GO FURTHER I SAIL BETTER I BE INSPIRED DIGITAL SUPPLEMENT | SPRING | sailingtoday.co.uk Med islands Get o the beaten track in Cyprus, Malta and Mallorca SPORADES Enjoy Greece out of season LEFKAS Idyllic Ionian harbour guide MARMARIS Heart of Turkey’s beautiful south MED_Cover.indd 1 30/03/2016 15:45 CONTENTS 04 SPORADES HAVE THE NORTHERN ISLANDS ALL TO YOURSELF OUT OF SEASON 14 LEFKAS THE FINEST SHELTER IN THE IONIAN MAKES A GREAT BASE FOR EXPLORING 22 MED ISLANDS CRUISE AWAY FROM THE CROWDS IN MALLORCA, MALTA AND CYPRUS 30 MARMARIS YOUR GUIDE TO THE GATEWAY TO TURKEY’S SOUTHWESTERN COAST MED_Welcome/Contents.indd 2 30/03/2016 14:33 Welcome EDITORIAL EDITOR Sam Fortescue 020 7349 3752 [email protected] DEPUTY EDITOR Big blue Emma Bamford 020 7349 3753 [email protected] SENIOR SUB-EDITOR Henry Giles [email protected] CHARGE UP YOUR SAILING BATTERIES ART & PRODUCTION EDITOR WITH OUR SUNNY MED GUIDE Claire Wood PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Martin Nott ADVERTISING TAKE ONE PART ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER Jodie Green octopus stew, one part 020 7349 3722 [email protected] heady local tipple, two SALES EXECUTIVE parts warm wind and Charlie Whitcombe 020 7349 3742 as much turquoise [email protected] ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION water as you like - mix Allpoints Media Ltd allpointsmedia.co.uk together well and Published by: you have the essence The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd of Mediterranean cruising, as you’ll Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ see from the pages that follow. Tel: 020 7349 3700 If you fancy sheltered waters, head for MANAGING DIRECTOR Paul Dobson the Sporades, where our intrepid Deputy [email protected] DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR Editor weathered a few gusts of wind out of Steve Ross [email protected] season in May. e pay o for the odd bit COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR of woolly hat weather, as she discovered, Vicki Gavin [email protected] was a delightfully deserted coast. She had PUBLISHER Simon Temlett her choice of town quays to go alongside, [email protected] and no shortage of tavernas and restaurants BRAND MANAGER Ginny MacLean to enjoy the view, uncluttered by tourists. [email protected] Or charter in the southern Med, on islands Subscriptions and back issues +44 (0)1795 419842 better known for land-based tourism. e Sailing Today, 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, ME9 8GU harbours and anchorages on Mallorca, Tel: 01795 419842 Email: [email protected] Malta and Cyprus will have plenty of space © The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2016. to welcome you. You’ll also enjoy our two All Rights Reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without detailed Gull’s Eye guides - for the key permission in writing. Every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information in Sailing Today, but no springboards at opposite ends of the Med. responsibility can be accepted for the consequences of actions based on the advice portrayed herein. The ere’s beautiful Marmaris, in its well- Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd makes every e¢ ort to ensure that the advertising contained in this magazine is protected bay, for access to Turkey’s stunning delivered from responsible sources. We cannot, however, accept any responsibility for transactions between southwest coast. Or for the charming Ionian readers and advertisers. For the Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd full set of terms and conditions please go to waters of western Greece, there’s Le as. chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions Wherever you dream of going in the Med Also part of i the Chelsea Marine Magazines family: MAY 2016 £4.85 US$13.75 there should be something here to inspire you. CT Hl E a W O Rss L D’ S M Oi S Tc B E A UB T I F U Lo B O Aa T S t WIN £4.30 Issue #1696 April 2016 coaching with yachtsandyachting.co.uk THE BRITISH SAILING TEAM PLUS SARAH AYTON’S TIPS TO GET KIDS AFLOAT LOST TECHNIQUE EXCLUSIVE Ainslie’s pit Speed secrets lane tour FIFE8 Metre sails again Giles Scott, Luke Patience, Hannah Mills Inside mission control on boat handling, tactics and more! at Land Rover BAR Sam Fortescue, editor Cowes inferno 1902 Sibbick HANDICAP remembered Strategies PLUS Set plays for mixed fleet racing TRAVEL Holiday charters Find your dream yacht in the Med Harrison YACHTS YACHTING 70th ANNIVERSARY CHELSEA CHELSEA MARINE MARINE NNER Butler M A G A Z I N E S M A G A Z I N E S I S W The year’s best boats Austin 7 Merlin magic 0 4 The most influential dinghy class ever? How you voted of the seas 9 7 