SAILIXIR

(12)

A week with our skipper Thomas Strunz and partner Bianca
travelling through Malta, Gozo and Sicily.

Everything was superbly organised, lots was explained and demonstrated.
We discovered wonderful places, learnt a great deal and felt very comfortable the whole time.
An unforgettable sailing holiday with fantastic impressions and a relaxed atmosphere.

Highly recommended!

A wonderful spring sailing trip in a glorious sailing area. You could feel completely at ease with the skipper, boat and crew, and in good winds we reached wonderful bays. A highlight was going ashore in Syracuse. Wholeheartedly recommended.

Very nice skipper couple. Responds well to guests' wishes. Yacht is in superb condition.
Both Malta and Sicily are beautiful sailing areas

Very fine SAILIXIR trip from Bastia to Olbia with varied sailing conditions. Thomas's organisation was professional and reliable – from first contact to handover of the boat everything ran smoothly. His boat is in very good condition, clean and excellently equipped. The highlight was the impressive entrance to Bonifacio. A successful route with plenty of sailing enjoyment and relaxed life on board. Clear recommendation!

Our trip took us along the Amalfi Coast and to the islands of Capri, Ischia, Procida and Ventotene. It was a successful mix of short and long legs, anchoring, opportunities for swimming, going ashore or simply relaxing. The Elixir One is a superbly maintained yacht, in top condition and comfortably equipped. Anything that wasn't right was put right as quickly as possible.
Thomas is a very experienced skipper who had his yacht under control at all times, led the crew in a pleasant and humorous manner and readily shared his knowledge in an understandable way. Bianca, with her endearing, uncomplicated and hands-on manner, spoilt us with all sorts of culinary delights. Thomas's home-baked sourdough bread is also unforgettable!
It was a very lovely, varied trip and I would sail again with Thomas and Bianca on the Elixir One any time.

Dear Thomas,
it was once again an extraordinary pleasure to sail with you.
Thomas is an incredibly experienced skipper. You can sail or help out as much as you want—always under the watchful eye of the skipper, who recognises mistakes before they happen and corrects them immediately.
Bianca as all-round manager—everything in view with her open, warm manner.
Sun, wind, good atmosphere, good food, great conversations and sea in abundance. Time for excursions ashore rounded off this brilliant week.
Anyone looking for an unforgettable sailing holiday is in exactly the right place on 'Elixir One'.
Absolute recommendation

Thanks for the fun and the lovely time. Will come again.
Babsi

I spent a week with Thomas on a sailing trip—from Corsica all the way round Elba. As I had no sailing experience whatsoever, I was a bit apprehensive at first, but that worry was completely unfounded: the crew was fantastic, I was immediately included and I learnt an incredible amount.

The skipper explained everything with great patience and made it understandable even for absolute beginners. Thanks to his calm and clear manner, I felt safe and comfortable at all times. The week was an unforgettable experience for me—sailing, nature, wonderful companionship and loads of fun.

I would join another trip any time and can really only recommend this sailing trip! ⛵️🌊

Thomas exceeded my expectations by far. As a non-sailor but with experience of what it feels like to be caught in a storm, safety was also important to me.
Those concerns were a complete waste of time—Thomas commands his vessel like nothing I've ever seen. Nothing is left to chance—wind and weather always under control, and a safety briefing on day one.
To start under sail from pole position off the beach, weaving between 30 boats, or to berth alongside the harbour wall in Olbia between two vessels with just 1 m clearance fore and aft, visibly impressed not just me but everyone present.
You have to bring a huge amount of passion and invest a great deal of time to acquire skills like that—respect. So to all sailors: you can definitely learn a lot from Thomas.
We were in a different bay every day, including a dolphin visit, and Thomas changed the route at short notice to my delight so that I could also see Corsica, even though I was the only guest—Bonifacio was an experience—many thanks for that!
Elixir One is not only a beautiful, well-maintained vessel, but also outfitted to first-class standards. No compromises or shortcuts in any respect here either.
By the way, Thomas is also a first-class cook, he bakes sourdough bread and, with a bit of luck, a fish is caught.
All in all it was perfect—you simply cannot do this 'job' any better.
I will therefore definitely spend future sailing holidays on Elixir One, especially as Thomas also offers different routes in the most beautiful waters of the Mediterranean.

