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minorca, wildwind or sunsail?

Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: General
Forum Name: Sailing Holidays
Forum Discription: Where you go and what you enjoy!
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2705
Printed Date: 28 Mar 24 at 5:58pm
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Topic: minorca, wildwind or sunsail?
Posted By: mike ellis
Subject: minorca, wildwind or sunsail?
Date Posted: 21 Feb 07 at 6:53pm
some time this summer my parents have decided to go on a normal holiday (i.e. doing something instead of going on the cruiser for 2 weeks and not being able to have a shower for five days). destinations curently in contention are vassiliki (wildwind) minorca (minorca sailing) and anywhere where theres a sunsail resort. which one do you all think is best for someone who wants to play in fast boats for a week and still be able to keep my dearest mother busy.

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600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318



Replies:
Posted By: Harry44981!
Date Posted: 21 Feb 07 at 7:48pm
Minorca would gbe best fro you, but poor for your mum....


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Posted By: Rob.e
Date Posted: 21 Feb 07 at 8:26pm

Vass is really scruffy as a town though it looks good for sailing- I went there on a flotilla, and I was happy to be there for a night, and happy to leave. I really envied the guys with the high tech kit though, so it looks good for dinghy sailors- it was very windy! Had a great hol in about '01 at Menorca (to decide if I wanted to take up sailing again), and a very nice hol there with the family in the 60's (not sailing) aged about 8!

It rather depends what the non sailors want. From Vass you can get a taxi to Nidri for example, and there are loads of other places to visit. We sailed Nidri to Sivota (next port round from Vass) on our first night of Flotilla, and took a friend off the beach holiday to help us, and Neilson organised a Taxi home for her (after a good evening), which made us realise how near everything was, so there are a lot of nice places in range for the adventurous.



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Posted By: KnightMare
Date Posted: 21 Feb 07 at 9:02pm

Minorca's Great but not that good for the non sailor.
Though the beginners there is good.

I dont realy know about anyothers.



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http://theramblingsofmyinnergeek.blogspot.com/


Posted By: Stefan Lloyd
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 6:27am
Sunsail at Bodrum? You are a little way outside the town but once there it is lively with plenty of shopping etc. - if that is what your mother would be into. There is dinghy sailing but I can't comment on how good it is.


Posted By: radixon
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 10:53am
Depends what the Non Sailor wants to do, whether they are happy lapping up the sun or want somehting more interesting to do. I went to Fini with Neilson (as a solo traveller) and had a great time. There were the sunbed viewers there from 10 in the morning till 4 in the afto and they had a great view of the bay without having to move. Limited nightlife but the Neilson crew did their best also.

Depends where you fancy, what you all want to do etc etc.


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Posted By: WildWood
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 11:53am
I would recommend Vassiliki.  I went for two weeks a couple of years ago and it is very good and defo has something for everyone.  There is a variety of conditions from gentle winds in the morning to nuclear blasting in the afternoon.  Windwind looked like they had a good selection of kit, althouh I was windsurfing with Club Vass.  Nightlife is pretty lively and there are plenty of young people about.  I wouldn't agree with Rob.e's comments about Vass being scruffy - it does have a definite 'surf' feel to it and isn't ideal at all for flotila's, but for a shore based holiday it is great.  Lefkas island has plenty to see and do if you're not sailing as well.  We hired a car in Vass and spent a couple of days exploring.

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Posted By: Medway Maniac
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 12:06pm

Having been to Minorca 10 times to get my dinghy fix while living in Germany, I guess I must like it. I think it was the standard and availability of boats that attracted me, though now it's all SMOD asymmetrics the variety is somewhat reduced. It is expensive, but maybe you need to pay for all the new kit.

I quizzed other people there reguarly to ask if they could recommend another place for me to try for a change, and almost without exception they pointed to reduced variety of boats and the need to book them at other places. That said, I haven't been recently, and the brochures of other companies indicate they may have raised their game.

As for your mother, she apparently does sail a cruiser? A family of friends of mine went to Minorca; they were all mad keen, except for the mother who was a long-suffering Wayfarer crew. They came back even keener, but none more so than the mother, who had really discovered sailing for herself in the Topper/Laser 4.7 class!

One last tip, try to go outside school hols - September seems to be best, also for the wind.

 



Posted By: sailwithrob
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 12:19pm
Surely anything but Sunsail!!!

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Freedom to sail and sail to be free.


Posted By: English Dave
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 1:04pm

I don't think Vass is that scruffy. Typically Greek would be my take! It certainly has the most reliable high wind of all resorts. But it is a bit limited for the non-sailor (beach is rubbish and there are only 5 shops). Lefkas town is OK and Sivota is just beautiful but you need transport.

Porto Heli? Just about the worst airport transfer from Athens you could imagine (four hours from memory) but the sailing is good, the town is not bad and the Hotel has a pool. You can go visit Spetses or Hydra (islands). Neilson staff are excellent.

Lake Garda? Sailing is best at the north end but I don't know what, if any sailing companies operate from there.

Mark Warner are good for the non-sailor but their boats tend to be general purpose rather than high-performance.

