By Amira Hashish
Dreaming of a Caribbean sail where the cuisine is a match for the scenery or fancy gliding through the picture perfect islands of French Polynesia in style? The Sailing Collective specialises in global yacht adventures which hone in on bespoke experiences and off the beaten track adventures for individuals or groups. Founder Dayyan Armstrong tells us why his goal is to give guests a true trip of a lifetime…
What inspired the launch of the Sailing Collective?
The launch of the Sailing Collective in 2012 was inspired by our passion for sharing the wonderful aspects of sailing charters to an audience of wide-eyed travelers interested in experiencing nature and culture through this unique vantage point. When we started, we noticed that the other organisations either focused on partying or ‘do it yourself’ budget sailing trips. So we took our passion for adventure sailing and married it with our philosophy of hospitality. Our approach was unique in that we considered ourselves a travel company first and foremost and we use sailing charters as our platform to showcase world adventure to our audience. We then integrated an advanced culinary program focusing on regional provisioning and sourcing all our ingredients used aboard from the islands and coastal farmers along the way.
How does the concept work?
Sailing Collective Travel Co. is unique in the yacht charter industry. Along with being yacht brokers, we only use hand-selected captains and chefs who work directly with Sailing Collective to ensure each departure is unique and bespoke. With access to over 4000 yachts worldwide, we cherry pick the quality charter sailboats for our clients to ensure comfort and quality amenities aboard. An interested client will reach out to us directly about a private or group sailing charter.
Do you do individual and group voyages?
Yes, we provide both group journeys where guests can book a solo or double occupancy cabin aboard one of our scheduled departures. Our group journey schedule is posted on our website and interested travelers can book directly online. We also organise bespoke custom private charters for groups of friends of families. A client will contact us with an interest of a sailing holiday in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, for example, and we work with them to match them with the right vessel at a price point that works with their budget. We then match them with a captain and chef team and we work with them to design the perfect itinerary.
Which kind of destinations do you cover and where do the sails start?
Since our start in 2012, we set out to bring as many travelers throughout the world as possible. Because of this, we now have more than 25 unique itineraries that we have created. The Sailing Collective operates our yacht charters all year long and choose itineraries based on the season. For example, during the summer we mainly focus on the Mediterranean with itineraries throughout Croatia, Aeolian Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, Turkey, Mallorca (the list goes on) and when the season ends, we pick up where we can voyage like French Polynesia, Thailand, and the entirety of the Caribbean. One of our mottos is ‘if there’s water, a coastline, and sailboats available, we’ll plan an itinerary there’. An itinerary typically starts and ends in the same locations. For example, in French Polynesia we depart from the island of Raiatea. We then circumnavigate the Leeward Islands exploring the islands or Huahine, Taha’a, Bora Bora, and then end back at the same marina on the island of Raiatea.
What do your itineraries include?
A typical day looks like this: we wake up anchored in a calm and secluded cove. Our chef prepares an outstanding breakfast and guests have coffee, tea, and their morning swim. We then lift anchor and sail for a couple hours where we will find another unique cove where we will anchor and explore. The captain might lead a snorkel or a beach adventure while the chef prepares yet another outstanding meal. If any other yacht is nearby, there is a look of envy when our chefs prepare their cuisine. After lunch, we might sail for a short while to our end destination. We may decide to spend the night at a marina where we’ll explore ashore and go to a unique restaurant that Sailing Collective has discovered during our voyages. The itinerary is curated, but we also allow for adventure. If a once in a lifetime experience presents itself to us, we will be the first to pivot and change tacks. This has lead to many life-long beautiful memories.
How long do your voyages tend to last?
Our voyages are typically one week long and often run from Saturday to Saturday. There is some room to customise the schedule by request.
In addition to the captain, what other team members are included?
Each departure has one captain and one chef aboard. Larger catamaran charters might have a first mate but typically our charters are lead by a captain and chef team.
Do you offer bespoke experiences?
Each Sailing Collective experience is bespoke. We have a saying for captains at the Sailing Collective, ‘we don’t follow our own itineraries’. This allows us to listen to our guests and curate an experience for them on the spot. Our captains share experiences with each other and if one of the team members has an incredible experience at a restaurant or a hike for example, we’ll adapt. Our goal is always for guests to have the most unique week of their lives.
