I’m no sailor but I’ll take sailing over mega-ship cruising any day

Whenever I see one of the big, multi-storey cruise ships that bear more resemblance to fun fairs and apartment buildings than ocean liners, I’m probably not alone in wondering why on earth they bother to head out to sea.

In many cases, if they stayed in port, or were built on land, no one would be much the wiser.

I understand why people love the idea of children’s activities and adult entertainment, restaurants, bars, swimming pools and spas all being under the same “roof”, so to speak, separated by only a few decks that are smoothly accessed by elevator. For people with mobility issues, it’s a blessing – a way to see the world that’s more convenient than doing it by land.

Le Ponant – it takes 12 crew members to raise the spinnaker.

But how much of the world do you see? Whenever I’ve been on a very large ship, the destinations have been less of an attraction for guests than life on board. That’s understandable – days can be jam-packed with activities that don’t require any consideration of water apart from the temperature of the swimming pool or the tonic in a G and T.

Unless you hit a big swell, cruise ships are so stable you may not even realise there are waves. Except for conventions such as safety drills, you may never see a sailor. Unless you’re breakfasting at the rear of the ship, you may never see a tugboat.

And while I hope I never again see a swell like the 10-metre seas I struck on the way to the Falkland Islands in a small cruise ship a few years ago, I have to say that the most memorable cruises I’ve taken have been on sailing ships.

I’m no sailor. I don’t get queasy, but I’m nervous. I think the ocean deserves the respect of being viewed apprehensively, its power is so great.

For the humble inexperienced sailor (and even experienced ones), the unpredictability of rapidly changing weather at sea makes every cruise, even on a big ship, a potential adventure. For those who get seasick, it’s not one to cherish.

With trepidation, I’ve set foot on a few sailing ships and yachts over the years. I’ve been lucky that the weather has always been mostly clement – I’ve had rougher rides on ferries.

There are lots of wonderful, traditional ways you can set sail, from handcrafted wooden Turkish gulets to graceful Egyptian feluccas. Among the cruise lines, there are only a handful that transport their guests, rather romantically, under sail. Windstar and Star Clippers are the main players, as well as Sea Cloud, which charters cruises on its three fully, traditionally rigged windjammers.

These take smaller numbers of guests than regular cruise liners and when under wind power are more environmentally sensitive options than burning all that the marine fuel. They can dart into coves and drop guests near beaches. In guest numbers alone, they have a lighter footprint on the destinations they visit.

The winds of change are also blowing through commercial shipping – sails like funnel-shaped rotors and even inflatable wings are innovations being taken up by the cargo industry to reduce emissions.

Windstar has three sailing vessels among its collection of small ships. The flagship, Windsurf, carries 342 passengers, making it the world’s largest sailing ship. Royal Clipper from Star Clippers has 42 sails and is the only five-masted fully rigged sailing ship in the world. If they want, guests can climb up the rigging and look out for pirates from the crow’s nest.

I’ve often seen these ships anchored off the Mediterranean coast like beautiful, exotic creatures. Apart from a few smaller yachts, the only chance I’ve had to cruise the ocean under full sail was aboard Ponant’s three-masted ship, Le Ponant, en route to Broome in Western Australia on a Kimberley cruise.

It’s a luxurious vessel, although my lower deck cabin was small with portholes, like a classic ship. The Kimberley is smooth sailing but the last leg of the cruise to Broome is out to sea.

It takes 12 crew members to raise the spinnaker, aided by impressive machinery. The crew and the guests were very much part of the same team. We spent the last day and night of our voyage under full sail, experiencing the true exhilaration of wind power.

Cruising and sailing can be quite different things. Instead of bobbing on the ocean like an enormous cork, to truly respect the sea you need to have the wind under your wings.

The writer was a guest of Ponant.