Last updated: 20 August 2026
These terms set out the agreement between you and us when you book a place on one of our boats. We’ve written them in plain English because we’d rather you actually read them. Please do — particularly the sections on cancellation, safety and insurance.
Pronavia 38 Sailing Limited is a company registered in Malta (company number C115920), with its registered office at 4 Botanic Mans, Flat 4, Triq il-Marokk, Naxxar NXR3161, Malta. In these terms we call ourselves “we”, “us” or “Pronavia 38 Sailing”.
We operate two Pronavia 38 yachts, Bongani and Seawolf (each a “Vessel”), under a Commercial Vessel Operator Licence issued by Transport Malta. Each Vessel holds a valid Commercial Vessel Certificate.
You can reach us at pronavia38sailing@gmail.com.
These terms apply to all Bookings. Where a section is marked for a specific Activity, it applies only to that Activity.
Activity | What it is | Booked via |
Races | Crew places on offshore races, including the Rolex Middle Sea Race | Enquiry |
Sailing Trip | Multi-day trips around Malta, Gozo and Sicily, skipper included | Enquiry |
Race Yacht Experience | 3 hour morning, afternoon or sunset sails | Online(Acuity) |
Business Events | Team building days on one or both Vessels | Enquiry |
Race Yacht Experience booked online. Bookings for Race Yacht Experience sails are taken through our booking partner, Acuity. Acuity handles the reservation and payment on our behalf; your contract for the sail itself is with us, and these terms apply. Acuity’s own platform terms and privacy notice also apply to your use of their site.
For Activities booked by enquiry, we’ll confirm availability, agree the details with you, and send you a booking confirmation and an invoice. A Booking is only confirmed once we have issued written confirmation and received the deposit or full payment as set out below. Availability isn’t held until then.
By making a Booking you confirm that:
The Lead Booker is responsible for all payments due, for passing on information we send, and for the conduct of the party.
All prices are quoted in euros and include VAT where applicable. Prices are confirmed at the point of booking and won’t change afterwards.
| Activity | Deposit | Balance due |
Races | 50% at booking | 12 weeks before the race start |
Sailing Trip | 50% at booking | 8 weeks before departure |
Race Yacht Experience | Full payment at booking | — |
Business Events | 50% at booking | 60 days before the event |
If you book inside the balance window, the full amount is payable at the time of booking.
Late payment. If we don’t receive the balance by the due date we’ll chase you once. If it’s still unpaid 7 days after the due date we may treat the Booking as cancelled by you, and the cancellation charges in section 7 will apply.
Included in every Activity: the Vessel, a qualified Skipper, safety equipment, lifejackets, and our commercial insurance for the Vessel and third-party liability.
Not included, unless we’ve said otherwise in writing: travel to and from Malta, travel insurance, personal kit (including wet weather gear) and clothing, visas and travel documents, personal spending, and anything of a personal nature.
Business Events: a memory video is included as standard. Custom t-shirts are available as a paid add-on and must be ordered at least 30 days before your event, as they’re made to order and can’t be cancelled or refunded once in production.
Cancellations must be sent to us in writing at pronavia38sailing@gmail.com. The date we receive your email is the date we use to work out charges.
Race Yacht Experience
Cancellations are managed through the Acuity booking system. You may cancel up to 48 hours before your sail for a full refund. Cancellations made less than 48 hours before, or no-shows, will be charged at 100% of the total.
Sailing Trips
We do not routinely return deposits on Sailing Trip cancellations. However, we understand that plans change, and where possible we will work with you to move your booking to an alternative date. Requests to change date must be made in writing as early as possible — we can’t guarantee availability but we’ll do our best. If no suitable alternative date can be found, the deposit is retained and no further charge will apply provided you cancel before the balance is due.
Races
Race bookings are typically made by a lead booker who then fills the boat with their own crew. Given the nature of offshore racing — entry fees committed to race organisers, crew lists submitted in advance, and logistics that vary by event — cancellation and change terms for Races are agreed individually with the lead booker at the time of booking. We will set these out clearly in your booking confirmation.
Business Events
Business Events are priced per vessel, not per head. The minimum number of guests you bring on the day does not affect the booking cost. (The maximum number of guests per boat still remains.)
When you cancel | Charge |
More than 12 weeks before | Deposit (50%) retained |
8–12 weeks before | 75% of the total |
Less than 8 weeks before | 100% of the total |
The boat is reserved exclusively for your event from the point of booking. We are unable to re-sell that date at short notice, which is why our cancellation terms reflect the full cost of the vessel.
