Bowman Yacht Charters Cornwall Reviews 

I've chartered from BYC a few times. The boats are well maintained and Cyprian is super helpful. Thoroughly recommend.

We chartered Sunny for two weeks from 21st July to 4th August. Wow! What an experience.

The weather forecast was not great with numerous lows sweeping through but we planned carefully and set off. A great run down to Cawsand Bay in Plymouth and then a 90 mile sail to St Peter’s Port, Guernsey. Arrived tired but the harbour staff will always squeeze you in! Then a day sail around Herm and back to harbour to sit out the next storm. Then a great sail to Braye Harbour in Alderney, passing through the Swinge channel. The forecast then made us come home a day earlier than planned. An 18-25 knot forecast turned into 25-40 knots on the nose for the 80 mile crossing to Dartmouth but Sunny took it in her stride, helped by the excellent maintenance and support of Bowman Yacht Charters. Two 60 mile hops back to Falmouth, and we were done! A great adventure all in all, despite the weather.

I cannot recommend Cyprian, Jake and Bowman’s highly enough. The boats are well maintained, and presented. The advice is given freely and is sound. I will be using them again.

Chartered Alcyone for 2 weeks in July and Aug 2023 for our family of 5 (3 teenagers). Cornish weather had us dodging stormy winds and rain, but we had an amazing time; although we would probably have booked a larger boat if we’d known that ALL our boys were coming!

Alcyone is a great boat to sail, we found she coped well with weather up to F5, including cross-channel to Guernsey, and had no major issues with either the boat or equipment.

Cyprian and his team were always helpful and very understanding when we were forced to end the charter early due to weather.

Definitely recommend and we’d book again!

We chartered Mojo for a week in July 2023. Despite bad weather on Saturday, we made it out in sun and F4 conditions on Sunday. About an hour into our sail, with an easy breeze over the starboard beam and 5-10 degrees of heel, the outboard motor fell off its mount and into the sea.

We had done a visual inspection of the motor and mount, which looked as expected. We did not touch or move the motor or its mount, fatally trusting that the yacht operators had secured it correctly. And not only had it been improperly mounted, Bowman Yacht Charter had neglected to attach a safety line so we had no opportunity to recover it after it came loose.

I promptly reported this to Cyprian, who said he would not bring a replacement.

The worst surprise came days after our charter had ended, when Cyprian informed me that I would be paying to rectify the mistake of whoever had failed to properly secure the motor, to the tune of nearly a thousand pounds. He made a vague attempt to blame the loss on "inexperienced crew in fairly poor conditions" both of which he knew to be false, and which he did not contest when asserted the truth.

Cyprian was unapologetic for sticking me with the bill for his own company's mistake, simply stating "this is why we take deposits."

I knew that I was taking a risk by chartering with Bowman. I had heard many reports of poor yacht preparation and faulty equipment, but of course there is very little competition in the area, so I rolled the dice and lost.

I have disputed the charge with American Express, but will likely need to continue to small claims court to reclaim what is an obvious abuse of the charter deposit. I will update here if there is a fair resolution to this issue.

REVIEW

Unfair Contract

Despite securing a 5 day booking in mid August, we were told that our booking was double booked and had to be moved to September, in favour of someone else’s 7 day booking. No apology, no goodwill gesture. So my wife and I have just spent 6 days (not 7 days as advertised and paid for) on sv MOJO chartered through new owners Bowman’s YC. We previously sailed on MOJO for 4 years when it was managed by Flexisail at Hamble. I was required to pay an upfront Statutory cleaning charge, although the boat wasn’t properly cleaned at handover. But upon exit, I noted that you have to complete a checklist which included ‘cleaning’. So whilst we took 3 hours cleaning the whole boat, we have raised the issue with Bowman’s that they can’t have it both ways by charging and enforcing the checklist cleaning requirement. I also had to fix some of the faults, as the bow thruster was inoperable, furling/reefing lines and outboard motor unreliable. Having paid £70.00 each for 2 dogs (for extra cleaning), this is extortion and contradiction at its greediest and the owners bear no shame for these unreasonable demands. Also they charge PayPal charges for the deposit return, despite this being their banking choice. They have no respect for the customer and clearly don’t want repeat business, just your money. Totally dishonourable and certainly not a way to run a business.

This was a trip that I'd been really looking forward to. That I'd spent a considerable amount of money on & that sadly, fell short of expectations.

The main issue was the cleanliness of the yacht. It just wasn't clean: the table was dirty, all the surfaces were sticky, there was no provision for rubbish & there was black mould throughout the boat's interior.

