How do you unique challenges measure sailing experience? For most of us it will be harbours visited and miles logged. But there’s more to it than just numbers; certain stretches of water pose unique challenges and their reputations hold a strange power in the minds of all who set sail.

Completing one of these passages is an initiation, a rite of passage, that engenders the respect of others and a new selfconfidence. With a nod to the 1980s YM book, Classic Passages, the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation and Imray have collated some of the milestone passages through and around British waters that should be on every cruising sailor’s to-do list. So how many have you done?

This article is from the series Rites of Passage, commissioned by Yachting Monthly, the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage.