Note: The following letter was sent by Gijs van Komenade and I print it as a matter of possible interest to DCA members, although it is not, in any way, a DCA venture… Ed.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR from Gijs van Komenade

From Erik Haverkorn To whom it may concern:

Just a few lines about the project that I started organising for the summer of 1989 and for which I hope to find also some crews and boats from other countries.

The boats (owned by the participants) will be uniformly of the type Simoun 445*, a French design which has proven to be very reliable at sea, even in very rough conditions. At the same time, it is fast and racy. It also offers primitive possibilities of sleeping on board (regretfully they are not being constructed anymore, but there are plenty available in some areas like Holland and lots around the lake of Geneva in Switzerland. Prices are very modest — between 700 and 1500$ US).

Participation is free to anyone. However it is indispensable for sake of safety of yourselves and other participants to be an experienced dinghy sailor. The sailing area is reputed for very fast changes in wind conditions.

The plan consists of an itinerary in the Aegean Sea, either along the coast of Turkey (starting point in Cigacik near Izmir), jumping to a few Greek islands. Alternatively, a crossing from Turkey, (starting point Kusadasi) to the mainland of Greece (Cape Sounion) and back again. The choice of itinerary will depend on the maximum available time for the participants (six weeks for a trip along the coast of Turkey and about two months for the crossing to and from Greece). These durations include travelling by road towards the starting point.

The travelling will be like a race (The Great Aegean Dinghy Race), consisting of flexible, daily trajects, varying in length from 10 to 50 miles and they will be adapted to the weather conditions.

Basically, the itinerary will be of such nature that the boats will be in protected harbours or bays by night. Sleeping will be on board of the boats or ashore on beaches, etc.

Sponsoring will be considered, but will mainly be left to the individual.

Period chosen, but still to be confirmed: July and first half of August.

Equipment for the boats is chosen individually, however guidelines will be available in due course and reference is made to publications.

There is no subscription fee. Expenses are individually for the participants.

Every participant is responsible for his own equipment and safety.

Please note, there will be no accompanying yacht or other vessel. For practical reasons, the number of participating boats has to be limited to a number of 10.

I will be very pleased if you could drop me a few lines giving your reactions to the above to: Erik Haverkorn, 335 la Mollard, 74400 Chamonix, France (telephone 33 50 535761). The ‘race’ will certainly offer some magnificent rough sailing to the participants.

Erik Haverkorn

details of Simoun 445:-

Designer: S Gouteron Builder: Bremouid, France Length: total 4.50m hull 4.42m Beam: 1.745 m Mast height: 6.00 m Sail areas: main 7.69 m² jib 3.49 m² Weight: (original) 124 kg (my boat) 139 kg