Eric - MERENA CLASS 40 - CHARTER ON FAST BOATS

I met Alexis in Nieuwpoort, both our home port (in fact his berth is very close to ours). A very nice guy with no airs at all. And he runs a very nice blog too.

Yes, from the movies it gave that impression and the prices, particularly for doing some races with him, look also very attractive.

Fact is that many that follow this blog charter sailboats,so let's have a look to where one can find some interesting boats to charter, I mean boats where you can cruise but also boats where you can have some fun sailing and we begin by this small company that starts to be a reference: http://www.fastsailing.gr/

The movie on the bottom is made on one of their boats. They charter Pogos and the boats are not difficult to sail for a medium experienced sailor, particularly the smaller ones (I think they are waiting the delivery of a Pogo 30) and certainly will provide a different view about cruising and  sailing fun. Sure the prices are higher (like the prices of the boats) but nobody says that performance and fun comes cheap. Their prices for the Pogo 12.50 will be similar to the prices you can find for a First 45 with about the same age (almost new). Their base is conveniently located near Athens airport.

Another interesting option regards Salona in Croatia that has a huge fleet of almost new boats for charter, directly from a company that belongs to the shipyard at very reasonable prices: http://www.salona-sailing.com/en/charter.html

If your preference goes to First sailboats, here: http://www.firstsailing.sk/en/regatta/first-sailing-week-2013 , also on Croatia and on the same marina that has the Salonas (Kastela, near Split airport) you can find them. They have a big fleet of first 35 and First 45 and none First 40, giving weight to what I have been saying about the First 40: almost a crime the way the boat is not fitted for cruising when some simple alterations would resolve that unsuitability without taking nothing to its performance.

Unfortunately it is not easy to find relatively new performance cruisers for charter since most companies prefer typical charter boats so the exceptions are always useful to register and I believe it is even more difficult in the Caribbean. Maybe Guadalupe, French Martinique, is best place to find them, given the French taste for fast boats. Here you can find some interesting ones, even if with some years, among them an Opium 39 two Cigales and a Dufour 40: http://www.caribbeansailingescape.com/