More superyacht owners and charter clients are putting ordinary life on hold to spend a year or longer at sea. Pelorus, a British company that plans expedition trips by yacht, told BOAT International that inquiries for charters longer than 14 days are up 75% on the same period last year. EYOS Expeditions is planning more journeys of 12 to 18 months, and Cookson Adventures builds three-year routes that follow the seasons. BOAT's October issue calls it the superyacht sabbatical.
An ordinary charter is much shorter. Burgess clients spent 8.2 days on board on average in 2025, according to the broker's figures, and Northrop & Johnson puts the median at eight days. Two weeks is already long by that measure. A year away is a niche product at the top of the market.
| Trip | Length |
|---|---|
| Average Burgess charter, 2025 | 8.2 days |
| Median charter, Northrop & Johnson, June 2026 | 8 days |
| Long charter in the Pelorus figure | over 14 days |
| EYOS sabbatical journeys | 12–18 months |
| Oyster World Rally 2026–27 | 16 months |
| Cookson multi-year routes | 3 years |
Who takes a year off on a yacht?
Duncan Over, co-founder of JORO Experiences, traces the change back to Covid and the uncertain years that followed. "For many successful professionals, the traditional model of working relentlessly to enjoy retirement no longer feels particularly appealing. They're asking a different question: why wait?" he told BOAT. JORO and Burgess formalised their partnership on such trips in January 2025.
Ben Lyons, chief executive of EYOS Expeditions, says these clients are often owners and charter guests in their forties to sixties, many with children. "For clients, it's 'I'm organising my life around this for the next 18 months,' rather than here's my usual life and slotting in a vacation," he says. Some run their companies from an anchorage in the South Pacific, which remote work and Starlink now make possible.
How is a year at sea planned?
The year is cut into chapters by region and season. Between them, clients move ashore to villas and lodges, go on overland expeditions or fly home for a while. "The yacht tends to do the moving, and land stays do the settling," says Erik Hasselman, head of yacht expeditions at Cookson Adventures. Cookson's longest routes follow the weather through Greenland, Alaska, Raja Ampat and northern Australia.
Gayle Patterson, director of yachting at Pelorus, sees one mistake more than any other: "The biggest temptation when people suddenly have three months instead of two weeks is to keep adding destinations. That often creates a longer itinerary, but not a better trip." One Pelorus family spent almost two months in Indonesia: orangutans in Kalimantan, Komodo, whale sharks off Sumbawa, the Banda Islands and Raja Ampat.
Crew and children on board
The captain of a 75-metre motor yacht that hosted a JORO and Burgess client had masseurs, personal trainers and watersports instructors in the crew, and more than one crew member per guest. "No lodge, hotel or island can ever match what a yacht provides," the captain told BOAT. One captain told BOAT that sabbatical guests are calmer than regular charter clients, and the mood on board is closer to everyday life. Families fit school into the route. One JORO family swapped the classroom for private museum visits in Cairo with an Egyptologist, then went on to Norway and East Africa, where wildlife and conservation became part of the lessons.
What does Starlink charge at sea?
Since 27 September 2026, Starlink's Roam plan has charged $6 (about €5) per gigabyte in Ocean Mode, beyond 12 nautical miles from shore, up from $2, ISPreview reported, citing Starlink's email to customers. Starlink's new Personal Maritime plan is barred on yachts over 40 feet. Larger yachts on long passages use Global Priority. In Germany it starts at €250 a month for 50 GB and €650 for 500 GB, on land and at sea with no time limit, BOOTE reported at the end of August.
Oyster World Rally: 16 months around the world
Oyster Yachts runs the Oyster World Rally, a circumnavigation for owners of its boats, and the 2026–27 edition is the fifth. On 18 January 2026, 23 yachts from 50 to 90 feet crossed the start line off Antigua, according to Oyster. Over 16 months the fleet covers 27,000 nautical miles and 27 stops, through the Panama Canal, French Polynesia, Australia, Indonesia, Cape Town, Brazil and Grenada, then back to Antigua in 2027.
Entrants sail their own Oyster of at least 50 feet, complete the whole route and carry at least one crew member with an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualification. An Oyster support team meets the fleet at the main stops. The fee starts at about €110,000 for a 50–60-foot yacht, according to YACHT magazine.
One family in this fleet is sailing a 27-metre Oyster. They had planned the trip for 2028 or 2030, then decided to go now. On the way they spent six weeks in French Polynesia with a small child on board. One parent works remotely for part of each day, and the other learned to sail on the voyage and became an experienced diver. In August the fleet lost a boat when an Oyster 825 sank off Hamilton Island in Australia. The next rally leaves Antigua on 16 January 2028, and Oyster is already taking applications for 2030–31.
Photo: Oyster Yachts / James Tomlinson. Source: BOAT International, Oyster Yachts, YACHT, Burgess, Northrop & Johnson, ISPreview, BOOTE.
