14

Dear UK 14ers (& some alumni),

Now that it's 2012 and we're all beginning to plan the sailing season ahead, I hope everyone is eagerly looking forward to going to race in SARDINIA in September.
The flights are still fairly cheap, and Jubby still has some space on (one of) his trailers, so this is probably a good moment to be starting to make bookings.  So here is a little bit of early info:


Where: Velamare sailing club, Capo d'Orso, Sardinia
http://www.velamare.it/ita/content/basi-velamare/saline-olbia-tempio.html
(Google earth links to club & sailing area attached)
This is a sailing school situated in a campsite, around 4kb from the town of Palau, and launching directly into the Golfo delle Saline in the Maddalena Archipelago.  This is the club which hosted the Sardinia stage of the 18ft skiff tour for several years, and it is the same sailing area used by the Maxi Yacht Sardinia cup (one week before us).

When: Friday 14 - Monday 17 September, 2012

Format: 2 TEAMS PER BOAT - several races per day.
(teams will swap in-and-out; not sailing at the same time).
This is a great chance to invite our 14er friends from abroad to come & take part in an event, where it might otherwise be impossible for them to attend.  If you have a boat & have a 'partner team' you would particularly like to pair-up with, go ahead.  I will also be contacting the 14 classes in other countries, to see how many teams would be keen to come - so let me know if you would like to find out who is looking for a ride!
Alternatively, of course, two UK-based teams can always group together to travel with 1 boat to split costs.  Or one of the several parent/child 14 families may elect to share a boat...

Entry fee: expected to be approx Eur 60 per team

Wind/weather: The wind varies between 5 to 25 kt, with many days between 10 and 20kt - seePS(3) below for winds during last 4 years.  Daytime air and water temperatures are both around 23c; weather is usually sunny (only 4 days with rain on average in Sept).

Where to stay: The Velamare club can provide accommodation for up to 40 people in 5 bunkhouses for 8 each; this would only cost an amazing Eur 10 per day!  The campsite also has cabins (with 2 or 4 beds each), which should be available to us at a discount, costing around Eur 35 per cabin per night.  The club will also run a bar after racing & in the evening, and can provide all meals for Eur25 per day - although of course Sardinia is full of fantastic places to eat & we will probably organize one or two evenings at a restaurant/osteria.  It will be possible to stay longer (before or afterwards) for those who want to combine the regatta with a holiday in Sardinia (highly recommended!).
There are also, of course, enormous numbers of more-luxurious apartments available for rent, and hotels, in Sardinia: the towns of Palau, La Conia & Cannigione are all less than 5km from the sailing club (and for more luxury still, Porto Cervo is only about a half-hour drive away).

How to get yourself there: easyjet flies daily to Olbia  from London Gatwick.  Current return price to fly out on Thurs & back on Tues is £142, but it can be even cheaper (£118) by flying out an extra day early.
(The sailing club is about 30km from Olbia airport; car hire currently costs £30 per day (through easyjet); alternatively, the trip each way by taxi would cost approx Eur 60, or there are 3 'SunLines' buses each day from Olbia airport to the Costa Smeralda [but only arriving within 2-3km from the sailing club]).

How to get your boat there: Ian Jubb (sailboatdeliveries.co.uk) can deliver up to 14 boats (2 trailer-loads of 7) to the event.  The cost per boat will be approx £600 (so: £300 per team).  So far, all the places on the first trailer are already taken, and there are at least 3 boats waiting to go on a second trailer (so 4 spaces still free...).


WHAT TO DO NOW:

- Let me know if you would like to send your boat with Jubby, to reserve a space on the trailer. As soon as there are 7 boats ready to fill the trailer, you'll need to put down a £200 deposit.

- Book flights while they are cheap!  We will to be racing from Fri 14th - Mon 17th, so a minmum trip would be from Thurs 13th - Tues 18th. However, Sardinia is a lovely place, so if you are tempted to stay for a few extra days in the cheap sailing club accommodation, let me know so we can reserve it.

- Invite a 'partner team' from AUS/CAN/FRA/GER/JPN/USA or elsewhere to share your boat!  Or let me know if you're looking for someone to share with.  Or pair-up with another team from the UK.



See you all on the water (or in Davos) soon!

Happy New Year,

Dominic
GBR 1488


PS (1) - please forward this mail to anyone I have accidentally left off my rather-randomly-assembled recipients list...

PS (2) - Katie would like to know whether anyone would be interested in sailing at Carnac 'en route', the week before Sardinia (Sat 8 Sept & Sun 9 Sept).  We would still need to figure out transport for this, if there is a lot of interest...

PS (3)  -
Wind statistics during racing for last 4 years Rolex Maxi Yacht cup:
First week of Sept; sailing area = Maddalena archipelago, Sardinia (same as proposed 14 regatta);
(taken from Y&Y reports):
2010: d1 = 10kt, d2 = 18-20kt, d3 = thunderstorm (40kt), then 20kt, d4 = 10kt, d5 = 15kt,
2009: d1 = 20-25kt, d2 = 15kt, d3 = 12-15kt, d4 = 8-12kt, d5 = 8-10kt,
2008: d1 = 12-20kt, d2 = 5-12kt, d3 = 20kt, d4 = 5-18kt, d5 = no wind,
2007: d1 = 10-20kt, d2 = mistral (40kt), d3 = 15kt, d4 = 15-18kt, d5 = 5-14kt, d6 = 6-7kt.