A QBE European sailing expedition: It’s the ultimate Field trip For homeschool teens 15+
(…or any other small group)
“As a parent l can say that my daughter’s three weeks with QBE in August 2023 has been the single most remarkable experience of her life. […] To say that it was a sailing trip does not do justice to her ‘growing up’ experiences.” ”
Homeschool parents: You’ve taken ownership of your children’s education over the years. Now, as your teens move through adolescence, let QBE help them broaden their horizons on an amazing European sailing expedition: a personal development course and cultural exploration experience rolled into one. After a few weeks of sailing along French or British coastlines, they’ll return home with more self-confidence, a higher cultural IQ, and new-found motivation to achieve their full potential.
QBE’s European sailing program was conceived by a former expeditions master and sailing coach at one of Switzerland’s leading international boarding schools. Inspired in part by centuries-old coming-of-age traditions, he brings decades of experience in youth formation.
“The Hero’s Journey” premise: Young adults leave home to embark on a great adventure. Far removed from their familiar comfort zones, they learn to cope with disorientations, apprehensions, and self-doubt in order to overcome numerous challenges. Along the way, they acquire new skills and incorporate unexpected revelations into their worldview. At the successful conclusion of their journey, they return home with a new self-awareness, confidence, perspicacity, and status.
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A QBE experience promotes character building and ignites a curiosity for learning that can’t be replicated online or in a classroom. It really can’t be compared to the typical class trip abroad in which participants spend the majority of their time being shuttled around like tourists. Young people need to take some ownership of their life journey to grow and mature, and we help them do that.
…so, just out of curiosity, we asked ChatGPT what it would recommend:
The QBE homeschool expedition experience:
Everybody learns to sail a traditional gaff-rig boat.
Sailing is one of the most exhilarating (and addicting) lifestyle sports there is. It’s also one of the best platforms yet devised for teaching collaboration and teamwork. Aboard our artisan-built traditional boats, teens have to tug on halyards (ropes—no electric winches) as they learn to work effectively as a team.
Sailing is also magically therapeutic. Most of our participants find that adolescent life stresses melt away as their self-esteem increases while on board our yachts. It’s a fact: a sailing adventure can be more than tremendous fun—it can be life-elevating, even life-changing.Teens discover authentic European culture, a surprising maritime ecosystem, and interesting geography up close.
You’ll be amazed at the number of well-known—as well as under-the-radar—museums and sites that are waiting for your group to discover. While no two QBE expeditions are exactly alike due to weather and tides, we do prioritize certain destinations. When we have to change plans, we ask crew members to help us decide to where to go.
During our summer season, we hug the coastlines, taking student sailors to numerous seaside towns and anchorages, visiting local festivals and attractions. Homeschool expeditions allow for more flexibility. Groups can choose to add inland destinations not included among our summer options (see below). If you choose, you can even include a stopover in a major cultural capital.
Because QBE students aren’t constantly having to pack up and move from hotel to hotel, groups have the option to integrate some classroom instruction into a daily schedule. Our below-deck dining areas (saloons) serve as classrooms at sea, and most harbors offer high-speed WiFi that facilitates online learning. Instruction is in English. Assistance with transportation logistics available.
Classes can take day trips to explore sites that make history and science come alive.
Because each autumn expedition is customized to meet the specific goals of individual groups, parents and teachers can opt to take special day trips. We’ll organize the ground transportation to historic sites, sacred spaces, and other unforgettable attractions. There’s so much in our corner of Europe for your teens to experience and explore.
For example, there’s something magical—even transformative—about a visit to medieval churches and cathedrals. Not only do you stand in awe of the architectural achievement and magnificent art of eras long past, but if you pause to reflect, you can sense the millions of prayers offered up over the centuries.
At the American Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach, you can’t help but be moved by the sacrifice of thousands of fallen soldiers—many just teenagers—laid to rest there in row after row of graves. You can look around and imagine what it must have been like storming the beaches 80 years ago, machine-gun fire raining down from the cliffs and emplacements above.
In Cornwall, on the southwest English coast, visitors are always dazzled when they see the visually arresting Eden Project. The popular eco-attraction comprises two massive “biomes’ formed by hundreds of inflated hexagonal and pentagonal inflated domes, all supported by a tubular steel armature. The larger of the two biomes houses a lush rainforest environment (the largest indoor rainforest in the world). The second supports an impressive Mediterranean ecosystem.
