TheKITECAT — Guest Payment & Cancellation Policy
Document INS-002 · Version 2.0 · 20 October 2026 · Applies to every trip sold by TheKITECAT Ltd, directly or through a trip collaborator or trip promoter. This policy forms part of your contract together with the Trip Agreement & Participation Terms (LEG-001) and your booking confirmation.
1. Who we are and key terms
"We", "us" and "TheKITECAT" mean TheKITECAT Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 15773913, registered office 50 North Street, Havant, Hampshire PO9 1QU, United Kingdom, email info@thekitecat.com. TheKITECAT Ltd is the organiser of your trip and your only contracting party.
"You" means the person who makes the booking (the "lead guest") and every guest included in that booking. The lead guest confirms that they are authorised to accept this policy and LEG-001 on behalf of every guest in the booking and will pass these documents to them.
"Trip price" means the total price per guest confirmed in your booking confirmation, including any cabin supplement, coaching, rental or other add-on booked with us. "Embarkation date" means the first day of your week aboard. "Booking confirmation" means the written confirmation we send you after your deposit is received. "In writing" means by email to info@thekitecat.com or through your online booking account. All amounts are in euros (EUR).
2. How our pricing works
To run a trip we commit to the yacht, the crew, berths, provisioning, licences and other suppliers many months before the season, for each week and each place on board, whether or not every place is sold. Those commitments are not refundable to us. Our payment schedule and the cancellation charges in section 6 reflect the cost of those commitments and the limited possibility of reselling a place close to departure. They are the standardised termination fees permitted by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 and, on request, we will explain how they are calculated.
3. Booking and acceptance
3.1 You book online at thekitecat.com, by email or through a trip collaborator or trip promoter. Before you pay, you must read and accept LEG-001 and this policy by ticking the dedicated boxes in the booking process (or, for an email booking, by confirming your acceptance in writing). We record the date, time, document version and the identifier of the device used for each acceptance; that record is our evidence of your acceptance.
3.2 A booking becomes a binding contract when we have received your deposit and issued your booking confirmation. If we cannot accept a booking (for example because the week is full or a condition in LEG-001 section 4 is not met), we will tell you and refund any payment made within 14 days, and no contract is formed.
3.3 Please check your booking confirmation on receipt and tell us within 7 days of any error. We do not accept responsibility for errors reported later, except where the law requires otherwise.
3.4 Our documents are written in English. Any translation is provided for convenience only; the English version is the contract.
4. Paying for your trip
4.1 Payment schedule
- Deposit at booking: €1,000 per guest, which is non-refundable except as stated in section 5 (cooling-off) and section 7 (if we change or cancel).
- Second payment, 90 days before embarkation: brings the total paid to 50 % of the trip price.
- Balance, 60 days before embarkation: the remaining 50 %.
You may pay in full at any time. Early-bird and promo-code bookings follow the same schedule, calculated on the price you actually pay. Bookings of several cabins or of the entire yacht follow the same schedule, calculated per guest.
| Payment (example: €3,500 week) | Amount | Week embarking 1 March 2027 | Week embarking 8 March 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | €1,000 | At booking | At booking |
| Second payment | €750 (50 % paid) | 1 December 2026 | 8 December 2026 |
| Balance | €1,750 | 31 December 2026 | 7 January 2027 |
4.2 Late bookings
If you book after a payment date has passed, everything due by that date is payable at booking: 50 % of the trip price when you book 90 to 61 days before embarkation, and the full trip price when you book 60 days or less before embarkation.
4.3 Late payment
We send a reminder 7 days before each due date. If a payment has not reached us 7 days after its due date, we may treat the booking as cancelled by you with effect from that day and apply the cancellation charges in section 6, after sending you a final written notice. We may also refuse boarding until all sums due have been paid.
4.4 Who you pay and how
All payments are made to TheKITECAT Ltd, by card through our secure payment provider or by bank transfer to the account shown in your booking confirmation, including for bookings made through a trip collaborator or trip promoter. Never pay a collaborator, promoter, crew member or anyone else: a payment made to anyone other than TheKITECAT Ltd is not a payment to us. Payments must reach us net of any bank, card or currency charges; those charges are yours. Beware of payment fraud: we will never change our bank details by email, so if you receive such a message, call us before paying.
4.5 Price, what is included and surcharges
The trip price covers the services listed as included on the trip page and in your booking confirmation. Unless stated otherwise, it does not include flights, transfers to and from the yacht, travel insurance, visas, meals and drinks ashore, personal expenses, gratuities, equipment you choose to rent, or local charges collected on board such as marina, mooring, national-park, customs or fuel charges for extra motoring requested by the group.
After booking we may increase the trip price only to pass on an increase in the cost of fuel or other energy, in taxes or fees imposed by third parties (such as port, park or tourist taxes), or in the exchange rate relevant to the trip, in proportion to that change. We will notify you in writing with a justification at least 20 days before embarkation. If the increase exceeds 8 % of the trip price, you may instead cancel with a full refund within 7 days of our notice. If those costs fall, you are entitled to a corresponding reduction, less our administrative expenses.
