This is every testimonial we’ve had, nothing omitted. We keep them in our ship’s log, please feel free to check them out when you’re aboard or visit!
Asked to do a bespoke course and it was perfect for what we wanted! August 19
First go at racing and thoroughly enjoyed it! Great three days, brilliant skipper – have learned a lot particularly how tricky spinnaker to be handled. July 19
Fabulous weekend, great race with wonderful company. Amazing Skipper. July 19
Great fun racing, excellent company and learned a lot through simple clear coaching. Oh and great taste in music!! July 19
Excellent weekend, and brilliant balance of racing, sailing and socialising. Top class skipper and crew – loved it!!! July 19
Great weekend. Great night sail to the start of the Race IOM Centenary to Douglas. Tried very hard, great fun and experience. Day of rest on the Saturday and sail back with spinnaker on Sunday. A total BLAST. July 19
Fantastic course. Would deffo recommend it to anyone. Great crew. Lots of fun. Challenging 2nd ‘ravailing’ (this is our best interpretation of the handwriting) though. Amaze Skipper. June 19
Great course, great time. Would def recommend it to others. June 19
Brilliant two days. Learnt so much & really enjoyed it. May 19
Great time & learned so much in a couple of days. I would definitely recommend Cris and BOOM to anyone. May 19
Had a fantastic couple of days. I was nervous on the first day, but Cris was very relaxed and his experience reassured me as soon as we started. Learned so much and had a great laugh. March 19
Brilliant week, learned so much. Thanks. March 19
Fantastic learning experience. Cris was relaxed and allowed lots of practice within the marina. Food was good, singing was good. Sociable side of sailing. Thoroughly enjoyable. March 19
I have really enjoyed myself, thank you very much for looking after me, thanks. November 18
Much better than sailing in the ‘Med’. Learnt so much more from having a confident, extremely competent skipper. So impressed by the generosity and patience. This is the kind of sailing I want to practice. Marvellous. Andy November 18
Great time out with Cris. He is not worried about novices doing their best to do wrong things with the boat and allows you to make your mistakes. Good instructor who lets you explore skills outside your comfort zone. Brill couple of days. November 18
Two great weekends with Chris who is an excellent teacher. He made the whole learning experience great fun and easy for someone who has been on boats but not sailed before. I would recommend him to anyone. Thanks for a great time. November 18
Have had THE best time. Cris creates a fantastic learning environment. You feel safe, supported & reassured so you can fully take in his knowledge, experience and teaching. Sailing is what I hoped it would be and more as the company & humour on board has been fabulous. November 18
Very accommodating to our wish to do the course over two consecutive weekends. It’s been a pleasure spending time with everyone these last five dayds. Highly recommend. November 18
Thoroughly enjoyed the week, the sailing & instruction was exciting and challenging of the same time. The training delivered felt at times above the syllabus requirements but for me that was a great attribute of the course as it all made sure all the core basics were understood. Thanks Cris….great week. Cheers Mike. October 18
I have had the best sailing in quite a few years and thoroughly enjoyed my two days on board. Cris is good at just putting you out of your comfort zone to enable you to gain new skills. Will be back again in the new year! Thanks – Caroline October 18
A fantastic week. Had a great time on and off the water. I feel like I’ve really gained some confidence on the boat and am looking forward to doing much more sailing with Cris in the future to get even more experience. A really fantastic experience with a great crew and fantastic instructor. Many thanks. October 18
Cris is a superb instructor, great patience & instruction through the entire course. Will book future cruising & skipper courses next year. A Big Thankyou. October 18
Well what can onve say, amazing course, course content presented in a way that even I could understand. I was totally overwhelmed with the whole experience, non stop smiling and full of enthusiasm and can’t wait to return to ‘my’ boat. Ha. October 18
Brilliant course, loads to learn and great teaching & crew, can’t wait to come back. October 18
Amazing experience – cannot wait to come back a thoroughly enjoyable experience – and amazing company to boot. September 18
Fantastic Ken was super. Thankyou. September 18
Cris was an absolute delight to be with, very professional an excellent teacher and great company. PS lovely boat September 18
Thoroughly enjoyable and informative. very patient in taking time to explain in more than one way. August 18
