Notice to OPO Mariners, February 1, 2008
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Hank Schmitt, P.O. Box 2032, Halesite, NY 11743
631-423-4988, 1-800-4PASSAGe, Fax 631-423-9009
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Editorial
I now know what it feels like to not go sailing for two months. Lat year at this time I was with two OPO members sailing from South Africa to Grenada which was written up in the January Issue of Sail Magazine. Recently I have not been sailing since the November NARC Rally since the next delivery in December was cancelled because the owner was diagnosed with cancer. I spent December collecting brownie points from the wife towards future passages and in January our last daughter got married. This will change next week as I fly back to Avocation for five weeks starting with the Scandinavian Regatta in the BVI and ending with the Heineken Regatta. Over the 5 weeks 23 OPO members will be joining us for a week cruising in the BVI or for the Heineken Regatta. The two charter weeks we are doing were offered last fall for the very low price of $100 a day plus sharing expenses and filled up quickly. We are going to extend the philosophy of very low rates to join us aboard Avocation when we are in the Med this summer and fall. I am including the preliminary dates now so people can start thinking about options. Next month with the March 1st Notice we will see who wants to join us and sign folks up by taking deposits.
As you may recall we are full for our Trans-at from NY to Gibraltar departing June 15th and arriving in Gibraltar July 15th. From July 15th to August 1st we will be sailing from Gibraltar to Sardinia. I would like to visit Valencia and the Balearic Islands during the two weeks. So option # 1 is to join us for two weeks.
After the Swan Worlds September 15th we are planning a special couple of months with lot of opportunities for members to join us since it looks like we will have two Swans (Avocation and the Swan 46 Aphrodite) cruising in company starting in Sardinia and ending in the Canary Islands by November 15th. On the itinerary will be Corsica, maybe Malta, Africa, Balearic Islands again, Gibraltar, and Madera on the way to the Canary Islands. Gareth Hughes will most likely be the other skipper and it will be fun to have two boats with OPO members cruising the Med together. The cost will be only $125 per day, plus sharing expenses. There will be a discount for folks joining us for more than two weeks. If you think you will be interested, you can e-mail us and I will start a list, but no deposits are due at this time. It should be a great time and a rare experience to cruise the Med in US Dollars.
But before I fly down to the boat I will be attending the Annual YBAA (Yacht Brokers Association of America) Conference in Baltimore MD this Sunday and Monday. I have only missed one conference in the past 7 years when it conflicted with the Chicago Boat Show. We buy a "Vendors Fair Table" and offer our crew network services to over 150 Yacht Brokers. Brokers are a great source of opportunities as they move boat from Show to Show, move trade-in and new boats for owners, and recommend our services to new boat owners that may need crew.
Another recent success, which has been in the planning stages for a long time, is our closer relationship with the American Swan Owners group. I am on the board now and you can read more about this at the www.swanowners.com web site. (Click on "learn more about membership to get to OPO Services.) There is a short bio about the four board members and mention of our OPO services and the creation of a New Swan Division in the NARC Rally. Both the YBAA Conference and Swan Board appointment are examples of how we work for you. We look forward to finding and creating more opportunities for our members.
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Winter & Trans-Atlantic Swan Opportunities
One berth left - Avocation is full for our passage to Europe in June. However we have one other Swan sailing from St. Maarten to Europe departing April 23rd. The Swan 46 Aphrodite, with Gareth Hughes as skipper, is sailing to Palma via the Azores and plans to be there by June 1st. Gareth is a very capable skipper who has done many passages for us in the past including this boat so he knows it well. The price is $3000 which included everything except your airfare to and from the boat. We already have 3 crew and are looking for one more crew to make the entire trip. If you do not have that much time and only want to make the first leg to the Azores, we are offering one person to make this leg for $1500 so there will be 6 crew for leg one and 5 crew for the entire trip. If you are interested you can contact either me or Gareth to ask more questions.
Race Regattas - We campaign our Swan 48 Avocation in the 3 big Caribbean Regattas each year. We are full for the Heineken Regatta in early March. We have a British film crew coming out one day of practice to document what we do. We also have a Canadian publication (Canadian Yachting) coming one day to race for an article they are writing. We have four condos rented for the crew to stay ashore right across from the Marina.
The other very popular Regatta is Antigua Sailing Week which caps off the season in early May. For that regatta we have a 6 cabin catamaran as support boat since the races finishes in different bays two of the five race days. We only have one crew berth left for Antigua Sailing Week so if you are interested you can contact us to join us for this last regatta of the season. The cost is $2200 which includes everything except airfare and food & drinks.