This is why we ask you to insure. Most cancellation costs are recoverable under a decent travel insurance policy. Ours aren’t unusual — they exist because when a boat goes out with empty spaces, those spaces stay empty.
We’d only cancel a Booking for good reason, and we’d tell you as soon as we knew.
If we cancel for a reason within our control — for example, we’ve made a scheduling error — we’ll offer you the choice of an alternative date, an alternative Vessel or Activity of equivalent standard, or a full refund of everything you’ve paid us.
If we cancel or curtail for reasons of safety, weather, or force majeure (see sections 9 and 20), we’ll offer you the choice of:
Once a trip has commenced, we are unable to offer refunds for curtailment due to weather or other circumstances outside our control. In either case, we’re not able to reimburse costs you’ve incurred elsewhere — flights, accommodation, transfers, time off work. Again: please take out travel insurance.
Minor changes. Boats are boats. We may need to change the Vessel, the Skipper, the route, or the timing of your trip. Where a change is minor, we’ll let you know and carry on. Where a change is significant — a materially shorter trip, or a substantially different Activity — you can accept it, or treat it as a cancellation under this section.
This is the most important section in this document.
The Skipper has final and absolute authority over the Vessel, its route, its schedule, and everyone aboard. Their decisions are made in the interest of the safety of the Vessel and her crew, and they are not open to negotiation. You agree to follow the Skipper’s instructions at all times.
The Skipper may, at their sole discretion and without any liability to you:
Weather. We sail in the central Mediterranean, and the weather does what it likes. We do not cancel simply because conditions are lively — that’s sailing, and our trips are designed for it. We will cancel or amend when conditions fall outside what’s safe or sensible for the Vessel, the Activity and the people aboard, and that judgement rests with the Skipper.
If a trip is cancelled before departure on weather grounds, section 8 applies. Once a trip has commenced, weather-related curtailment does not entitle you to a refund.
Change of mind due to weather. If the Skipper is satisfied that conditions are safe and suitable and the trip proceeds, guests who choose not to board or who wish to disembark early due to personal concerns about the weather are not entitled to a refund. The Skipper’s assessment of conditions is final.
You agree that you and everyone in your party will:
Fitness. Sailing is physical. You’ll be moving around a small boat that is heeling, wet and in motion, climbing companionway steps, and sleeping in a confined space. You should be in reasonable general health and able to move around unaided.
Swimming. Please let us know if you can’t swim. You will be asked to wear a lifejacket at all times while on the Vessel.
Medical conditions. You must tell us at the time of booking about any medical condition, disability, allergy, dietary requirement, medication or recent surgery that might be relevant to your safety or ours —including pregnancy, cardiac conditions, epilepsy, diabetes, mobility limitations and severe allergies. We treat this information confidentially and share it only with the Skipper. We’d far rather know: in almost every case it changes nothing except how we prepare.
If you don’t tell us, and something arises that we could reasonably have planned for, we may have to end your trip early without refund.
Offshore trips. For Races and Sailing Trips we may ask you to complete a health declaration form, and for some offshore races the race organisers require specific medical or safety training certification. We’ll tell you well in advance if that applies to you.
We hold commercial marine insurance covering the Vessel, all persons aboard, and third-party liability, as required by our Transport Malta licence, and Commercial Coding licences associated with the Vessel’s flagged regions.
You must hold travel insurance appropriate to your trip. It should cover, at minimum: cancellation and curtailment, medical expenses and repatriation, and personal accident. It must not exclude sailing. Many standard policies exclude yacht racing, offshore passages, or sailing more than a set distance from shore— check the wording, and get an extension if you need one.
Your personal belongings are not covered by our insurance. Bring cover for them if they matter to you.
The minimum age for all Activities is 12. Guests under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who is also aboard for the duration of the trip; that person remains responsible for them throughout.
Races: minimum age 18. The nature of offshore racing — extended passages, watch systems, and demanding conditions — makes it unsuitable for under-18s.
We may vary the minimum age by agreement for a fully private charter, at our discretion.
Alcohol. No alcohol is permitted on Race Yacht Experience sails, Races, or at any time while the Vessel is under sail or motor. On Sailing Trips and Business Events, beer and wine are permitted once the Vessel is safely secured in harbour.
Drugs. No drugs are permitted aboard under any circumstances. Anyone suspected of being under the influence of drugs will be required to disembark at the earliest safe opportunity, and their trip will end immediately without refund. We may report the matter to the relevant authorities.