A fantastic trip with a brilliant instructor – so calm & patient & very encouraging & supportive. Huge thanks for helping me achieve something I never thought I could! August 18
It would help me to talk through my thought process whilst completing tasks so you can understand where I went wrong. “We’ll give it a go when going through the Skerries” – it would have been good to hear “try again” as this dented my confidence plus 2 people making the plan didn’t work. It would be better to have 1 person and another to check. August 18
Cris a superb course. Really learned a lot. I will be back. August 18
I have learnt a lot at the same time as really enjoying myself. I have been inspired to do more yacht sailing / racing and maybe even more qualifications. August 18
We have had a wonderful week. Despite having spent many hours and days on boats I have learn a vast amount, feel enormously more confident and have appreciated Cris’ approach to teaching us. He is an inspiring person with immense capacity to allow each crew member to realise their potential. I leave with a hugley increased knowledge of sailing and boat handling and great memories of our week on North Star. North Star Chicken & the garlic bread will be rememberedas well as the biscuit consumption!! August 18
Wish I’d discovered Cris many years ago brilliant teacher and person, really looking forward to my next adventure with Cris. August 18
Good points: destinations, nights out, great company a real life experience – not to be forgotten. Brilliant night adventure. Other considerations: think the lines and sail raising and lowering could have been more ” drilled” by coaching, so that it became a team second nature excercise. At times we were haphazard although we did improve through trial and error. July 18
Great teacher, I learned a lot and am inspired to do my theory. Difficult to fault. July 18
Enjoyed the friendly casual approach – Excellent night sailing. July 18
Great fun, awesome singing & good grub. What more could you want! Thanks so much. July 18
Overall an excellent experience. Great training, putting good trust in the crew and allowing us the freedom to make mistakes in a safe environment. Night sailing / passage around Anglesey was a real highlight. Some mild feedback on booking form. A little more information and clarity would be great. Cris on hand to answer any questions though (example: reference to typical sizes of wet weather gear? Unisex sizes?) July 18
Really excellent training. Loads of experience, structured learning, great de-briefing after each exercise. We were so lucky with weather, variable conditions but never unpleasant. The guitar and songs really added to a marvelous trip. June 18
Absolutely fantastic week. I feel a bit emotional that it has come to an end! I couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable or informative week. I feel so much more confident both in my abilities as a sailor/skipper an in sailing generally. Just need to do more now! The atmosphere on board the boat was great, so relaxed, friendly and non-judgmental. The perfect learning environment. Well done for organising such great weather too! June 18
The sailing and instruction is first class. Its been a lovely five days. I have met two wonderful people and made two new friends that I will seen (sic) again soon. June 18
As always an adventure throughout always learning from a great guy who’s willing to give – cheers Cris June 18
I never fail to have an amazing experience on North Star with Cris. Thank you once again – so much – for everything – and a positive experience of spinnakers! June 18
Brilliant introduction to racing. Felt great to be part of the team and Cris did an excellent job to keep us entertained and always learning. Great experience gained with the use of spinnakers too. June 18
Exceeded my expectations of what a yacht racing wkd would be. Really enjoyed it and learnt a lot about racing and in particular spinnakers. All superb thanks. June 18
Great individualised course content from the original contact professional manner throughout + great feedback during and after exercises. May 18
No criticisms whatsoever. Instructor whilst firm, fair was sensitive to development needs and facilitated same with positive encouraging manner. May 18
Excellent week! From having never been on a yacht to circumnavigation of Anglesey. I will be back!! May 18
All good. I will feel much more confident about sailing and skippering now. Thank you. May 18
Experience exceeded every expectation I had about the course. Fantastic teacher and skipper not to mention one of the coolest and all round good guys I’ve met. If I am to do Day Skipper I see no reason for anyone to go elsewhere! Thanks a bunch! May 18
Questioned the pre-booking info as Simon kept us out of that part of things and shipped us off. Thoroughly enjoyed the week, will come back for Day Skipper 100% Sad to be going home. May 18