Visit sailingcollective.com
The Micro Wedding Movement
By Anya Cooklin-Lofting
Coined in the slow, grinding months of the pandemic, the phrase ‘micro-wedding’ means very different things to many different people. For some, it’s the remembered agony of having to brutally cut guestlists in the face of relentless restrictions. For others, it’s a green light to have the wedding they always wanted, free from the pressure to host an ‘all the trimmings’ affair, inviting everyone they’ve ever known, worked with or blinked at. While the micro-wedding was, until very recently in the grand scheme of things, something of a necessity, it has become a style decision for couples who want a lower-key event. But, while such couples do tend to benefit financially from keeping things more intimate with fewer guests and smaller venues, micro-weddings can certainly pack a punch when it comes to thoughtful details and luxurious flourishes.
This month, I spoke to some industry insiders and micro-wedders to get some expert insights, tips and tricks to share as the smaller, intimate, more exclusive weddings gather popularity long since the restrictions were lifted…
Adrian Meyers, CEO and Founder of ami Creates, www.ami-creates.com
“The biggest thing that I have noticed when photographing micro-weddings is the intimacy with their guests that couples can achieve on their big day. It’s really nice and intense from a photographer’s perspective. You can almost be more gentle in your approach to photographing the day. You capture something so beautiful if you spend a day surrounded by only their very best friends and closest family members.
If there is one thing that people don’t always appreciate about the role of a wedding photographer, it’s the huge emotional buy-in. My team and I forge strong emotional connections with the couples and wedding guests that we photograph, and the physical energy that commitment brings with it is huge and can be exhausting. At smaller weddings, this is magnified and it’s even more intense. As the photographer at a micro-wedding, you’re not just a fly on the wall; you’re part of the wedding group.
Compositionally, the key difference between the kind of shots I am able to produce at smaller weddings against larger events is down to intimacy and action. Larger weddings are more likely to incorporate some kind of dancefloor, a device that yields action-packed, candid shots. You can rarely achieve this at lower-key, smaller weddings. Generally, it’s easier to capture more intimate moments when the party is smaller and quieter, so couples do miss out on those higher-energy pictures achieved on a dancefloor. But, the bottom line is that you have to find a style that works for you, choosing a photographer that will capture the day in the way you want to remember it.”
Bride Holly Chapman, Global Head of PR and Partnerships at Papier, www.papier.com
“As I walked out of Islington Town Hall, my face broke into a huge smile as there, throwing confetti at me and my new husband, were 11 beaming smiles from some of the friends and family that we love the most. The most special part of a smaller wedding meant that we got to spend time talking, laughing, hugging, holding hands and dancing with every single person who was there. I’ve never felt so much love!
With a smaller wedding, we didn’t need to consider so many people or opinions, giving us the freedom to design a wedding day that felt very suited to our style. After our official ceremony, we walked to our favourite London pub and had a pint. Looking around the Islington pub with our friends and family all sat around relaxed and laughing was so special and I knew we had made the right choice.
It’s important to remember that small doesn’t mean less special. Despite the size, don’t skimp on the details. We loved sending luxurious paper invitations, having delicious food and wearing something special. Go big on whichever details make your heart sing! For me, I love clothes and it was all about the outfit and accessories, even though only 35 people would see it. I chose to-die-for Prada platforms, a sparkly bag by Paco Rabanne and a suit by The Own Studio. Altogether it probably cost more than a third of the wedding budget but it was worth every penny.”
Andreas Christodoulou, Private Jeweller, Kensington Parker, www.kensingtonparker.com
“For my clients, I feel the pandemic has made smaller weddings less political. They are far more socially acceptable now, and couples aren’t bucking any trends by opting for shorter guestlists. Before the pandemic, if you wanted a smaller wedding, you almost needed to arrange a wedding abroad, hoping that this would do the work of indirectly producing a smaller wedding. We all feel like we have obligations to certain people in our lives that perhaps we haven’t spoken to or spent much time with recently. There is no reason, now, for these people to be invited to your special day. You need to please yourself, not everyone else.
The best part is that smaller weddings can still be very lavish. With little details and bespoke elements, from the engagement ring and the wedding bands you choose to the place cards you design, your cost per head can increase while you save money that you would have spent on a larger event.”
Rose Roobeek, Journalist and TV producer at CNN, edition.cnn.com
“Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamt about a big wedding surrounded by vineyards in Tuscany, wearing a long white dress and having all our family and friends scattered around the world in one place at last, but Covid forced us to change our minds.