In-between these two better known events are the BVI Festival and Regatta which runs from 31st of March to April 7th. Since it is less know it has always been a bit harder to crew up. It is still cold up north so if you are looking for a good way to start your sailing season and want to join us the laws of supply and demand are working in your favor. For both the handful of members that have signed up and for anyone else that wants to join us we are cutting the price to only $1600 for the full week. If you have the time and want to sail over with us aboard Avocation or our support Catamaran, and then sail back after the regatta to St. Martin, you can for no additional charge. Fly into St. Marten March 28th and back April 8th for 11 days of sailing for $1600. (Or if you do not have time fly into Tortola March 31st and fly home April 7th.) The week is two events back to back. The BVI Festival has us sailing from Nanny Cay to the Bitter End Resort in a fun practice race. We then spend a full day at the Bitter End Resort (sailing small boats) and then have a fun race back to Nanny Cay Tortola on Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we race in the BVI Regatta. The price includes accommodations. If you are interested simply call or e-mail and let us know. (Actually best to e-mail as I will be away most of this month). Jet Blue started direct flights to St. Maarten which are still pretty cheap, so do think about joining us and getting to know us better which will help for future passage opportunities since we will know you to recommend you in the future.
Avocation is a very competitive boat and we do more than sail around the buoys. We have had podium finish and a couple of near misses over the years. You do not have to be an experienced racer to join us since we have a couple of days to practice and all you need to do is learn one positions. We are there for the fun and the experience and we do not yell. Racing is a great way to learn and practice sail trim and to get used to being close to other boats.
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Swan Worlds Sardinia Italy
A brief history about Porto Cervo where the event is held and the family which was instrumental in glamorizing the area by spending 2 billion dollars modernizing the town back when 2 billion was worth something.
The Aga Chan: A religious and political title of the leader of
Ismaelians, a sect of Mohhamedans, who are scattered in different
countries such as Egypt, India, Iran etc is the family behind the story. According to tradition, on his birthday, they'd weigh him in gold and precious stones. The last Aga Chan had become very famous in the West in the '50's because he led an extravagant social life in Monaco, France and elsewhere. He married a star of France, famous Begum, the name assumed by every wife of an Aga Chan. His mausoleum (grave site) is in Egypt, in serene Aswan at the Nile.
His son and rightful successor was the famous Ali Chan who also led a lavish social life surrounded by women, sports cars and extravagant spending. He later married Rita Hayworth with whom he had a daughter named Jasmine. Due to the fact that he was considered a playboy, he did not succeed his father when the latter passed away. Instead the title of Aga Chan assumed another son, Karim Aga Chan. He is the one who created Costa Smeralda (emerald coast) in Sardinia, named after its green-hued sea water. Costa Smeralda became a summer tourist resort for the rich and noble.
We invite you to join us for this once in our lifetime opportunity to sail the Costa Smeralda. Every two years the Swan Worlds are held in Sardinia Italy on the Northeast Coast in the town of Porto Cervo. Famous for big wind and no waves, this one week regatta sees more than 100 Swans in 4 divisions. I was the starting skipper aboard a Swan 56 in 2002. There is no cruising class and Avocation plans to be very competitive with some new sails and a light boat. We have been racing for the past 3 years (this will be our 4th) in the Caribbean. Many members have sailed with us over the years and several have been asking about this pinnacle event. We have finally signed the dotted line on accommodations in Sardinia for the event. We have a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom villa right near town. We will also have a van and a car, so you do not have to worry about anything except booking a ticket to come join us. The event begins the weekend of 6th and 7th, but crew will want to arrive before then so we can practice and get the boat ready. Plan to arrive as early as Monday September 1st and stay until Monday September 15th. That is when we give up the villa. I have already booked my wife's ticket to join us. Call Shane, our travel agent at 602-870-0294, to inquire and go ahead and book your flight. After September 15th, up to five crew are welcome to join me as we continue to cruise the Med most likely going to Corsica next. The above editorial covers some of our options.
The cost for the Regatta is the same as for the Heineken Regatta and Antigua Sailing week $2200, plus $1000 to $1500 for sleeping accommodations (one or two weeks). (The villa is very expensive!!). You can bring a spouse for the additional housing allowance only. Some crew will stay on the boat, some may end up on an air mattress, but everyone will have a great time and be privileged to compete in one of the greatest sailing events in one of the greatest venues in the World. We are not asking for a deposit since the event is still eight months away. If you book your flight we know you will be joining us.
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