Activity Yachting Holidays Booking Conditions

Activity Yachting Holidays Booking Conditions (revision 1/10/09)

Travel and yacht charter arrangements that are made by Activity Yachting Holidays will either be made with them acting as a principal or acting as an agent on behalf of yacht or accommodation owners and operators, travel providers, or a combination of all three.

In these conditions the 'Company' or "us" shall mean Activity Yachting Holidays and the 'Client' shall mean the Party Leader and everyone booked by the party leader on that booking. The singular shall include the plural and vice versa. If any part of these Booking Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then the remainder of these Booking Conditions will not be affected and will remain valid and enforceable.

Booking Procedure, Payments and Cancellations:

1. There will be no contract between the company and the client until the client has confirmed that they wish to book the particular holiday that they have been offered by completing the booking details as requested and

a) indicating that they agree and accept these " Booking Conditions" and paying the deposit or final payment as instructed on the companies online booking system. The "Booking Conditions" also form part of confirmation invoice.
b) the company has received the payment, checked that the requested information has been provided, and issued a confirmation invoice. It is the clients responsibility to contact us immediately on receipt of the confirmation invoice, to alert us to any discrepancies or if they feel that they have misunderstood any aspect of the proposed holiday that may have been discussed prior to confirmation of the booking. Where a major change is involved we must be contacted within 24hrs of the dispatch of the confirmation invoice.
c) In completing the booking using our online booking system, the company accepts that the client may not be able to provide all the requested crew details or resort transfer information at the time of booking, but that where information is outstanding, the client undertakes to provide this information as soon as possible, and not later than at least one week before the holiday commencement date. The company accepts no responsibility of any kind for any delays regarding the preparation of yacht paperwork or problems with resort transfers if the latter has not been done.
d) On completing the booking, the client accepts these conditions on his behalf and on behalf of all other persons named on the booking form, including those substituted or added by agreed amendment. Should the client choose to allow other members of the party to access the booking system for any reason, it is his responsibility under the Data Protection Act to ensure that all members of the party are in agreement with this, and the company shall have no liability whatsoever in this regard.
e) It is a condition of the contract that the client will take out personal travel insurance, either that negotiated by the company or an equivalent policy.
f) Where any of the party has a medical condition that may require special arrangements, or could could involve a safety issue either for the client themselves, or any other crew member that they may be sailing with, it is essential that this is discussed with the company before completion of the booking, otherwise we cannot guarantee to deliver the holiday as booked. The existence of a medical condition does not mean that you cannot participate in our holidays but special arrangements may have to be made. (e.g. a yacht fridge is little more than a cool box, and so on its own it is not suited to keeping insulin at the required temperature for diabetics, but alternative solutions are available).
g) During your holiday a photograph that you or one of your party feature in, could be taken either by another client or by a representative of the company, and this this photograph could subsequently be used for promotional purposes. Should you have any particular objections to this, upon notifying the company, where practical, we will attempt to remove the photograph, which we can only do from electronic media that we control, but not from 3rd party web sites or from material that has already been printed. By choosing to participate in the holiday, every client is accepting that their image could appear in a photograph and where the company is unable to remove the photograph, that they have no further liability in this regard. Where anybody feels strongly on this issue, please make this known to the photographer, before the photograph is taken.
h) To enable the company to operate or organise your holiday, we have to provide some or all of the Data that you give us to third parties so that items like Crew lists etc can be prepared and in making this booking you consent to this information being passed on as required.

2. It is the client's responsibility to obtain all general information concerning passport, visa and health requirements applicable to traveling abroad, and to ensure that he complies with all applicable requirements and takes with him all documents required for his holiday, including copies of appropriate skippers and VHF operating licence's where a yacht charter is involved. The company will not be liable for any failure by the client to discharge these responsibilities and the client will have to reimburse the company for any costs it incurs as a result of such failure on the part of the client.

3. Special requests should be indicated on the booking or requested in writing. The company will try to arrange special requests to be met, but cannot guarantee that they will be unless a supplement is charged. Adding requests after making a booking may incur an amendment charge.