Really enjoyed this course. I learnt everything I hoped to and more. Chris (sic) was an excellent skipper with excellent people skills. May 18
Very welcoming, fantastic merge of personal relationship development and educational environment May 18
An experience of a lifetime and a steep learning curve well delivered. This Anglesey voyage just makes me want it more – many thanks. April 18
Thank you for providing more information and stretching me. April 18
I will recommend you to the rest of the crew and any new ones. Thanks for a great time. April 18
Just fantastic. March 18
You are a brilliant teacher with obvious passion for what you do and enthusiasm for getting it across. March 18
A brilliant five days thank you. March 18
Without wanting to gush, by far the best skipper and teacher I have ever sailed with and thank you for finally teaching me how to do bowlines that sticks. Oct 17
Similar to Helen’s comments (editor note – see above) and additionally overall very pleased with the teaching ‘stand’ (sic), manner and style. Excellent demonstrations and feedback. Excellent company on the course and everything delivered in a top rate boat. Thanks Cris – Oct 17
Really enjoyed the course, made the most of really rubbish weather. Would highly recommend this course and we are looking forward to continuing. Thank you, much appreciated. Oct 17
Brilliant again! Trip of a lifetime. Never again! Ireland next time! Thank you. Oct 17
Many thanks just what I needed to brush up my skills. Looking forward to next year. Oct 17
Excellent course and first class instructor. (Editor note – instructor Ian Cheek) Oct 17
Great course. Got far more than I expected, will be recommending to friends and look forward to the next stage in my development. Sept 17
Fantastic trip – even better than the last time and I thought that would be impossible. Must just learn my ABC (editor note – this is our mantra Always Be Cool) Great instructor – learnt loads. Thanks so much. Sept 17
Great trip, training made easy to learn with Cris being Cris. No stress (shown ha ha) I certainly felt confident as his crew member and will return for more experience. Thank you. Sept 17
Wonderful course, very thorough in every aspect. I feel that my sailing skills have been greatly improved in a very positive and constructive manner Aug 17
Detailed course, very helpful in explaining aspects of sailing. Very enjoyable experience – one of my best birthday presents to date. Aug 17
Very thorough and professional course. All conducted with good humour. Fantastic crewmates. July 17
Very much enjoyed the course and experience. Everything was well taught and extremely fun. Thanks July 17
Excellent on all fronts. Great pace, v. patient skipper. I had an amazing time. Thank you… until next time! July 17
If you want to be as good as you can be then you need to be taught by the best. Cris is the best! Enough said. June 17
Second course on North Star and like the first, first class course including recognising tuition required. Professional approach and understanding. Looking forward to the next course ASAP even if taken to the edge as this time – way to go! FT June 17
Great week, thanks. Hard to watch on sometimes rather than getting involved in the Day Skipper stuff but that’s more a reflection on my nature than the syllabus. Overall a fantastic experience that has taught me huge amounts in particular how to get very wet! Many thanks Cris, hopefully I’ll be back soon. GT June 17
A first class experience which taught me a lot about being a credible mariner on a sailing yacht. Masterfully executed tuition by a seasoned skipper. I will be back TSB June 17
Thank you so much for this opportunity of a lifetime. The voyage and all of the characters on board shall never be forgotten. North Star is a fabulous yacht, it has been a pleasure sailing her and I also felt in good hands with the skipper – I hope to have the chance of another epic trip! JC May 17
Thank you North Star, Cris Miles, BOOM Sailing for an experience of a lifetime. Felt safe at all times, but we experienced a great adventure. Plenty of opportunity to practice sailing techniques with excellent coaching from Cris. Wonderful crew, plenty of laughs, long sailing passages. The visit to St Kilda was the objective, achieved, but the voyage had a thousand other highlights. Huge thanks to Cris, this will never be forgotten. BB May 17
Just been provided with one of the most amazing experiences I have waited a long time to achieve. Not only was reaching St Kilda an unbelievable moment but the chance to sail such a distance was a journey I will not forget. I had total confidence in Cris and at all times felt in safe hands. Also as a relative novice to sailing he gave me every opportunity to learn more and take part. Thank you so much RG May 17
