What Happens When Teens Trade Screens for Sea, Sails, and Spectacular Sunsets?

They don’t just unplug. They re-engage with their bodies, their minds, and one another.

From Sedentary to Active. From Passive to Engaged.

Sailing is a full-body, full-mind pursuit. Teens trim sails, solve navigational problems, and work as a crew. Hours once lost to screens are replaced with purposeful movement, shared responsibility, and real-world skill-building. It’s activity with meaning.

Mental Health, Resilience, and Emotional Well-Being

Time at sea restores perspective. Nature immersion and outdoor adventure are consistently linked to improved mood, reduced stress, stronger emotional regulation, and greater resilience in adolescents. Away from constant digital stimulation, teens rediscover calm, clarity, and psychological balance—benefits screens alone rarely provide.

Social Connection, Leadership & Emotional Growth

Life on deck demands collaboration, communication, and trust. Teens learn to rely on one another, step into leadership, and contribute to something larger than themselves. Friendships form quickly—and deeply—because the experience is shared, real, and meaningful.

Focus, Creativity, & Self-Awareness

Natural environments are uniquely restorative for the developing brain. Time at sea reduces cognitive overload, restores attention, and sparks creativity. Teens return not only more focused, but more self-aware—with a renewed capacity to think clearly and reflect meaningfully.

A Shift That Lasts Long After the Voyage is over

QBE Sailing isn’t about escape. It’s about reset.
Our aim is to help teens carry forward confidence, resilience, teamwork, and a healthier relationship with time—one shaped less by notifications and schedules, and more by presence, purpose, and experience.

Why QBE Sailing Is Different

Authentic Expeditionary Learning
Not a party cruise, but a true educational adventure rooted in seamanship, navigation, cooperation, and responsibility.

Deep Nature & Cultural Immersion
Teens live at sea, explore coastal France, and engage with history, culture, and local communities, far from the throngs of tourists that descend on major cultural capitals.

Whole-Person Growth
Physical, mental, social, and emotional development unfold naturally through real challenge and shared experience with peers from around the world.

Screen-Free. Stress-Free. Rooted in Real Rhythm.
No alerts. No endless feeds. Just wind, waves, teamwork, and human connection.

Research-Backed Benefits of Outdoor & Adventure Education

Studies consistently show that adolescents who engage in outdoor and adventure-based learning experience show:

• Improved mental health and emotional well-being

• Greater resilience and stress tolerance

• Stronger interpersonal skills and self-confidence

• Enhanced focus, creativity, and cognitive clarity

Our Crew Members Cook for Each Other

“Food crosses all barriers… if we were to cook a meal together … there would be smiles, there would be laughter, there would be a connection, and there would be a bond that’s made.””

— Joe Grant of Leeds Cookery School (quoted in The Guardian)

The Psychosocial Power of Cooking & Eating Together

We think cooking for each other is important—especially when you have only two–three weeks to build strong, robustly connected teams comprised of young sailors from different cultural backgrounds. It turns out, cooking is therapeutic—just like sailing. But cooking as a group, for the group, doesn’t just improve mood and disposition…

• it fosters bonding
• it builds self-esteem
• it helps create a sense of confident independence

Importantly, at least in our experience, it brings a new dimension to team-building: it creates a dynamic of “family.” That, in turn, engenders “trust.” There’s certainly no better place to get to know each other—to feel comfortable with each other—than around the dinner table. Another plus: preparing meals instills such useful life skills as nutrition awareness and cooking proficiency, which in turn support long-term healthy eating habits and more adroit social competence.

Once back home, the ability to cook a meal is correlated with stronger family bonds, enhanced mental well-being, and lower reported depression.

Cooking and eating together reinforces the QBE ethos of building strong, authentic connections that translate into more efficient teams on deck.

After our meals, crew members take turns washing up. We teach our youngsters that on a sailboat, everything always has to be returned to its proper place A.S.A.P.—on deck and, yep, in the galley, too! As the old saying goes, “No job is ever finished until everything is put away.”