Sailing yacht charter at Cooper Island brings crewed yachts to one of the quieter and more genuinely rewarding stops in the British Virgin Islands. The anchorage off the Cooper Island Beach Club sits in the lee of the island hills, the Drake Channel passage from Tortola is a brisk beat to windward of three to four hours, and the dive sites at the Indians and the RMS Rhone off Salt Island are among the finest in the BVI. The crewed sailing fleet in the Caribbean and Virgin Islands numbers around 19 yachts, ranging from 18-metre performance sloops to 35-metre ocean-capable ketches. Cooper Island rewards the sailing approach because arriving under canvas is the way the island was always meant to be reached. The beam reach across the Drake Channel from Tortola sets up nicely for the anchorage on the north shore, and the trade wind carries just enough north in it to make the approach comfortable for most keel configurations. The beach club and dive operation on shore cater specifically to arriving charter yachts rather than day-trippers. Weekly rates for crewed sailing yachts in the BVI start from around 25,000 euros, with the finest examples reaching 120,000 euros per week. An advance provisioning allowance of approximately 30 percent covers food, fuel, berthing, and crew gratuity. High season runs from December through April. Cooper Island typically features as an overnight stop within a broader BVI sailing circuit, combining well with Norman Island to the west and Peter Island to the east. The anchorage off Cooper Island Beach Club is sheltered and well-equipped for arriving yachts, with mooring buoys and a dock for tender landings. The Indians, four rocky pinnacles rising from the Drake Channel three miles to the west between Cooper and Norman Island, offer snorkelling and diving with outstanding visibility and schools of fish that appear reliably on most dives. Salt Island, a mile to the east, holds the wreck of the RMS Rhone at between 6 and 24 metres, one of the most historically significant and visually striking dive sites in the Caribbean, accessible by sailing yacht tender in under twenty minutes from the Cooper anchorage.