When I brought these issues up with the skipper his attitude seemed to be that it was something I, as the customer, should resolve with a trip to shore to buy basic cleaning products, rubbish bags etc. With no rubbish bags on board, rubbish was piling up in the sink, flies were coming in & obviously, doing the washing up (with my body wash), was very difficult.
There was the matter of the mould.
I do not believe it is acceptable to charge customers a significant amount to live in an environment that affects their health. And this as well as being dismayed at the build up of rubbish & fed up with the general state of unhygienic conditions, was why we left the yacht after 2 rather than 3 nights.

Due to the mould,our breathing, eyes & nose were streaming.
Health implication from the proximity to the mould that was the final straw & caused me to make the decision to leave the boat early due to dirty & unpleasant conditions, the mould & the combination of these that lead to our early disembarkation.

This was back in August and still no response

The staff were really helpful and Antipodies is a great yacht. Falmouth is also a good start point. There are lots of beautiful places within a day's sail and the Lizard Point means many of them are sheltered from strong Westerly winds and big waves.

We chartered bareboat for six days in July. The boat was sound, as was the passage advice from Cyprian, while the spot in Falmouth Haven harbour was as good as such things get. Good service all round and we will be back next year. Andy

My wife and I had a days sailing experience around Falmouth Bay with Cyprian on Yemaya. I think Cyprian may have achieved my aim of convincing Jo to try sailing a bit more seriously. The day was so relaxed and made enjoyable by the man himself, he explained the theory and practise of sailing in far simpler and easier terms of understanding than I have had on previous courses,
I would say to anyone who is tempted to have a go at sailing try Bowman Yacht Charters and with Cyprian's help you may just see a way of achieving your dreams.

Cyprian offers a very different and enjoyable way to enjoy the World Pilot Gig Championships aboard his yacht. We had a fantastic sail and stay on board Yemaya with Cyprian & Sean. Yemaya is a beautiful yacht and offers comfortable accommodation. Cyprian and Sean were great hosts, made us feel welcome & at home and nothing was too much trouble. Sailing out to the Isles of Scilly on a beautiful yacht is a very special experience & in our opinion the best way to enjoy this beautiful place and Cyprian ensures you get the best out of your stay.

Our school's Old Boys and Girls organisation has just finished a wonderful weekend in Falmouth aboard 3 of the Bowman Yacht Charters yachts - one with Ciprian as the skipper - and we had a lovely, lovely time on all the yachts and being with Ciprian too.

There's no doubt that the weather was kind to us, and participating in Sir Robin Knox-Johnson's parade of sails and other events celebrating 50 years since he returned from being the 1st to sail non-stop around the world, all helped. That said, it is equally true that Falmouth and the sorounding areas are beautiful, both by land and sea, and an ideal alternative to the Solent for us sailors who like a bit of exploring.

For anyone considering either bareboat or skippered chartering in Falmouth, I'd certainly recommend Ciprian and Bowman Yacht Charters.

We had a wonderful weekend experience staying on the yacht and sailing her. nothing was too much trouble for the host and the yacht was suprisingly comfortable and did not feel cramped at all.

We (a family of four) had a wonderful week exploring the Cornish coast and the Isles of Scilly. Each anchoring/destination was more beautiful than the previous. Our kids had great time at the beaches, restaurants and cafes. Destinations were child friendly and Cyprian (skipper of the yacht) was very considering and kids liked him. Lots of variety to choose from, in many aspects. Would definitely do this again, highly recommended charter company.

We had a wonderful 3 day stay on board beautiful Yemaya, on one of which we enjoyed a fabulous day's sailing with Cyprian. We would (and hopefully will) do it all again in a heartbeat.

The yacht is beautiful and Cyprian is a great guy to spend time around. I really can't recommend this experience too highly.

We’ve just returned from the Pilot Gig World Champs in the Scillies. A brilliant experience made better by sailing to the islands and staying with Bowman Yacht Charter in St Mary’s Harbour.

Good sailing, good company and good accomo in a stunning setting.

If you’re a yachtie wannabe or just fancy a challenge or new adventure, I can thoroughly recommend getting in touch with Cyprian.

Cheers

We found Bowman Yacht Charters on the Internet and I left a message at Cyprian's home. He called back exactly as planned and was immediately very friendly and welcoming. Booking the day's skippered charter on Yamara of Helford was straightforward. We met him at the marina at 9am on the day and were taken to the boat. She was beautiful and we immediately felt at ease. We sailed out from Yarmouth into the bay in 8-10 knots of wind and later picked up a mooring in the river Helford for lunch - very nice. The breeze picked up to around 20 knots during lunchtime, so we put two reefs in the mainsail prior to sailing back into the bay and then to the flatter water in Carrick Roads, before returning to the marina just before 4pm, again exactly as planned. Cyprian was very skilled at judging what we could do ourselves, offering advice and support where required and letting us sail the boat between us almost all of the time. We felt very confident with his level of experience, yet relaxed approach. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and would be keen to sail with Cyprian again, next time we are staying in Cornwall.