7 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 2 0 5 AwardsIN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORS CHARLIE CUMBLEY H15 ON TEST GET RACE READY FAST40+ INSIGHT YAYACCHHTSTING Multi-class champion Sailing the latest design Learn how to tune your Rob Greenhalgh talks about CHELSEA CHELSEA MARINE MARINE gives his winning insights from Hartley Boats boat like a pro this season the new inshore race class M A G A Z I N E S M A G A Z I N E S CB335 Cover_Invader Options.indd 1 22/03/2016 16:10 For more information or to subscribe, go to chelseamagazines.com THE CHELSEA MAGAZINE COMPANY LTD facebook.com/ twitter.com/ editor@ SailingToday SailingTodayMag sailingtoday.co.uk sailingtoday.co.uk MEDITERRANEAN MED_Welcome/Contents.indd 3 30/03/2016 14:33 Cruising ~ Sporades ALL QUIET ON THE GRECIAN FRONT Visit Greece out of season and you’ll avoid the crowds and have the place all to yourselves. But, as Emma Bamford discovers, there’s always a pay-off… PHOTO: ALIA SCHAEFER PHOTO: MED_Greece_Sporades.indd 4 30/03/2016 14:17 ALL QUIET ON THE GRECIAN FRONT MED_Greece_Sporades.indd 5 30/03/2016 14:17 model) Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 469 – Rodi, named after Poseidon’s daughter. With four double cabins and four heads, it’s more than enough for me and my tour guide - the base manager, Christos Liapis. It’s a boat undoubtedly suited to charterers – the cockpit is huge and fitted with subwoofer sound y Sailing Today system and up- and down-lights, colleagues are and our meagre supplies of oranges, bored to tears strawberries and a few Alfa beers with my constant look lost inside the gigantic fridge. updates on the Volos (39°20’.9N 022°56’.8E) is on Greek weather the northern edge of the Pagasitikos Mahead of my trip to the Magnesia Gulf (Kolpos in Greek), a circular region and the Sporades islands. bay about 16nM wide with a narrow “Look!” I say, gleefully, “27 3nM entrance at the south. The degrees in April! One day of cloud mainland and islands of the region but then wall-to-wall sunshine.” are mountainous and green, and the I make sure I pack plenty of sea is deep. The prevailing winds are sunscreen, T-shirts and flip-flops. from the northeast, so the eastern Thessaloniki doesn’t disappoint. edge of the gulf is protected by the It is hot when I arrive and, when mountain range. If winds come from I reach the town of Volos, from the southwest, Volos can suffer (a big where Jason started his quest blow in May 2014 saw three boats on the Argo to claim the golden sink) but in most conditions, it’s fine. fleece, people are sunbathing on “Pagasitikos Gulf is like a the narrow beach in Speedos. lake,” Christos tells me, and he’s to show me this place because Sail Smug, I tuck into an ice-cream. not wrong – we have a gentle Aegean will build a small marina Sail Aegean, a charter company beam-reach sail in flat seas along here, a base for its fleet that will which has its main base here in the eastern rim of the gulf. also welcome visitors. The plan is Volos, with 14 yachts for bareboat The first stop is Kala Nera for a small complex of apartments, or skippered charter or flotilla, (39°17’.5N 023°08’.5E), a small fishing chandlers, showers and a supermarket ranging from 33ft (10m) to 51ft harbour about 8nM clockwise around and the hope is to move boats there (15.6m), lends me a new (2014 the gulf from Volos. Christos wants for the summer 2017 season. A windy spring Pagasitikos Gulf Another seven or eight miles Aegean clockwise and we’re at Milina PAGASITIKOS GULF GREECE Sea Izmir (39°09’N 023°12’E). The wind is Athens D TURKEY o Peleponnese d picking up and we’re glad to tuck Thessaly e c a behind a narrow island. There are a Mt. Pelion Northern Spor ades n e Sea of Crete s few private moorings here and we try Volos Kira Panayia e Magnesia CRETE to grab one, but the wind is up to 30 knots plus and Rodi, with her high Pagasitik Kolpos Alonnisos (Gulf of Volpos) topsides and dinghy on deck, has a lot Skiathos PalioTrikeri Peristeri of windage. We drop anchor instead. Milina Skiathos l TOP LEFT When we up anchor after a lunch Dhiavlos Trikeri Peninsula Skopelos Emma tries raki Volpos Skopelos on Skopelos of Greek salad (of course) and peek Stenon Trikeri Skantzoura around the corner of the little island, Pigadhi l ABOVE it’s like we’ve jumped through a Skiathos to Skopelos gap in the space-time continuum. el Orei in 40 knots The sunshine has gone, the water is Orei Chann Evia l FACING PAGE Sunset in the being whipped up into a very short Pagasitikos gulf but shallow chop and the wind 6 MEDITERRANEAN sailingtoday.co.uk MED_Greece_Sporades.indd 6 30/03/2016 14:18 Sporades Tips l Definitely visit Trikeri (39°09.2’N 023D 04.5’E) if you can.