PlainSailing.com is a new website that was founded by 2 brothers frustrated at the difficult and often lengthy process of chartering a yacht online.
They set out to create something quick and simple to use without all of the usual paperwork and rigmarole normally associated with yacht charter.
We decided to take a look and see if the website lived up to their promises.
First impressions are of a well laid out front page, quick to load and placing the all important search box in the prime top left spot.
Diving straight in to search for a charter, the we were greeted with a simple choice of regions (currently Europe only), countries and areas.
A choice of start and end dates along with charter type (bareboat or skippered) completes the search and the results are quick to display.
A useful and often overlooked feature is that if you return to the search after browsing away from the page, your search terms persist to remove the need for entering them again and again. Very sensible.
The results list shows the charter price clearly and can be sorted and filtered in the usual manner.
When browsing the results, the individual listings are well laid out with an image gallery front and centre, along with details, floorplans, reviews, an extras list and an availability calendar in case you want to choose other dates.
The floorplan is handy to organise bunks and check toilet locations, etc. The extras list is, again, well thought out with options such as waterproofs that can be hired directly through the system, updating the cost instantly.
Most yachts didn’t have reviews but that’s not unexpected with a new website. In future, the reviews will prove useful when narrowing down choices.
At present, the availability and booking system isn’t in realtime but this will be changing in the future.
Features
- Simple, straightforward process
- Outstanding customer service
- Friendly UK-based team
- Hire food, kit or WiFi onboard
- Never beaten on price!