What can you teach a dozen or so young mariners in just two or three weeks? A lot more than you can impart to, say, 30+youngsters. And you’d be amazed at how quickly strong, lasting friendships are forged.
QBE small-group Sailing: Educational | Centering | Life-propelling
Most people intuitively understand that small class sizes mean more personal attention for each student. Nothing newsworthy there. Certainly that’s the case at QBE. But there’s another, perhaps more important reason why we sail with very small crews— because the larger the crew, the longer it takes for members to bond. And the longer it takes to bond, the longer it takes to build trust and teach teamwork.
Two or three weeks is not much time to teach anything, especially when the first few days serve effectively as an orientation. But when everybody gets to know everybody else almost immediately, the faster we can start focusing on team building and leadership skills at sea, two of our main points of emphasis.
The QBE business model is not the most financially robust:
° While Brittany has an impressive cultural patrimony, the sailing season is short.
* The maintenance costs on our signature classic boats is extremely high.
* Our tuition is half what some other summer options cost so we can attract culturally and economically diverse crews from as many countries as possible. Because teens learn so much from their peers, we always strive to maximize multicultural interaction. (In 2023, we welcomed expeditioners from the UK, France, the United States, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Norway, Poland, Greece, Canada, Turkey/Portugal, Switzerland, and New Zealand.)
As a result, we depend on a handful of volunteers and patrons, all committed believers in robust experiential education, to make it happen. And we go to some considerable trouble and even personal expense because we honestly believe that a QBE expedition is the most extraordinary sailing and personal-development course out there for young adults. It’s just a fact: our unique cruises expand young minds and confer a grace few other experiences can. It’s a terrific gaff-rig sailing course, too!
Click or tap here to see for yourself what our expeditioners and their parents have to say about a QBE experience.
“As a parent l can say that my daughter’s 3 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.””
New skills • new perspectives • new Adrenaline rushes • new confidence
No sailing experience necessary | Instruction is in English