I never expected to get married while heavily pregnant without my parents by my side but it still turned out to be one of the best days of my life. It was incredibly intimate and stress-free and I could just focus on my love for my husband rather than worrying about whether others were having a good time. We ordered takeaway from our favourite restaurant to eat in the garden and managed to book part of a beer garden to have some friends over for drinks afterwards. We had no big expectations for the day but decided to still go all out with balloons and bunting. My mother-in-law baked a fantastic cake and the champagne was flowing.”
A Guide to London Restaurant Festival
By Amira Hashish
London Restaurant Festival is back for its fourteenth year this October, showcasing some of the most exciting talent behind London’s dynamic food scene. With a line-up of more than 50 carefully curated culinary events, the foodie feast will be serving up everything from gastronomic tours across the capital’s best restaurants to evenings with Britain’s esteemed critics. Here are some of the highlights…
Tasting Menus
Many of the city’s leading chefs will be taking part in the latest installment of the festival with a hand-picked timetable of Tasting Menus including a celebratory Indian banquet from Kricket and a feast from chefs Will and Jack at Fallow in St James’s Market. A new addition to this year’s programme is The Resy Hit List, where the city’s buzziest restaurants, curated by booking platform Resy, will offer a unique menu or dish for the duration of the festival.
Book here or head to Resy here.
Talk of the Town
These events serve up gastronomic experiences with bespoke menus as part of a restaurant takeover. Those taking part include Nancy Silverton’s Pizzeria Mozza and Oxeye at Embassy Gardens. Look out for the live jazz evening alongside a seasonal British four-course menu at the elegant Rotunda Bar and Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square.
Book here.
Masterclasses
Why not learn as you sip? Masterclasses on the agenda range from an Italicus Spritz session to the best of Negronis at the Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane and a Spanish cookery class with Nieves Barragan of Sabor, paired with Estrella Galicia beer. Innis & Gunn’s independent range of beers will be sampled in a guided tasting at Light Bar in Shoreditch.
Book here.
Ultimate Gastronomic Weekend
Make a weekend of it with Saturday Kitchen regular Anna Haugh who is hosting guests at her restaurant Myrtle in Chelsea followed by a stay at Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square and a dinner at the hotel’s restaurant Mei Ume, which showcases traditional dishes from both Chinese and Japanese cuisines with a modern approach. Tickets have sold out but you can join the waitlist.
Book here.
Binge
This series at the Television Centre in White City returns for a second year, featuring a fun combination of food and TV viewings. Sit down to a modern Indian menu paired with Innis & Gunn beers at Kricket White City. Following the meal, watch The Jonathan Ross Show as it is filmed live at the BBC Studio Works.
Book here.
Restaurant-Hopping Tours
For those who are partial to a food and drink pairing across multiple restaurants, there is the option to explore Belgravia with Luigi Bosca wines, Covent Garden with Innis & Gunn beers and Chelsea with Martin Miller’s Gin cocktails.
Book here.
Platinum Perks
If you are an American Express Centurion or Platinum cardmember there are extra perks as part of the Festival within a Festival programme. The Platinum Card has access to a series of Chef-hosted new openings: Chantelle Nicholson’s Apricity in Mayfair, Carlo Scotto’s immersive dining experience at Amethyst and Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal. Meanwhile, Art à la Carte celebrates London’s best collaborations between artists, curators and restaurateurs, including Langan’s Brasserie, with walls covered in fine art. Seasonal Autumn Spotlights comprise a King’s Caviar Tasting in the William Kent Room at The Ritz and a Seafood School at The Sea, The Sea hosted by chef Leo Carreira.
American Express Cardmembers will also have the option to Discover Regent Street & St James’s, with specially curated experiences such as a one-off Supper Club in the Fortnum & Mason Crypt and a Gourmet Odyssey lunch at Maison François, Chutney Mary and Michelin-starred Wild Honey, paired with Gusbourne’s range of English sparkling wines.
Book here.
Centurion Experiences
Centurion Members hold the key to a selection of unforgettable experiences including the Omakase Tasting Menus dining face-to-face with the chefs at Endo at the Rotunda and Ginza St James. A Penthouse Supper Club will be hosted in a dramatic residence on London City Island with panoramic views whilst an intimate dinner is cooked and hosted by Tim Spedding, former chef of The Clove Club. The event features a sommelier-led tasting of Oregon wines. Discerning Centurion members can also join some of the nation’s most respected restaurant critics – Fay Maschler, Nigel Barden and William Sitwell – as they take guests to some of their favourite spots in town.
Book here.
For more details visit londonrestaurantfestival.com.