bit seasick initially, the whole group actually didn't want to go on land. They wanted to spend most of the time doing swim stops and eating on the boat. That was a learning for us - we came back and actually stripped down some routes a bit because the really slow pace was what everyone was embracing. Most people on board hadn't sailed before and all of them were converted and wanted to come back.

What sets your experience apart?

GH: I believe we're the first planned sailing operator to offer four-day experiences - we did that to open it up to people nervous about being on a boat longer. Our focus is small groups - eight to 10 people maximum - whereas others work with 50, 60, even 100 plus.

One thing that's unadvertised: in every sail the onboard crew get a budget and blueprint to create a wow moment completely off itinerary. No one knows about it, we never advertise it, but it's that final cherry on the cake. It could be sailing to an empty beach for a special picnic, diving somewhere unexpected or spontaneous fishing.

What impact do you hope the experience has?

LG: I think bringing people closer to the ocean and nature. People who are used to luxury five-star hotel experiences come on board and have a newfound respect for nature from being immersed in it. It feels quite transformational.

GH: One of the guests - I'd never met her before - we were sat at the back of the boat sailing from Ibiza to Formentera with wine in our hands, looking back at the sea. She was 35, had never been on a boat holiday before. She said, "I just don't get how more people don't know about this. It just makes no sense to me. To me, this is just the way everyone should be travelling." The salty vibe people had at the end, feeling recharged and relaxed - they couldn't believe that this was even a holiday.

Sails with Nautica Collective start from £1,795 per person and include all food & beverage onboard (all lunches, breakfasts and select dinners) and specified activities.