This voyage was nothing short of superb in every respect. A crew of wonderful and fascinating characters and a skipper with more talents than anyone I’ve ever met. A cherished memory. BC May 17
Speaking as a complete novice who did not know one end of a boat from another this could have been a personal disaster, but it was the chance to experience a lifetime ambition to visit St Kilda. And what an experience it turned out to be. As a founder member of the Society for the Prevention of Overuse of Superlatives I can only say it was a stupendous, gob-smackingly wonderful awesome trip. And thanks for hiring the glam welsh lady to boss me around. JB May 17
Thought I knew quite a bit but I clearly don’t. A really excellent course by an excellent instructor. Will be booking more courses in the future with BOOM. MW April 17
For the first time ever I got some confidence about manouevering in marinas. Very good course, practical, friendly, entertaining with good food too and music. All on board took tasks under a well orchestrated skipper leadership so all could learn from each other. Highly recommended. Will be back. SP April 17
Had a great week on board. North Star is a lovely boat to learn and live on and Cris is a good instructor allowing us to learn in our own time. The course was very adaptable to suit abilities and conditions and delivered well. We had plenty of laughs on board with a lot of entertainment (Pinot) and the views around Anglesey. Anglesey is the perfect place to learn as we had a variety of different coastal conditions and environments. Great value (especially for me) as I came to do comp crew but managed my Day Skipper. All round had a fantastic week and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Thanks. JP April 17
Fantastic course, great variety of conditions, scenarios, training and locations. All communication very prompt and with all detail required (maybe a confirmation a few days before?). Fabulous, fast and clean boat, very well equipped. Partly lucky there was only two of us but content was well and truly covered and lots more. Cris was great, great instructor, great food and drink and good fun with entertainment! Value for money was excellent, to get round Anglesey with a few detours, to cover everything we did and get Day Skipper it was a bargain. Thank you SD April 17
Excellent in every way really enjoyed it. LH March/April 17
First class coaching, understood my issue with wind awareness and did everything in his power to get me through but… I still did not fully grasp it. MH March/April 17 (editor note – there is a happy end to this one. MH came back for a day solely to work on wind awareness, it clicked. He successfully skippered his own charter yacht later in the year)
The tuition was first class in all aspects of the course and I felt that we covered an enormous amount during the five days. Apart from Cris’ undoubted expertise the one quality that also shone through for me was his ability to understand my strengths and weaknesses and the barriers I needed to break down to improve my learning abilities SW March/April 17
I had an amazing experience, all weather conditions were endured but never once did I feel unsafe with Ian. Ian is a fantastic instructor, informative, patient and always with a tale to tell. The rest of the crew were great fun and supportive. All in all we were supposed to be going to Plas Menai but fate lended its hand and this is where we “berthed”. Thanks again Ian. AE March 17
A most enjoyable experience that gave me confidence on the water and the course exceeded all expectations. The skipper being so experienced and approachable made the 5 days even more enjoyable. Great crew, excellent company and would love to come back. Thank you Ian HE March 17
Thanks for a great course Cris. Wish I’d done it years ago and look forward to keep on developing with BOOM RP April 17
A very professional Cpt who seeks and achieves a standard greater than that which is designed within the course. GH March 17
Course went way beyond all expectations, N. Wales a fantastic place to learn with many different aspects of sailing possible to practice. Thanks Chris GS March 17
Was fantastic to go beyond CC course. Cris was an amazing instructor who made us feel confident and happy to sail. I’ll be back (maybe we’ll get fishing rods next time) RA March 17
Learnt so much with great crew and instructor, comfortable yacht which performed well in some heavy seas. Would recommend course to others. AG June 16
Obviously quite a new company but if it continues as I have seen this week I am sure it will become one of the best in the country. Good sense of humour and the will to explain points made it all very enjoyable. JA May 16
Had a fantastic week on comp crew course. Great boat to learn on and very comfortable cabins and facilities. Instructor very knowledgeable, kept the pace right for everyone despite all being at different levels. Challenging, exciting and great fun. EN May 16