Family, the sea and no gadgets

The family regatta was Mikhail’s idea. For everyone else, a large yacht was completely unfamiliar territory

“I took the most persuading. I had no idea what it would look like or how we would cope. But the children were on board straight away,” says the skipper’s wife, Ulyana

Their concerns were the usual ones: seasickness and safety. Some members of the family even get travel sick in a car. Mikhail took it seriously: he stocked up on tablets and seasickness bands, and played the family lectures about how yachts work before the trip

“I warned them it would be like living in a tent, so nobody would expect a five-star hotel. I think I frightened everyone so much that, in the end, reality was much better than they had imagined,” says Mikhail

As it happened, they never even opened the seasickness tablets: the bands worked brilliantly for them

The boat had three cabins: the skipper’s cabin, one for the boys, and a separate cabin for their daughter. Everyone helped with life on board

“The boys threw the mooring lines and helped with the sail. My daughter always handled the anchor and the mooring line. My wife took care of the food. The children also washed the deck and dried the lines,” the skipper lists proudly

Despite all the screen time back in Moscow, on the yacht nobody even thought about their phones

“We were fine with the limited space. The detox did us good. The scenery around us was so beautiful that we did not even have time to think about our phones. We had downloaded a series just in case, but never opened it. Everything was too amazing,” the children say

Sailing often reveals unexpected sides of people. For the Yuryevs, the sea was the perfect team-building experience

“In Moscow, you have to ask the children for help over and over again. On the yacht, everyone listened perfectly, as if they were different children. We were a well-coordinated team,” says Ulyana

Mikhail made discoveries of his own: “I did not expect such wonderful meals to be possible in such a small kitchen with the boat rocking so much. Our food was as good as anything in a restaurant. And being a skipper’s wife really suits Ulyana. Especially with a skipper like me”

Ulyana agrees: “I absolutely loved the role. I simply watched a very handsome skipper sailing our yacht onwards”

Ask the children what they liked best, and their answers might surprise you. Larion loved the yacht itself and the food. Lukiya appreciated the aesthetics:

“I used to think yachting was only for old-money kids or royal families. You look at people sailing on Pinterest, and suddenly you are in that same atmosphere yourself. It is unbelievably cool. Of all the things on the yacht, the gimballed stove surprised me most. That was my favourite”