4. The balance of the price is payable 10 weeks prior to the departure date. If the balance has not been paid by this time, the company may cancel the booking and levy the cancellation charges set out below. No Reminders or Statements will be sent after the initial confirmation invoice. The balance due date is stated clearly on the confirmation invoice. In the event of cancellation by the client the following cancellation charges will be made:

More than 10 weeks (70 days) prior to departure: Deposit only

Less than 10 weeks prior to departure: Holiday cost in full (100%)

Cancellation shall only be effective when written notification sent by email or post, is received from the party leader that made the booking.

5. A fee of £25 per person may be charged for each amendment or name change to a confirmed booking to cover administration costs. For an alteration within ten weeks of departure, the company may treat the alteration as a cancellation of the original holiday (attracting cancellation charges) Clients should be aware that some suppliers, particularly airlines, may charge a 100% cancellation fee and the cost of a new ticket.

6. We reserve the right to amend our prices at any time prior to booking. However once a confirmation invoice has been issued, the company guarantees that the price of your holiday will not be subjected to any surcharge except in cases where we are required by law to charge a Government tax or levy, introduced after your booking is made

7. We will always make every effort to deliver the holiday as booked, but sometimes changes are forced upon us. If the company makes a major change or cancels the holiday after it has been confirmed but before departure the client will have the choice of: (a) accepting the cancellation or changed arrangements; or (b) taking another available holiday with the company (if it is more expensive the client must pay the difference, but if it is cheaper the company will make an appropriate refund); or (c) (in the case of a major change) canceling the holiday and receiving a full refund. A major change is a change of departure airport when it is a flight inclusive package, (except between airports serving the same city), a change of resort, or a change to a lower grade accommodation or yacht. Any other change is minor. In all cases our liability is limited to the amount of payment received by us and we cannot accept any responsibility for any additional expenses incurred by the client

We cannot accept responsibility or pay compensation where we are forced to change or cancel your holiday due to Force Majeure, meaning unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the company's control, the consequences of which neither the company nor its suppliers could avoid, including but not limited to war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, flood, adverse weather conditions or the threat of any of these.

If there is a minor change, the company is not obliged to notify the client, although it will try to do so, nor is it liable to pay compensation.

8. If the company becomes unable to provide a significant proportion of a holiday after it has commenced, (provided it is not due to Force Majeure as per clause 7) the company will make suitable alternative arrangements for the client at no extra charge to the client or, alternatively, arrange for the client to be returned to his point of departure and to receive a pro-rata refund for any ground arrangements not received. All yacht related issues are specifically excluded from this clause as these are dealt with separately below.

Bareboat Charter, Flotilla Sailing, Share a Yacht and Learn to Sail Courses:

9. All yachts are offered for charter under the following conditions

a) the person identified as skipper on the booking crew details, has sufficient experience to handle the size of yacht in question. At least one other person must be experienced enough to act as crew. This skipper is the person in charge of the yacht at all times and ultimately the person that will be held responsible for any incidents that involve any third parties or the authorities.
b) the skipper undertakes to follow all operating and service instructions for the yacht, both from any onboard handbook and as advised at check in.
c) the skipper undertakes to advise the supplier as soon as possible of any failure to the yacht, her engine or equipment, and where immediate repairs are needed, to facilitate the supplier to enable the requirements to be assessed and repairs carried out, even if this means changing sailing plans.
d) the skipper undertakes not to take the yacht to any area where specific instructions state that the yacht should not be brought. The above in particular relates, but is not limited, to certain known hazards such as low bridges, areas with badly marked reefs etc.
e) the skipper undertakes not to accept a tow without agreeing a towing fee. Any skipper agreeing to tow another boat must only do so either as a matter of safety, or as agreed by the company or the onsite operator of the yacht, and agrees not to attempt to make any subsequent salvage claim against the towed yacht.
f) when you book to join a flotilla, it is a condition that you will follow the guidance and instructions of the flotilla lead skippers at all times. This includes, but is not limited to restrictions about sailing areas and decisions made based on the weather forecast.
g) night sailing is generally not permitted except where it becomes necessary for safety reasons. Often our charters are in areas with lots of small islands which are not well lit and not regarded as safe for night sailing unless you have specialized local knowledge, and all night sailing has to be agreed in advance with the company or yacht supplier.

