WELCOME to the Real Boat Company, which exists to have you sail on Marian, one of just a handful of surviving Bristol Channel pilot cutters, built in 1889 and entirely rebuilt in 2002. In turn, your involvement makes sure that Marian can keep sailing into the next century.

These cutters, in their time, were the paragons of working sail (see About the pilot cutters), and Marian really is one of the most gorgeous boats afloat. More than that, the experience of sailing her--or “working” her, as her original crew would have put it--is immensely rich, fun and rewarding.

Though she gets around, Falmouth in Cornwall is Marian's base. Unabashedly, we think the Cornwall and Devon coasts, the Isles of Scilly, southern Ireland and Brittany provide some of the finest cruising grounds in the world, and it is from this area, after all, that Marian originally sprang.

These coasts are stunning and still wild, and the wildlife is, thankfully, still rich. Gorgeous little harbours and remote anchorages abound. Where we can improve on the pilots' spartan lot is in sourcing locally grown provisions, for on board we take food to heart. Wine, too, for those who care for it.

Marian has berths for up to five charterers, and there is always a professional skipper and a first mate. It doesn't matter if you have never sailed before or, if you have, that you have never sailed on a gaff-rigged boat--you will soon be thrilled to be picking up so much. The boat welcomes all ages. See Sailing Marian

We offer different possibilities: short cruises of two or, more usually, three days, which particularly suit newcomers curious to see what sailing a gaff-rigger is all about; longer cruising adventures, typically of six days, with some passage-making; trips to salty festivals on both sides of the English Channel; lots of classic-boat racing for the competitive and energetic; and sail-training programmes.

While children will naturally come accompanied on Marian, we also think that our supervised sailing programmes for adolescents should be a defining part of what we do.

Marian is an immensely strong and seaworthy vessel. She meets all European rules as far as safety and seaworthiness are concerned--and more: we put safety and security at the heart of what we do.

Our skipper has over 20 years' experience of the sea, ranging from teaching dinghy sailing, windsurfing and sport diving, to working as a commercial diver and underwater cameraman. During this time he has logged thousands of miles' cruising on both modern and classic yachts, and is a qualified Cruising Instructor, endorsed by the Royal Yachting Association and Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Marian (the cover girl for the August 2005 issue of Classic Boat magazine, see “History”) is available for charter for weekends or longer around the wonderful waters that are close to her traditional working grounds. But if you want to go further afield--Scotland's Western Isles, the Baltic, northern Spain, the Azores, Greenland or Patagonia--try us.