The story of Sail Me

Hello! My name is Ivan Bryukhovets, I am 35 years old, I live in Tenerife with my family. I have four children and a beloved wife. I was born and lived in Odessa, so the sea has always been in my life. For a long time, I was engaged in nightclubs, although I am an IT engineer by training.

Yachting appeared in my life in 2010, when my kitesurfing buddy Tolya Lebedinsky called me into the crew on the yacht "Anastasia", with captain Vladimir Vyzhelovsky. From that time on I fell in love with yachting, all its coastal preparatory bustle, travel and sailing, and of course “après-ski” in the form of evening get-together with friends in a yacht club.

The next stage in my yachting life was the yacht "Argo", which belonged to the sailing section of the Odessa Water University and due to the lack of funding for several years stood on the stocks, on land. After several meetings with the rector, and with the support of the respected yachtsmen Vasily Ivanovich Fertyuk and Natan Simonovich Gonopolsky, by the rector's decision, I was appointed captain of the yacht Argo. There was a lot of preparation work, buying new sails and, finally, the long-awaited launch and the first voyages as a captain as well as first regattas and places on the podium. It was very cool - the most vivid memories. My closest friends were in my crew, so sailing trips on Tendra spit and sailing races were filled with the meaning and romance of beautiful travel.

After moving to Spain in 2015, I decided to change my field of activity. I got tired of working at night and running a nightclub, so I started looking for a new direction. Go sailing and get paid for it? That sounded good! Having received the first European RYA Coastal Skipper documents, I found and rented in Torrevieja a wonderful yacht Blitz, on which I worked as a captain for 2 seasons: this was about 35 weeks at sea and about 250 clients. Torrevieja is just 100 miles from the famous Ibiza, so most of the time was spent there. Satisfied clients with their eyes burning with delight and impressions helped my project develop by having come back again and sharing with friends. At the end of the first season, the name appeared itself - SAIL ME !, which I translate as an appeal: "Give me a ride under the sail!"

After working for 2 years on the yacht Blitz, it became clear that it was time to acquire your own yacht in the Mediterranean. Search for options, partners, and negotiations - everything culminated in the purchase of a DREAM TEAM yacht - a French Beneteau Oceanis 43, constructed in 2008. Wonderful modern spacious four-cabin yacht - it was a dream! There was no need to pay for yacht rental anymore, so all the money remained inside the company - at that time already registered Spanish charter company Sailme Charter SL.

Then it became more difficult and more interesting: yacht maintenance, combined crews, bareboat charter, internet marketing, and thoughts on development. Half a year after the purchase of DREAM TEAM, we managed to get a loan for business development from the Spanish bank Sabadell Atlantico. The second Hanse 400 yacht constructed in 2012 was bought with credit money.

Currently, the company is 3 years old. Sail Me owns a fleet of 10 yachts available in the summertime on Ibiza in the Mediterranean and in the wintertime on Tenerife in the Atlantic Ocean. The main directions are bareboat charter, yacht charter with a captain, and cabin charter (travel arrangements for combined crews).

We are actively preparing a new project: Atlantic Challenge - a large sailing passage from Ibiza to Tenerife in November. All our fleet and yachts of our partners will take part. 10 yachts have already been confirmed, we are recruiting crews. The crossing will consist of 400 miles across the Mediterranean and 800 true offshore miles across the open Atlantic Ocean. This is a turnkey solution for all those who have grown out of coastal yachting and want to progress, earn miles, improve skills, and be tested with the open ocean. Details of the Atlantic Challenge and conditions of participation can be found on our website.