There is little to match the quiet satisfaction of landfall at the end of a foreign passage. The term “going foreign ” can invest the dullest dockside with the romance of a tropical isle. Yet, when it comes to sailing skills, crossing the English Channel or the Bay of Biscay need be no harder than a tricky coastal passage in tidal home waters.

Our First Time Foreign Symposium, run in association with the World Cruising Club, is designed to help you acquire new skills and increase your confidence, whether you are planning a cross-Channel trip to France or are heading further south across Biscay. Experts, including Tom Cunliffe, Nigel Calder and James Jermain, will be there to share their knowledge and experience.

The symposium covers passage planning, boat preparation, weather, communications, night sailing, offshore hazards and safety, victualling, insurance, foreign formalities, watch systems and crew preparations. Andrew Bishop, General Manager of the World Cruising Club, will also give a 45-minute presentation, “Heading South – Crossing Biscay “, themed on the route of Rally Portugal, an annual event organised under the YM banner.

The Yachting Monthly/World Cruising Club First Time Foreign cruising symposium is on Saturday 15 January 2000 (the last weekend of the Earl ‘s Court Boat Show) at Imperial College, London SW7. The cost of £45 per person (£75 for a couple) includes a buffet lunch. For details and an application form write to World Cruising Club (First Time Foreign), 120 High Street, Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO31 7AX. Tel: 01983 296060; Fax 01983 295959; e-mail: mail@worldcruising.com