Sail Britain

Join the crew on yacht Merlin next summer! 🌞 We have a full season of sailing and exploring in the beautiful Hebrides in 2027, and all trips are open to sign up now!

It's open to everyone with no experience necessary - we will teach you everything you need to know to learn the ropes! Merlin and her crew welcome you into an inclusive and open minded space, a home from home on the water.

Our trips encompass themes from foraging to seabirds, ocean conservation to myths and legends, so you'll come back with more than just sailing under your belt. And if course

Our thriving artists' residency programme is now open for applications, so if you'd like to take part in a creative week, get thinking and apply as soon as you can.

Follow the link in bio to see the programme!

sailbritain.org/programme

This time of year is for gratitude. It is the privilege of my life to do what I do, spending the summer out on the water with you wonderful folks. Sending a heartfelt thanks to all of you who have taken part and supported Sail Britain over the past year. Thank you, you’re the best!

It’s been a bit quiet around here recently, but our summer has now drawn to a close, and Merlin is safely ashore for the winter. Sadly a bit sooner than expected this year - more on that coming soon - but there will be lots to do behind the scenes to get everything going for next year. So much to look forward to as well as we move towards the darker months of the year. We’ll also be sharing some of the wonderful moments of the 2026 season to keep those memories going.

❤️

First photo by Freya Thorgood Dowell, videos Kelly Zou (邹筱菁) B&W Džiuginta Mažulytė

Sailing amongst islands involves often complex considerations of wind, tide and topography. However sophisticated your navigation setup, you'll always need local knowledge. This is called Pilotage, and this wealth of experience is compiled into Pilot Books

We carry a full set of pilot books published by to refer to when we need to know information about local anchorages, tidal currents, or shelter in certain conditions. 

Imray have updated three key volumes for the west coast of Scotland, Kintyre to Ardnamurchan, Ardnamurchan to Cape Wrath, and the Outer Hebrides with the latest navigational knowledge. 

Recognise where we are in this one?

We have a last minute place available on our Muir is Tir residency in June. The residency explores the language, folklore and seafaring traditions of the Outer Hebrides.

If you've been wanting to take part in our residency programme, but missed the application deadline, this is your chance! Drop us a DM with some info on yourself and your work, or via the webpage here, which has all the info.

www.sailbritain.org/muir-is-tir-residency

Starting and ending in Stornoway, 13th - 19th June

We are having an exhibition!! Edinburgh, 1st- 3rd May

'Following Seas', our 2026 Exhibition, is a celebration of the Scottish seas and islands by artists who have sailed aboard Merlin with Sail Britain.

The Sail Britain residency programme has been running since 2015, pioneering sailing as a creative practice, and celebrating our ocean and coastlines from interdisciplinary perspectives.

Following Seas brings together works by artists in residence over the last two years in all their diversity and creativity, from film to photography, and painting to poetry. Though learning to sail as a crew is a shared endeavour of a very intimate kind, these works represent the individual responses of the participating artists to a common experience.

Patriothall gallery, Wasps studios, EH3 5AY

FREE ENTRY - Donations Optional

Opening Times:
Saturday 2nd May - 10am - 5pm
Sunday 3rd May - 10am - 5pm

See you there!

Updating our navigational charts is one of the most important jobs before we can set sail. Having the right information about dangers at sea, rocks, depths, navigation marks, is vital to keeping sailors safe.

Our precious charts are annotated with all the up-to-date info with a special purple pen. Thank you Imray for continuing to support this vital process through your updates 🙏

If you would like to know more about how we navigate, and perhaps get involved yourself, we're very happy to let you have a go at plotting positions or courses to steer when you're with us on Merlin!

A place has just become available on the Wild Islands Residency this June! Due to the short notice, all suitable expressions of interest will be considered, please send us a DM!

This residency is an opportunity to explore how we define ‘wild places’, our preconceptions of seemingly remote landscapes, and how we as humans fit into these stories. We’ll be investigating these ideas in the context of the Hebrides through the local folklore, geography and history, whilst considering what this all means in the larger story of the global climate crisis.

Our routes for the week this year is from Mallaig to Stornoway, allowing us to visit some of the ‘wilder’ places on the west coast of Scotland, many of which are inaccessible except by boat.

Full info on the programme page of the website. Link in bio

sailbritain.org/wild-islands-residency