For 30 years Fairwind's Sailing Yacht Lease Share Program has offered Chicago sailors the best sailing value anywhere.  Fairwind pioneered the lease share concept for sailing yachts in 1978 has never been equaled in Safety, Convenience, Value, or Customer Service and Satisfaction.  With Fairwind you sail the yacht of your choice, all season long, for a fraction of what it costs to rent or own. And it's easy as 1-2-3 . 

The Dragon Fleet's newest member!  A beautiful 2008 Beneteau 40: Chidragon.  

Snapdragon and Flying Dragon - Beneteau 373s 

 Blue Dragon - Beneteau 343 

Pendragon - Beneteau 331 

Fairwind features NEW BENETEAU YACHTS, the most popular boats in the world, renowned as much for their beauty as their seaworthiness. Choose your yacht from among Fairwind's fleet of new and late-model Beneteaus.  

Whether sailing with friends and family, hosting out-of-town guests, or entertaining business associates and clients, you will be proud to bring them aboard your yacht.  Want to take a look?  Click on the following links for photo albums and virtual tours of the Beneteau 40, Beneteau 373, Beneteau 343, and Beneteau 331.

Fairwind yachts are equipped with in-mast furling mainsails and roller furling genoas that allow all sailing handling to be done from the safety of the cockpit.  Wheel steering, trusty inboard diesel engines, and a full compliment of on-board electronics make Fairwind's famed Dragon Fleet a pleasure to sail.  

You and your guests will also love the large cockpits and the spacious and luxurious below-deck galleys and cabins -- perfect for entertaining or enjoying an overnight stay.  

And, in keeping with Fairwind's unrelenting emphasis on safety, all Fairwind yachts exceed U.S. Coast Guard safety equipment requirements. 

With Fairwind you get safe, beautiful, well-equipped, and professionally maintained yachts.  No wonder Fairwind has been the choice of Chicagoland sailors for 30 years! 

The award winning Beneteau 373 and 343 are equipped with a new patented pivoting pedestal wheel affording wide open cockpit access!

A full schedule is twenty-eight sails spread out evenly from mid-May to mid-October (11 weekend sails and 17 weekday sails).  Fairwind is the only program to also offer a half schedule of fourteen sails (six weekend sails and eight weekday sails).  Full schedules include unlimited "as available" sailing. 

Weekday sails (Tuesday through Friday) are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.  To increase access for skippers on weekends, there are three sailing periods on Saturday and Sunday: 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.  With Fairwind you get prime sailing times and full value for your sailing dollar.  

Fairwind does not pack its schedules shoulder-to-shoulder or adhere to a "use or lose" mentality.  It is the only lease share program to provide its skippers the opportunity to make up sails missed due to bad weather.  This is a major plus for Fairwind skippers.  Why pay for sails you don't get to use?  Fairwind wants its skippers to get their maximum time possible on the water and, in keeping with its constant focus on safety, Fairwind does not want skippers to feel pressured to go out on days when it might be wiser to stay dockside.    

All sailing schedules are set in advance so you know exactly when you have your yacht all season long.  Prior to the beginning of each season, skippers let Fairwind know their preferred schedules and Fairwind's friendly staff works personally with each skipper to ensure he or she gets a great schedule that suits his or her individual needs.  Skippers are free to trade sailing times among themselves, and Fairwind prides itself in providing maximum flexibility in scheduling.  New in 2008, Fairwind introduces intuitive, easy-to-use online scheduling.  

Fairwind is the safest, easiest, and most cost effective way to sail in Chicago.  Instead of spending their hard earned dollars and precious hours on maintenance and up-keep, Fairwind skippers just step aboard and sail away.  And with an ASA award winning sailing school on site, you know that professional advice and assistance is always at hand. 

When you sail with Fairwind it's All Play and No Work! 

Sailing is Fairwind's full-time business, not a freelance sideline, and its customer service is unequaled.  Over 90% of Fairwind skippers are repeat customers, many having been with Fairwind for years, and the equation is simple.  Safety + Convenience + Value = The Fairwind Difference.

SAFETY  With Fairwind safety comes first. Fairwind is owned and operated by a professional USCG Master Captain and award-winning certified ASA Sailing Instructor for whom safety is the first rule of seamanship. 

Fairwind's well-protected location in the northwest corner of Burnham Park Harbor offers the safest docking in Chicago.  And its 50-foot slips with walk-on access eliminate the dangers associated with climbing on and off of tenders or dinghies and picking up wet moorings. 

All Fairwind yachts are owned by Fairwind, so you are not getting on someone else's yacht where maintenance is outsourced to others.  We personally check and maintain our yachts on a daily basis.  All Fairwind yachts exceed U.S. Coast Guard safety requirements, and Fairwind holds American Sailing Association's elite Gold Standard award for vessel safety. 

With Fairwind you never get on a neglected boat maintained only when something breaks, a questionable engine, frayed sails, or loaded down with other people's stuff.  Fairwind provides you and your guests with new, safe, and immaculately maintained yachts. Guaranteed.

And all Fairwind yachts carry $2,000,000 liability coverage for the protection of you and your guests. 

CONVENIENCE  Fairwind is located in beautiful Burnham Park Harbor at the heart of Chicago's magnificent Museum Campus.  (Click here for maps and directions to Fairwind.)

All Fairwind yachts are moored in 50-foot walk-on slips, which means no long waits and no extra expense for a tender to ferry you and your guests to and fro, and no rowing back and forth in a dinghy.  With Fairwind you are not constrained by tender schedule but instead just walk on board your yacht and sail away.  And Burnham Park Harbor is Chicago's most accessible harbor, with ample parking close by your yacht. 

VALUE  Fairwind is the best value in sailing.  Renting a boat costs at least $90/hour.  Owning costs $10-15,000 a year assuming you do all of the boat work yourself -- and this does not include boat payments.  Plus you have to handle all maintenance, storage, mooring, insurance, etc.

With Fairwind you avoid the costs and hassles of ownership or short term rentals and pay less than $20.00/hour for your own yacht.  This low cost includes Fairwind's rigorous maintenance, cleaning, fuel, pump-outs, etc.  Fairwind's policy of allowing make-up days for sails missed due to bad weather adds up to huge savings for Fairwind skippers, and its walk-on access saves its skippers additional hundreds of dollars per season that they would otherwise pay for tender service for them and their guests.  Fairwind has never charged an "initiation fee" and requires only a $1000 damage deposit that is fully refundable at any time a skipper leaves the lease share program.  With Fairwind there's no fine print and no hidden costs, just added value.  

For the best sailing value anywhere, ask about Fairwind's Summer of Sail Package -- Award winning private instruction for two people leading to ASA's Basic Keelboat Sailing and Basic Coastal Cruising Certifications, combined with a summer lease share on a beautiful Beneteau yacht.  

Fairwind's commitment to customer service has been its hallmark from the beginning.  Fairwind's staff is known for its friendly and welcoming manner and is dedicated to providing the best sailing program anywhere.  Check out what our what our customers say about the Fairwind Difference.