10. For flotilla or any other yacht charters, in cases where the skipper does not have a formal skippering qualification, but does have equivalent experience, we can only accept the booking on the basis that the skipper is declaring him or herself competent to the minimum standard required, and effectively self certifying. Completion of the relevant experience section on the booking is deemed to be acceptance of this fact by the person who will take responsibility as the skipper of the yacht, even if another party member actually completes the booking. This condition is only included in recognition of the fact that even though a skippers licence is asked for in most countries where we charter, no minimum mandatory government skippering licence exists in the UK, Ireland or a number of other countries in which our clients normally reside. Our recommendation is always for the skipper to obtain some form of basic skippers licence in advance, and an ICC is often the easiest course of action. It is every skippers responsibility to ensure that they also have suitably experienced crew for the size of yacht being chartered.

11. When mooring in public ports or private marinas, all mooring costs must be paid by each yacht and any marina or port rules must be adhered to and the company, or their lead skippers (where you are sailing as part of a flotilla) have no special concessions in this regard. This is particularly relevant for flotillas in Croatia where the ports tend to be very organized and often the local staff managing the port or marina insist on controlling the mooring of the flotilla yachts in the evenings, and flotilla lead crew can do nothing to change this.

12. All yachts are fully insured, including third party insurance, and all yachts have an insurance excess (usually of 1000 to 1500 Euros). For most bookings there will be a refundable Security Deposit that must be paid to the local supplier when you take over the yacht. This will then be refunded in full on returning the yacht and all of her equipment, in the same condition as when you took responsibility for the yacht and her equipment at the start of the charter. Some suppliers will offer a non refundable insurance instead of the refundable deposit and this you will pay directly to them on site, and any issues with the above have to be sorted out directly with the yacht supplier on site.

13 In cases where you are chartering a yacht from the companies own in house fleet and sailing as part of a flotilla that is organized directly by the company, there is a single on site cash payment that among other things, provides a limited form of Security Deposit insurance, so no refundable deposit is required.

a) In this case there is no excess to pay for any direct damage to the yacht or her equipment provided that it is not caused by gross negligence ( e.g. loss of a dinghy that was simply not tied on properly). Where there are third party costs arising directly as a result of an incident with the yacht, whether caused by incompetence, negligence or simply bad luck, you will then be liable to pay op to the first 250€, per single incident, before the yacht insurance can be claimed upon.
b) Where a Security Deposit insurance is offered, based on your sailing as part of a flotilla, then this insurance is only valid for as long as you remain with the flotilla, and are following the flotilla leaders instructions, or have agreed with the flotilla lead skipper that you will be heading off on your own while still remaining within the general flotilla area. Should you deliberately head off on your own without the agreement of the lead crew, or choose to ignore their instructions, and then incur damage, irrespective of the cause or fault, then you will be liable for the full insurance excess.

14 In all cases the Security Deposit Insurance or Refundable Deposit only covers the insurance excess on the yacht chartered, and any incidents directly related to the yacht. There is no provision for any ancillary expenses that may arise out of an incident, such as hotel accommodation, taxi fares etc and where a yacht is damaged such that you cannot continue to use it, this insurance does not automatically mean that a replacement yacht or alternative accommodation options will be provided at no extra cost.

15. For bookings relating to yachts from local suppliers where we are making it clear that we are acting as an agent, (even if the yacht will be accompanying a flotilla) to satisfy their requirements it may be necessary to request that in addition to our booking requirements, that a charter contract and crew list from that company are also filled in. These may incorporate legal requirements for yacht charter in the country where you are chartering. Where possible this will be done at the time of completing our booking, but in any event, it is a condition of the booking that those forms will be completed and returned to us without undue delay. We cannot be held responsible for any forms not returned or incorrect information provided.

16. Should your yacht break down so that you cannot use it for any period of more than 24hours, unless the problem occurred through your act, omission, negligence, or any other external factor that could not have been prevented by the company ( e.g. storm damage), the payment for this period will be refunded. Any refund will be worked out on a pro rata basis of the yacht cost portion of the holiday only, and will not include any portion for flights, transfers, accommodation or any other holiday element. A substitute yacht, if offered, must be accepted.

17. In the event of any damage to the yacht howsoever caused the charterer agrees to the timely return to allow satisfactory repair for the next charterer. If damage is due to negligence or, incompetence the charter may forfeit any remaining sailing days

18. The company, or our local suppliers reserve the right to either prevent a charterer from taking a yacht out to sea by themselves or to put one of our/their skippers aboard at the charterer’s expense in the eventuality that the charterer’s experience of skippering a yacht is not satisfactory or as stated on the booking details.