But if you want high-performance sailing with plenty to do for those who don't then come to Ballyholme this August for the Hurricane5.9 European Championships. Bangor was originally a Viking settlement and even to this day some people here still prefer Danish bacon. And most Bangor households have a hammer. Coincidence? Anyway that's the cultural part. Global warming may be a bad thing but summers in Northern Ireland are now quite good. Sometimes very good. And the sailing speaks for itself. You won't need foreign money nor, technically, a phrasebook. Just a Hurricane.



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English Dave
http://www.ballyholme.com - Ballyholme Yacht Club

(You'd think I'd be better at it by now)

Hurricane 5.9 SX
RS700


Posted By: Rob.e
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 2:55pm

I'm amazed you guys don't think Vass is scruffy, it was a cross between a building site and a rubbish dump when I was there! Mind you, I was comparing it to some really beautiful places Sivota, Fiskado and the like, but Sivota is only the next Port round the coast, so you can't say it's an unfair comparison!

Great wind though....

Re Minorca, it was the quality and variety of the kit that appealed to me, but I think the island is worth looking at if you hire a car and keep away from the main tourist traps.

Lefkas is certainly worth exploring: personally I loved the whole area, though you do need a car.



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Posted By: mike ellis
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 6:21pm
thanks for suggesting garda, ill mention that. just to clarify, my mum is defineatly not a non sailor, she has sailed all he life but most of it has been on contessas. everyone likes to go dinghy sailing but my sister and mum may not be too keen on the really quick boats.

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600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318


Posted By: NickA
Date Posted: 22 Feb 07 at 6:51pm

Personally I like Vass.  It is a tad scruffy, and true it ain't Fiskardo. but it's pleasantly laid back too.   But more a windsurfing than dinghy place really (no wind in the mornings, howling gales late afternoon).  Nice in a cat with a hefty mate on the wire probably

Sunsail have the advantage (at some resorts) of day yachts - so your mum could sail off down the coast for lunch.

Also, Neilson.   Finnikounda is quiet and pretty, though nothing to do but sail, surf and sunbathe (oh, or mountain bike).  Last time we went, Neilson had gone a bit "corporate" - lots of jolly briefings by uniformed staff and neilson logos everywhere, but the staff were nice.  Neilson at Porto Heli has more (and higher performance) boats - but I've not been, so can't comment.



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Javelin 558
Contender 2574


Posted By: mike ellis
Date Posted: 23 Feb 07 at 5:42pm
thanks for all the responses, at the moment (well last time i heard) we are planning on going to minorca i think. its the range of boats they've got there, vass looks good for wind but it doesnt have as much for the parents to do. sunsail doesnt look like there will be enough to keep me busy, and they take you off the water at lunch. my mum will probably change her mind at least 10 time this weekend though.

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600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318


Posted By: mike ellis
Date Posted: 02 Mar 07 at 5:37pm

update now, i think they have booked the holiday in minorca in the last week they're open. does anyone know what the weather is like there in october?



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600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318


Posted By: Medway Maniac
Date Posted: 02 Mar 07 at 8:29pm

Went once in October: it was a bit cooler and the winds were pretty strong (sounds good but after a week or so of it.... You won't sneer at the 4.7 Laser rig after that).

That said, it's got to be a lot better than UK in Oct, and maybe it was unusually windy that time.

Also, I think I had the problem that I thought, 'Ah Minorca, T-shirt and shorts' and got cold. Had I worn one of the supplied wetsuits I'd have been fine.

 



Posted By: mike ellis
Date Posted: 03 Mar 07 at 4:05pm
thanks for that MM

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600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318


Posted By: Helz
Date Posted: 13 Mar 07 at 8:37pm

Go to neither.

Fly to Tenereife, get the Fred Olsen Express ferry out of Los Christianos to San Sebastian de La Gomera. Some of the best sailing in the world with Canarie sail!!!



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luv Helz


Posted By: KnightMare
Date Posted: 13 Mar 07 at 8:49pm

La Gomera is nice but no minorca

lol well I was there 05 (minorca that is) at that time of year and it was pretty much shorts and Tshirt weather - right up till 2nd week in nov. With the exception of a masive storm that came thru and washed half the beach away. Though i did end up wearning my wetsuit when learning to trap on the 800 (shock horror) and my oily jacket when i was on rescue but hey im allowed then.



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http://theramblingsofmyinnergeek.blogspot.com/


Posted By: Helz
Date Posted: 13 Mar 07 at 8:51pm
I hated sailing in minorca, it was a little bit cold in Feb but in La Gomera it is great compeating  with the atlantic swells and constantly blowing wind.....My idea of heaven.

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luv Helz


Posted By: Hobbo
Date Posted: 13 Mar 07 at 9:44pm
I'm working there in October...

See you there Mike


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Contender GBR 362
Osprey 1318 - IVplay
SSC


Posted By: mike ellis
Date Posted: 14 Mar 07 at 7:11pm
cool, ill be the idiot swimming around an 800 with a fat old guy whos my dad.

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600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it.
Also International 14, 1318



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