Welcome to Steadfast Sail
Steadfast Bow.
Enjoy traditional sailing at its best on 
board Steadfast, a big, beautiful, gaff cutter based in New Zealand’s glorious Marlborough Sounds. Built to the highest standards of traditional craftsmanship, and impeccably maintained, Steadfast is a feast for the eyes, with her sweet lines, varnished hatches, and traditional rig.
Steadfast is conducting day and overnight sailing cruises with a range of options for lovers of quiet adventure. Steadfast is also available for private or corporate charter, and offers an educational experience to students of all ages.
Steadfast in Admiralty Bay.
Steadfast has been built on the lines of the Jolie Brise, a French pilot cutter built in 1913, and the only vessel to have ever won the Fastnet race three times. Her keel was laid in Albany Western Australia in 1990, and she was launched in February 2006, 16 years and one vineyard later! She is an exceptional sea boat, with her deep draft, easy lines, and powerful sheer, and is safe and comfortable in all weather.
Steadfast is based in French Pass, in the outer Marlborough Sounds, a biscuit toss from D’Urville Island. Her regular cruising ground includes the whole of Tasman Bay and the Marlborough Sounds. French Pass is about two hours by car from either Nelson, or Blenheim. The wharf in French Pass is the jumping off place for people going to D’Urville Island, a large island just off the coast which with the mainland forms the channel known as Te Aumiti, or French Pass. French Pass and D’Urville Island are both named after the early nineteenth century French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, who first sailed through the pass in his ship Astrolabe in 1827, narrowly avoiding shipwreck in the process. The pass itself is subject to extreme tidal flows, with attendant whirlpools, eddies and overfalls. Current Basin and Admiralty Bay lie on either side of the pass, and it is in these waters that we conduct our day sails.
The West coast of D’Urville island is rugged and weatherbeaten, and the East coast is more sheltered, although it is exposed to strong South-easterly winds. There are some excellent anchorages situated around the coast of the island.
Situated midway by sea between Picton and Nelson, French Pass enjoys the best of both worlds: the sheltered conditions of the Marlborough Sounds, and the more consistent winds of Tasman Bay. Unlike either Nelson or Queen Charlotte Sound, French Pass is remote and relatively empty of people. It enjoys a most beautiful northerly aspect, with a sea horizon punctuated by islands and rocks. It is a wonderful place to go sailing.
Steadfast is featured in the October 2007 issue of Woodenboat Magazine. You can view it online at: www.woodenboat-digital.com/woodenboat/20070910/?pg=83