19. For Learn to Sail Holidays, the instructor is in overall charge of the yacht at all times and his instructions must be followed by all crew. The issuing of certificates is solely at the discretion of the instructor and in all situations and cases the decision of the professional skipper(s) on site is final.

20. For share a yacht holidays where you join others that you do not already know, one person must be put down as the skipper on the paperwork, and this will normally be the person that appears on the booking information to be the most experienced or qualified. In practice it is expected that all suitably qualified crew can share the day to day skippering duties, and all crew accept to share responsibility equally for any mooring fees or problems that may occur. If you are a qualified skipper, but do not want to be the skipper on the paperwork, then this must be made clear to the company before the booking is confirmed.

21. It is a condition of joining a Share a Yacht holiday that you are prepared to share on any of the Share a Yacht boats that are available that week. The company will try to accommodate any particular requests but cannot promise to do so. If a personality clash occurs between crew and you are sailing as part of a flotilla, then the lead skippers will make every effort to find a suitable solution and to diffuse any uncomfortable situation, possibly by moving crew around etc, but often their options are limited in this regard and all share a yacht clients agree to accept their decision as final.

Accommodation, Holiday & Resort Information:

22. Accommodation, which forms part of the client's booking, may only be used by the people named on the booking. Sub-letting is not permitted. The client must observe the rules of the community (if any) relating to the accommodation and must vacate it as instructed on the day of departure. The client shall behave properly throughout his holiday and, in particular, must not do or permit to be done anything which might lead to damage to any property, injury to any person, or invalidate any contract of insurance. The client will use, occupy and enjoy the accommodation provided as part of his holiday with due care and in a proper manner without allowing the accommodation to become unreasonably soiled. No items, fixtures or fittings shall be removed from the accommodation or left outside at any time. The client will be responsible for the cost of repairing or replacing any lost, broken or damaged items, including lost keys.

23. In the very rare event of over-booking by a hotel/villa/yacht of which the company is not aware before the client departs, the client will be offered alternative accommodation/yacht on arrival, which accommodation/yacht will be of a comparable standard if available. If the location and/or facilities of the alternative accommodation/yacht can reasonably be considered inferior to that originally booked, the company will compensate the client by paying him the difference in price (if any) between the two properties/yachts plus compensation of up to 5% of the original yacht or accommodation cost.

24. The company makes every effort to ensure that all yachts, resorts, villas, hotels and pensions offered on its web site and in any current printed material are described as accurately as possible. However, changes can occur and the company reserves the right to make such changes, in which case the client will be informed before his booking is confirmed.

Flights and Financial Protection:

25. Where flights are included with a package, flight timings provided at the time of booking, are only estimates and cannot be guaranteed, as these may be changed by up to 12 hours from the original time indicated by the airline. The company will not be liable if a flight time is changed or a flight is delayed. In the event of a delay, the airline is totally responsible for any alternative arrangements or compensation, and in all cases the airline's standard conditions of carriage will apply. Where a client is not allowed to board an Aircraft by the Captain or Airport Authorities, either due to a late check in or any for any other reason, the company has no further liability to the client in this regard.

26. When you buy an ATOL protected air holiday package and flights from us, you will receive a Confirmation Invoice from us (or via our authorized agent through which you booked) confirming your arrangements and your protection under our Air Travel Organise's Licence number 5550. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA will ensure that you are not stranded abroad and will arrange to refund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking. For further information, visit the ATOL web site at www.atol.org.uk.

Not all holiday or travel services offered and sold by us will be protected by the ATOL Scheme. The ATOL licence only covers packages where there is a UK flight element included as part of the package. For any packages booked that do not include flights, all payments to Activity Yachting Holidays are protected by means of a Trust Account arrangement , in accordance with the European Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.

27. All complaints must be made at the time of occurrence to the company's representative on site or to the supplier of the facility or service concerned to allow them the opportunity to deal with the issue, failing which the client's legal rights will be reduced or even extinguished. For any issues that cannot be resolved on site, then a written complaint should be left on site, and all claims against the company must be submitted in writing to the company in the UK within 28 days of the client's return.

28. This contract and any matters arising from it are governed by the law of England and are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England.

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