Our mile building from Malta to Sicily and back was very instructive and extremely pleasant! Thomas is a highly experienced sailor who imparts his profound knowledge in a calm and understandable manner. His boat, the 'Elixir One', is in top condition and features extras such as a watermaker, its own solar power system and Wi-Fi, which enables highly autonomous sailing. The trip enriched us in every respect! We can only recommend sailing with Thomas on his 'Elixir One'! We'd be delighted to do it again any time!!
Fellow sailors Detlef and Markus

The skipper training was very intensive and varied, the training led from Malta to Sicily and back.

Instructive manoeuvre training such as tacking, gybing, heaving to, reefing, Q-turn or Hamburg manoeuvre was part of it, as were anchoring and harbour manoeuvres. In addition, there were many relevant topics such as passage planning based on wind and weather conditions, operation of electronic navigation (autopilot, chartplotter, radar, AIS, waypoints), safety briefing and emergency procedures on board such as fire or water ingress and much more.

Thomas' comprehensive knowledge and the very clear explanations as well as tips and tricks made the skipper training varied and interesting. I was able to learn a great deal and benefit greatly from Thomas' knowledge. I would go to training with Thomas again any time.

The Elixir One is an excellently equipped and very well maintained sailing boat; I also found the technical refinements that allow the Elixir One to operate autonomously fascinating. It's great fun to helm the Elixir One.

I look forward to seeing you again.

We sailed with Thomas and his Elixir from Malta to Sicily and back again. It was a brilliant experience, we learnt a great deal about boat handling, meteorology, practical tips and much, much more. With Thomas and the others on board there was a very pleasant and cheerful atmosphere – we laughed a lot together.
Thomas is a very competent, experienced skipper; we felt safe and supported by him at all times. The Elixir is a very beautiful boat with excellent sailing characteristics. Furthermore, we met very nice people. Clear recommendation for Thomas and his Elixir. We'd be happy to do it again any time.
Susanna & Tom

In my search for a sailing trip I came across the portal Törnfinder, which directed me to the Sailixir website. The information appealed to me and I quickly booked the 10-day one-way trip Bastia – Olbia.

You are redirected to JOJO Wassersport for the booking, which is slightly confusing, but Sailixir is in partnership with JOJO Wassersport, through which the booking is processed.

Communication with Thomas, the owner of Sailixir One, was limited to a brief telephone call and a short information email shortly before the trip. Completely sufficient for me as a regular cabin charter booker.

On the day the trip began, the obligatory safety briefing took place with trying on the life jacket and the safety equipment of the Elixir One, which is certified by BG See.

During the briefing by the skipper you recognise the individual modifications to the Elixir One. The 'watermaker' is super practical; it eliminates the need to buy drinking water bottles and the resulting plastic waste.

The route went from Bastia north around the tip of Corsica along the west coast heading south. Most overnight stays were in bays. Based on Thomas' experience, safe bays were selected.

An overnight stay in Bonifacio harbour and evening dinner at the fortress rounded off the circumnavigation of Corsica.

Due to the developing weather situation (Mistral), the decision was made to sail to Olbia in one leg the following day and spend the night in a bay near the harbour.

The weather situation changed, as the skipper had already predicted through his regular observation of the weather. After arriving safely in Olbia harbour, we spent another two days there before I began my return journey.

For me it was a very lovely trip with plenty of sailing, safe guidance by the skipper Thomas. I can only recommend it to anyone who doesn't want the 'classic' sailing trips and would like to be a bit more individual when travelling.