First Impression: Braveheart

Date toured: December 2006

Braveheart is the kind of charter yacht that works hard to make sure it offers a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
     For starters, it’s one of the few 54-foot sailing catamarans that can take nine guests at a time. Four cabins each have en suite bathrooms and double-size beds, while a single berth shares facilities with the other guests (it’s a great spot for a kid).
     Braveheart also had a brand-new chef when I caught up with the yacht in late 2006, for any charter guests who are into gourmet food. Joe Costa, a graduate of Westminster Culinary College and The Savoy, had come from London, England, and Melbourne, Australia, where he previously owned a few restaurants and a catering company.
     The thing I like best about Braveheart, though, is Capt. Jerry Blair. He’s been skippering boats in the Caribbean since 1992 (he owns Braveheart), and he knows what he’s doing no matter what it is that you hope you’ll be doing onboard.
     “What works good on this boat is two families,” he says, adding that they can handle any kind of charter guest—even those who want to learn to sail. Jerry, you see, is a U.S. Sailing instructor who used to teach that reputable organization’s basic keelboat course. So if you’re one of those people who wants to learn to sail without taking an actual sailboat class, Jerry can teach you the basics at your own pace during a regular vacation charter onboard Braveheart.
     “It steers like a bulldozer,” he says with a smile, “so if you have previous bulldozer experience, no problem. If not, you have to think a little.”
     Jerry says that during virtually every charter, a guest asks if he can teach some sailing basics. He’s even lost past crewed charter clients to bareboats after he teaches them how to manage the navigation and sails. “One of my former crew, she came to me and didn’t know how to sail,” he recalls. ‘Now she’s going solo around the world.”
     Any sailing instruction Jerry provides is included in Braveheart’s weekly charter rate, not added on as an additional expense. There is no rigid course or textbook to follow; you can come back year after year if you want to, learning a little bit more each time.
     “If you want the instruction, I’m willing to share my knowledge,” he says. “But there’s no pressure and no problems. I can give you a letter of recommendation that explains your level of experience to bareboat companies, or I can say, ‘to be honest, I don’t think you’re ready for a bareboat.’”
     That’s a lovely little add-on to such a well laid-out, nicely staffed charter yacht that offers all the regular water sports and vacation fun that you’ll typically find onboard catamarans in the Caribbean.
     If you’re interested in booking a week’s vacation onboard Braveheart, contact any reputable charter broker. The boat is part of the fleet at CharterPortBVI.—Kim Kavin