And there’s the famous Puy du Feu spectacle in the Vendée—an extraordinary outdoor attraction that you’ve probably never heard of. In fact, TripAdvisor gave the park its Best-of-the-Best Travelers Choice Award for 2024, calling its several shows “astonishments.”
“Simply, the best themed park in the world. I work in the amusement sector and I visited over 300 theme and water parks in the last 40 years.”
—a comment left on the TripAdvisor website
Along the French coastline, add to the mix the storybook charm of quaint medieval towns full of half-timbered houses and quintessentially French cafés and shops.
For groups who opt to sail the southern English coastline there are just as many Insta-worthy seaside towns, remarkable landmarks, and historic sites to discover: the iconic white cliffs of Dover, the beautiful Seven Sisters and Beachy Head near Eastbourne, the famous Needles on the Isle of Wight, the chalk stalks of Botany Bay, Thanet and the renowned Old Harry's Rocks in Dorset, not to mention dozens of impressive country homes, parks, and famous castles—and, if you choose, a day trip to London with all the historic city has to offer. No matter where you decide to go, it’s an experience no teenager will ever forget.
Groups visit museums and artisanal workshops.
Visits to museums and workshops are mini-expeditions unto themselves, their revelations prompting teenagers to think in new ways. Workshops allow visitors to see how things they often take for granted are made, or were once made. Museum exhibits spark creativity, invite discovery, and always inspire through stories, music, or art. They take learning out of textbooks or web pages and bring it vividly to life. Of course, our pilot cutters are themselves little museums; they give young crew members hands-on experience in sailing a 19th-century boat.
We can introduce your students to artisans who’ll show them how cheese is made. Or butter, pottery, even wooden shoes (sabots). They can visit maritime museums and world-class aquariums and oceanographic research centers. Or art museums and castle museums— you name it. There are literally hundreds of options for teens to explore. Every QBE expedition provides hands-on learning and daily inspiration in an altogether different register.
Watch your students crush their college application essays!
You won’t find a richer motherlode of ideas for winning college admission essay topics than a QBE expedition. Your teens will be able to impress admission officers with insights gained from learning to sail, overcoming maritime challenges, and experiencing the vibrant cultures of coastal France or Britain. We even give every crew member a certificate of achievement they can add to their high-school résumé.
“Make your children interesting”
—Former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust’s advice to parents looking to give their children a college admission advantage
…and perhaps most importantly, your teens will find the self-confidence and agency that flow
from special achievement.
Sailing expeditions are unique among outdoor adventures. Not only do they provide an opportunity for your entire group to achieve impressive daily goals—sometimes under challenging conditions—they teach students how to tack in order to move forward against headwinds at sea. In the process, young mariners come to see how they can set personal sails to overcome headwinds in life. They learn through experience that the path to success is not always linear, sometimes they have to zig and then zag. But they learn to keep at it—to keep advancing. Sailing also exposes teens to the awe-inspiring forces of nature—forces beyond one’s control, and the game-changing power of teamwork.
A QBE adventure never leaves its youngsters where it finds them. It’s more than a singular educational opportunity, it’s a life-elevating channel of grace.
“A QBE teen sailing expedition is easily one of the most life-elevating adventures for youngsters available anywhere. It is SO unlike most other summer enrichment options.
Founded in 1992, QBE is directed by a world-class sailing and leadership coach with decades of outdoor education experience. Our signature gaff-rig yachts are in a class all their own. The coastlines in our sailing area are rich in history and old-world charm. It’s no wonder our expeditioners (and their parents) overwhelmingly praise their QBE experience. A surprising number of participants want to do it again. Quite a few actually do. It really is a singular educational opportunity any homeschool parent should want to seize.”
Praise for QBE from Parents
“Thank you! Thank you for everything! That was a life-changing trip and he hopes to return next year!”
—J. Anderson, Montana USA (Parent of a July 2022 crew member)
Praise for QBE Director Will Sutherland from former colleagues
“I am fully confident in recommending [QBE director Will Sutherland] very highly to you.”
—Didier Boutroux, former Head Master, Verbier International School, Switzerland
Praise from former students
“Everything has been better than I could imagine... Five-Star review!”
—Violet, 2022 Crew Member, Edinburgh, Scotland
“Having once been a student of the head of this program, and now, as a parent myself, I can say with certainty any parents would be hard pressed to find a better way for their young adult to spend time learning, experiencing, and growing.”
—M. Fei, Seattle, WA, USA
No previous sailing experience necessary | Staff–crew member ratio 1:3 | Safety Record: Impeccable