5. Changed your mind? 48-hour cooling-off
As a voluntary TheKITECAT benefit that goes beyond what the law requires, if you cancel in writing within 48 hours of paying your deposit, and your embarkation date is more than 90 days away, we will refund everything you have paid within 14 days. The cooling-off does not apply to bookings made 90 days or less before embarkation, or to a booking that has already been moved to another week.
6. If you cancel
6.1 Cancellation charges
You may cancel at any time by writing to info@thekitecat.com from the email address used for the booking. The cancellation takes effect on the day we receive your notice. The charges below apply, calculated on the trip price of each cancelled guest:
| Date we receive your notice | Cancellation charge | We refund |
|---|---|---|
| More than 90 days before embarkation | The €1,000 deposit | Anything paid above the deposit |
| 90 to 61 days before embarkation | 50 % of the trip price | Anything paid above 50 % |
| 60 days or less before embarkation, or no-show | 100 % of the trip price | Nothing |
If the amount you have paid at the date of cancellation is less than the cancellation charge, the difference is payable within 14 days of our invoice. These charges apply whatever the reason for your cancellation, including illness, injury, pregnancy, work, visa refusal, missed flights, weather forecasts, family events or a change of mind, which is why travel insurance with cancellation cover is compulsory (section 8). Where you cancel because of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the destination that significantly affect the trip, section 7.3 applies instead.
6.2 Cancelling part of a booking
If one or more guests in a booking cancel, the charges in 6.1 apply to each cancelled guest. Where a cancellation leaves a remaining guest alone in a double cabin, that guest may share with another guest of the same gender in accordance with LEG-001 section 5 or pay the solo-cabin supplement in force.
6.3 Someone takes your place
You may transfer your booking to another person who meets all the conditions of LEG-001 (age, ability, declarations, insurance) by giving us notice in writing at least 7 days before embarkation, with the replacement's full details. The replacement must accept LEG-001 and this policy before travelling. You and the replacement are jointly responsible for any balance still due and for our reasonable costs of the transfer, which we will evidence and which will not exceed €150 per guest. This is the only way to avoid cancellation charges; we may try to resell a cancelled place but we do not undertake to do so, and a resale does not change the charges in 6.1.
6.4 Moving to another week
You may move once to another week of the same season, free of charge, if you ask in writing more than 90 days before your original embarkation date and a place is available. Your payments transfer to the new week, and the new week's price and payment dates apply. A request made 90 days or less before your original embarkation date, a second move, or a move to another season, is treated as a cancellation under 6.1 followed by a new booking.
6.5 Unused services, late arrival, early departure and removal
No refund or credit is due for any part of the trip you do not use, whatever the reason: late arrival, early departure, missed flights or connections, illness or injury during the trip, choosing not to take part in an activity, days without wind, or a decision of the crew to restrict an activity for safety. If you are refused boarding or removed from the trip under LEG-001 sections 4, 6, 8 or 10, the full trip price remains due and you are responsible for your own onward travel and costs; a refund is due only where the law requires it.
6.6 Refunds and chargebacks
Refunds due under this policy are paid within 14 days to the original payment method, in euros; we are not responsible for exchange-rate differences or bank charges on your side. By accepting this policy you agree to resolve any payment dispute with us directly, as set out here, rather than through a card chargeback. Where a chargeback is raised for an amount that is properly due under this policy, we will contest it with your acceptance record and you will be liable for the amount, our provider's chargeback fee and our reasonable costs of recovery.
7. If we change or cancel your trip
7.1 Changes before departure
We may make insignificant changes to your trip before departure, such as a change of anchorage, kite spot, order of the itinerary, crew member, boarding time of a few hours, or a yacht of equivalent or higher category, and will tell you in writing. If we must make a significant change to a main characteristic of the trip (for example the dates, the destination region or a yacht of materially lower category) or cannot meet a special requirement we have accepted in writing, we will tell you without undue delay and you may, within the period we state, accept the change (with any price reduction offered), accept an alternative trip we may offer, or cancel with a full refund within 14 days. If you do not reply within that period, the change is treated as accepted.
7.2 Cancellation by us
We may cancel a trip and refund all payments received, within 14 days, if we are prevented from performing it by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances (7.3), or if the number of guests booked on that week is lower than 4 and we notify you no later than 20 days before embarkation. Our policy is to run every week we sell, and we use this right only as a last resort. In those two cases we pay no additional compensation. If we cancel for any other reason, you are entitled to a full refund within 14 days and to any compensation required by law. We are never responsible for flights, transfers, accommodation or other arrangements you book separately, so please book flexible or refundable arrangements and insure them.
7.3 Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances
"Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances" means a situation beyond the control of the party relying on it, whose consequences could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken: for example a hurricane, named storm or officially declared dangerous weather, closure of a port, airport or sea area, government travel bans, restrictions or official advice against travel to the destination, an epidemic or pandemic and related restrictions, war, terrorism or civil unrest, natural disaster, an industrial action not involving our own staff, or the loss, serious damage or official detention of the yacht for a reason beyond our control.