Smoking and vaping. Not permitted below decks. On deck, only in the position the Skipper indicates.
Skipper’s discretion. The Skipper may withdraw any of the above permissions at any time and for any reason. Their decision is final.
If, in the reasonable opinion of the Skipper, a Guest’s behaviour is causing or is likely to cause danger, distress or serious disruption to others, or damage to the Vessel, we may end that Guest’s trip at the nearest safe port. No refund will be due, and we will not be responsible for onward travel or accommodation costs. You’ll be liable for any costs we incur as a result.
You’ll be responsible for any loss or damage to the Vessel or her equipment caused by your deliberate act, recklessness or negligence, or that of anyone in your party. That doesn’t include ordinary wear and tear, or damage arising from normal sailing — breakages happen and we don’t charge for them.
Where we ask for a security deposit for a Booking, we’ll tell you the amount in your confirmation, and we’ll return it within 14 days of the end of your trip less any deductions, which we’ll itemise.
Your belongings. Keep them below and keep them dry. We can’t accept responsibility for personal property lost, damaged or stolen aboard, ashore or in transit, except where the loss results from our negligence. Bring soft bags rather than hard cases — there’s nowhere to put a suitcase on a 38-foot boat.
You’re responsible for making sure you have valid travel documents for your trip. Trips to Sicily involve travel to another country, and every Guest must carry a valid passport or EU national ID card aboard. We’ll need the passport details of everyone in your party in advance for crew lists and port formalities. We can’t be held responsible if you’re refused travel or entry because your documents aren’t in order, and no refund will be due.
We take photographs and video aboard, and we use some of it on our website and social media. It’s part of how we show people what we do.
If you’d prefer not to appear, tell us before your trip or at the safety briefing and we’ll make sure you don’t. For Business Events, footage supplied to you as part of your memory video is yours to use as you like; our use of any footage for our own marketing is subject to your agreement in the booking form.
We accept that sailing carries inherent risk. Wind, sea state, movement of the boat and its equipment, and the physical nature of sailing all carry a risk of injury that cannot be eliminated. By booking, you acknowledge and accept those inherent risks.
Both Vessels are fully insured under our commercial marine insurance policy. Full details of our insurance cover can be supplied on request.
We’re not liable for the acts or omissions of independent third parties — race organisers, marinas, restaurants, transfer operators — where we’ve arranged them for you as agent.
We’re not liable for any failure to perform this agreement where it’s caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control. That includes: severe weather and sea conditions, natural disaster, fire, war, civil unrest, terrorism, epidemic or pandemic, government action, port or border closure, industrial action, and significant unforeseen mechanical failure of the Vessel despite proper maintenance. Section 8 sets out what we’ll offer you in those circumstances.
If something’s wrong during your trip, please tell the Skipper straight away. Most things can be put right on the spot, and we’d much rather fix them than hear about them later.
If it isn’t resolved, write to us at pronavia38sailing@gmail.com within 28 days of the end of your trip, setting out what happened. We’ll acknowledge within 7 days and respond fully within 28 days.
If you’re a consumer resident in the EU and we can’t resolve things between us, you may be able to use the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform or refer the matter to the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA).
We collect and use personal data — names, contact details, passport details, health and dietary information, emergency contacts — in order to run your Booking, meet our legal obligations as a licensed commercial operator, and keep you safe. We keep it only as long as we need to, and we don’t sell it. Our full Privacy Policy is at [LINK TO PRIVACY POLICY].
Right of withdrawal. These are leisure services provided on a specified date or during a specified period. Under EU consumer law, the 14-day right of withdrawal from distance contracts does not apply to them. Your cancellation rights are those in section 7.
Transfer of these terms. We may transfer our rights and obligations under this agreement to another business, and we’ll tell you if we do. You can’t transfer yours except as set out in section 7.
If part of these terms doesn’t work. If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest stays in force.
The whole agreement. Your booking confirmation, together with these terms, forms the whole agreement between us and replaces anything said or written beforehand.
These terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of Malta, and the courts of Malta have exclusive jurisdiction. If you’re a consumer resident in another EU member state, this doesn’t deprive you of the protection of the mandatory consumer law of your country of residence.
Pronavia 38 Sailing Limited · Registered in Malta · C115920 · 4 Botanic Mans, Flat 4, Triq il-Marokk, Naxxar, NXR3161, Malta
