West Highland Offshore Series - Esprit de Parcour award for 2016

Having been billed as Scotland's only season long passage race event the West Highland Offshore Series saw a total of 70 boats compete across events run by five west coast sailing clubs in 2015. Building on the success of the event its back this year with a very similar list of events counting towards the series results.

With the profile of the series building there are new awards for the 2016 season. The Sonas Group owners of the luxurious Duisdale House Hotel on Skye are providing luxury hospitality prizes for the top three skippers. While its not just about the winning with Ardfern Yacht Centre showing their support for the series with a new trophy.

'Esprit de Parcour' Award - New for 2016 event.

'As long standing sponsors of the popular Oban Sailing Club Round Mull Race; one of the events included within the West Highland Offshore Series we realise the popularity of the passage race type events which are more appealing to many sailors than the round the cans type racing. When Skye Sailing Club launched the series we thought it was a great concept adding a new angle to the traditional west coast events and were keen to get involved. The new Ardfern Yacht Centre 'Esprit de Parcour' trophy is in the Corinthian Spirit and will be awarded to the boat finishing the season with the highest number of qualifying miles raced. You don't need all the hi-tech sails and fancy gear to win this lovely trophy you only have to finish the events.' explained Mark Cameron, General Manager of Ardfern Yacht Centre.

The line up of events for the West Highland Offshore Series 2016 has been expanded to include its first Outer Isles event with the inaugural running of the St Kilda Challenge being included. The line up of qualifying events in 2016 is

03 June – Glencoe Regatta Feeder (Oban - Glencoe).
10/11 June – St.Kilda Challenge (Sound of Harris -St.Kilda archepelago- Sound of Harris).
17/18 June – Midsummer in the Minch (Overnight, Portree - The Shiants - Gairloch).
TBC June – Gairloch Big Boat Race (Gairloch - islands and islets - Gairloch).
1-3 July – Round Mull Race (Oban to Oban (Mull to port)).
16 July – Kyles' Cup 1 (Kyle of Lochalsh - Portree).
17 July – Kyles' Cup 2 (Portree - Kyle of Lochalsh).
30 July – Frithard Trophy (Plockton - Inner Sound - Plockton).
6 August – Round Raasay Pursuit (Raasay).

Remember by entering any of the above events you automatically enter the series, no additional paper work required.

Eos drops anchor in Loch Craignish

'Eos' at anchor in Loch Craignish.

An unexpected visitor sailed to the head of Loch Craignish on Friday, the superyacht 'EOS' dropped anchor just off Ardfern and enjoyed a glorious summer afternoon.

Built in 2006 and at 305 feet long 'EOS' is one of the largest sailing vessels in the world only beaten (although the subject of some debate!) by the mighty 'Maltese Falcon'. Sadly we didn't get invited aboard for a look around but shed looked stunning lying at anchor in the picturesque surroundings.

Some interesting stats...........

• Length Overall - 304.86 Feet
• Beam - 42.92 Feet
• Displacement - 1500 Gross Tons
• Propulsion - 2 off 2,333HP MTU Diesel Engines
• Crew - 21 (Captains, Stewardesses, 3 engineers, 9 deck crew, 2 chefs)
• Guest Complement - 16 maximum.

'Eos'

Christine Wood, making waves in a Topper.

Christine on the water during the Topper Winter Championships
 at Weymouth

Craignish Boat Club and Clyde Cruising Club Dinghy Section member Christine Wood has been battling her way through the national rankings to make the GBR Topper National Squad and RYA Scottish Academy Sailor of the Year during the 2014 & 2015 seasons. Christine's family have had a long association with Ardfern Yacht Centre and the local area with the family yacht 'Rainbow' a familiar sight on the pontoons and in local waters. Competing in her final season with the GBR Topper National Squad we are pleased to be giving Christine some support during the 2016 season as she starts to make the transition to the larger, more competitive Laser dinghy class where her battle to climb the rankings starts again.

'The level of commitment required by the young sailors and their families to compete at this level nationally is staggering. Such enthusiasm for the sport has to be encouraged; dinghy sailors today are the next generation of cruising sailors and we have to keep an eye on the future. We are proud to be supporting a young Scottish sailor who shows such commitment and passion' commented Joanna Ashton, Director of Ardfern Yacht Centre.

During the 2016 season Christine will be competing in both Topper and Laser events and we wish her the best of luck. To stay up to date with her results at the various events follow her dedicated Facebook Page.

Christine Wood - GBR Topper National Squad

Moonbeam of Argyll heads stateside (again)

Moonbeam in the waters off Bequia in 2012

When David and Lynn Wilkie decided it was time for 'Moonbeam of Argyll' to find a new owner we were delighted they decided to use our in house brokerage service. Designed to 'cruise oceans, win races and be cruised by two people' the custom built McCurdy & Rhodes design had proven more than capable of all three during the 27,000 miles she sailed with the Wilkie's at the helm.