If such circumstances occurring at or near the destination significantly affect the trip or your journey to it, either of us may cancel before embarkation. We will refund all payments received within 14 days, and no cancellation charge and no additional compensation is due by either party. Instead of a refund you may choose, if we offer it, an alternative week or a credit note valid for 24 months and transferable to a person of your choice; that choice is yours and is never imposed.
If such circumstances arise during the trip, we will do what is reasonably possible to continue the trip, adapt the route or arrange suitable alternatives, and will provide the assistance required by law. Where we cannot perform a substantial part of the trip for that reason, we will make a proportionate price reduction for the services not provided; no additional compensation is due. Any extra night ashore made necessary by such circumstances is limited to what the law requires.
7.4 Problems during the trip
If a service included in your trip is not performed as agreed, tell the skipper immediately so we can remedy it on board. If we cannot remedy a substantial part of the trip, we will offer suitable alternative arrangements of equivalent or higher quality at no extra cost, or a price reduction. You may not refuse a suitable alternative, except for the reasons the law allows.
7.5 The yacht
Your trip is sold on a crewed sailing catamaran of the type described on the trip page or a similar one. We may replace the yacht with another of equivalent or higher category at any time, including during the trip, without this being a significant change. If the yacht becomes unavailable for a reason within our control, section 7.1 applies.
7.6 Weather, wind and itinerary
Wind, sea state and weather are never guaranteed and do not depend on us. The skipper decides the daily route, anchorages, sailing and the authorisation of each water activity, and may change or cancel any of them for safety, weather, regulations or the condition of the yacht. A change of route, a day without wind, days spent sheltering or motoring, or restrictions on kiting are a normal part of a sailing trip and never give rise to a price reduction, refund or compensation.
8. Travel insurance is compulsory
8.1 It is a condition of your booking that every guest holds, from the day of booking until the end of the trip, travel insurance covering at least: cancellation and curtailment for the full trip price and your travel costs; emergency medical treatment and hospitalisation abroad with a high limit (we suggest €10 million or more); medical evacuation and repatriation, including by sea or air from a yacht at anchor; maritime search and rescue; personal accident; personal liability; and the activities you intend to undertake (recreational sailing on a crewed yacht, kitesurfing, wing foiling, kite foiling, coaching, snorkelling and tender use). Medical evacuation and search-and-rescue are different covers; check that you have both.
8.2 Buy cancellation cover on the day you book, because the cancellation charges in section 6 apply from that day. We may ask you at any time for your insurer's name, policy number, certificate and policy wording, and we require these details before your balance is due. We do not check whether a policy is suitable for you and we give no advice on insurance; it is your responsibility to ensure that your cover matches these requirements and your own situation. Receipt of your details by us is not a confirmation that your cover is adequate.
8.3 If you do not have the required cover, or cannot evidence it when asked, we may refuse boarding or participation in an activity; in that case section 6.5 applies and no refund is due. If you travel or take part in an activity without adequate cover, you accept all resulting costs and risks yourself, and you agree to reimburse us for any cost we incur as a result (for example rescue, medical, evacuation or repatriation costs advanced for you).
9. Damage, security deposit and costs you cause
9.1 The yachts we use are owned by third parties and are subject to a security deposit and an insurance excess, which we hold or guarantee on your behalf as a group. You are responsible for any loss or damage to the yacht, its tender, outboard, equipment, water toys, rental equipment or another person's property caused by your act or omission, and for any fine, penalty, cost or claim resulting from it. You will reimburse us the reasonable cost of repair or replacement and any related costs, up to the amount actually borne by us, within 14 days of our documented request. We will not charge a guest for damage that guest did not cause, and we will not divide an unidentified loss between guests.
9.2 Your personal belongings, including your kite equipment, are carried at your own risk and are not insured by us.
10. Weeks sold through a trip collaborator or trip promoter
Some weeks are promoted or sold by a trip collaborator under its own name, or recommended by a trip promoter. In every case TheKITECAT Ltd is the organiser and your only contracting party, this policy and LEG-001 apply in full, and all payments are made to TheKITECAT Ltd. A collaborator or promoter has no authority to change these terms, to accept payments or to make promises on our behalf.
11. Your legal rights, governing law and disputes
Your trip is a package under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (United Kingdom). Nothing in this policy limits the rights that those Regulations, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or the mandatory consumer law of your country of residence give you, and this policy is to be read so as to comply with them. This policy, LEG-001 and your booking confirmation are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales, without prejudice to your right as a consumer to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence where the law gives you that right. Before any proceedings, please write to us so that we can try to resolve the matter.
By ticking the box "I have read and accept the Guest Payment & Cancellation Policy (INS-002)" at booking, or by confirming your acceptance in writing, you accept this policy for yourself and for every guest in your booking.