Lying in the UK when bought by David and Lynn in 2000 'Moonbeam of Argyll' became a regular sight on the West Coast of Scotland after being brought home to Ardfern. Following several years of preparation and the couples retirement she headed of for warmer waters and a 3 year Atlantic circuit in the summer of 2010. Having made the Atlantic crossing at the end of 2010 and spending two years exploring the Caribbean islands and Eastern  seaboard of America 'Moonbeam of Argyll' once again crossed the Atlantic back to the UK in 2013; this time piggy back on a ship. Since returning to Argyll she underwent a mini re-fit through the winters of 2013 and 14 before heading off to circumnavigate Ireland during the changeable summer of 2015.

'Moonbeam of Argyll' Sales Particulars

Presented in excellent condition and with a full inventory optimised for short handed extended offshore passage making it was obvious she would attract a lot of interest from buyers looking to head off on their own blue water adventure no matter where they were based. We worked closely with David to compile a set of sales particulars as detailed as possible to ensure all potential buyers would engage with our suite of internet adverts; taking a virtual viewing of the boat in their own homes. After just 5 weeks on the market and a good level of interest from the off a seriously interested buyer came forward. Based in Massachusetts USA (and also called David!) the process was never going to be quick, over a 3 month period we worked with both vendors and purchaser to get the boat surveyed by a US based surveyor before getting all papers in place for her export back to the states.

We followed her progress South with the wonders of AIS

With the sale completed and her new owner at the helm 'Moonbeam of Argyll' slipped her lines early on the morning of April 15th and left Ardfern bound for Southampton and her 7th Transatlantic crossing and the 3rd of those to be piggy back on a ship.

Moonbeam of Argyll leaves Plymouth - Photo by Sian Coughlin

Enjoying a fine spell of weather the crew made quick passage South through the Irish Sea stopping only in Plymouth for a quick re-fuel and supplies arriving in Southampton after just 4 days. Through the technology of the social age we didn't only follow her on the AIS tracker but also received live progress updates from users on Twitter.

Moonbeam safely secured as deck cargo ready to head stateside

Now loaded onto a ship and heading West to the United States we look forward to hearing from the new owner when she is safely docked in her new home.

 

Inaugural Sail Scotland Conference part of Scottish Tourism Week 2016

Sail Scotland and tourism leaders highlighted the huge potential of marine tourism on Tuesday 15^th of March as tourism businesses from across Scotland gathered at The Chartroom Restaurant at Kip Marina for the first ever Sail Scotland Conference.

Delegates gather for the first Sail Scotland Conference.

Part of the Scottish Tourism Week (STW 2016) Programme and proudly sponsored by The Chartroom, Caledonian MacBrayne and Inverclyde Council, the inaugural Sail Scotland Conference focused on sharing best practice and encouraging strategic collaboration within sailing and marine tourism.

Opening the event Inverclyde’s Provost, Robert Moran, welcomed delegates to the Clyde on a glorious spring morning. Stuart McMillan MSP who convenes the Cross Party Group on Recreational Boating and Marine Tourism talked about the collaborative approach from government and industry in developing an agreed strategy, and congratulated Sail Scotland on bringing the industry together and picking up the Sailing Today Award as “World’s Best Sailing Destination” in 2015.

Sail Scotland Chief Executive outlined some of the strategic work Sail Scotland has led over the past two years achieve this accolade, including collaborative marketing campaigns involving Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Scottish Development International and VisitScotland, targeting key domestic and international markets. Targeted work spanning UK, German, and Scandinavian markets and brand partnership with Talisker and Musto contributed to a campaign which generated over £1.3 million additional economic impact for the Scottish economy.

Adding to the strategic nature of the event, Scottish Tourism Alliance Chief Executive Marc Crothall delivered a presentation on the national strategy review, highlighting how sailing and marine tourism has a key role to play in helping Scottish tourism to reach achieve the aspirational growth target of £5.5 billion, and inspiring delegates to achieve the Tourism 2020 vision, that ‘Scotland will be a destination of first choice for a high quality, value for money and memorable customer experience, delivered by skilled and passionate people.”

Round Mull Race 2016 - Open for entries

Oban Sailing Clubs popular Round Mull Race is now accepting entries for the 2016 race. This long established event is one of the highlights of the sailing calendar on the west coast with the perfect mix of great sailing, stunning scenery and a fantastic social program. The 2016 event runs over the weekend of July 1st-3rd, visit the Oban Sailing Club website or down load the Race Instructions for more details.

The event also now counts towards Skye Sailing Clubs newly established West Highland Offshore Series which we are please to be supporting in its second year, watch this space for more details! 

Seasonal Staff Required

We are currently looking for full time seasonal staff to work in the Chandlery and Marina office here at Ardfern. Both positions are on a full time fixed term basis for this summer. Find out more or call to request an application form.