We announced, a week ago, that next HPYF destination will be Sicily, sailing the Aeolian islands! Within a day, we had 10 boats booked. No wonder, we’ve had fantastic sailing week with HPYF and everyone is coming back again next year. We have decided to cap the numbers to 12, so for any of you who would like to join us in Sicily next year, please take a look at the selection on the HPYF website:

http://highpointyachtfest.eu/page.asp?id=216

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best, Sasha

29th September 2011:

Our sailing event, HPYF 2011, was once more a huge success! We repeated Sardina & Corsica again, this time with 9 boats. We sailed from Portisco, via Bonifacio, Budelli anchorage, La Maddalena town, La Tavolara, back to Portisco. A fantastic combination of beautiful towns and lovely anchorages.
We experienced 60 knts of wind while moored in Bonifacio, on our first night out! It was exciting. but a what a place for hiding. For the rest of the week we raced between the islands, we swam in the afternoons and we had the most fantastic gourmet dinner on Thursday night. 9 crews made a fantastic effort and prepared some of the most delicious meals for that evening. We all shared it, spread over two boats and Captain John’s team (US) won the ‘best dinner’ prize.
We had four races and the Dutch have won again! Quite convincingly so… Congratulations to Carolyn and her team for a fantastic performance!

October 2010:

A RETURN TO SARDINIA & CORSICA IN 2011

We sailed from/to Portisco in September 2010 with HPYF. In 2011 we will plan a route with similar distances and it will
certainly include an overnight stop in Bonifacio and one or more in the La Maddalena archipalego. One or two nights in anchorages will be
arranged subject to weather conditions. There is so much to explore in this area and never enough time…!
The usual format of mixing the sailing races with swimming, socialising, cooking and partying will be retained.

We had such a great week exploring this wonderful area in 2010, that we decided to return in 2011 and plan a different route to pick up the best of the places we didn’t have time to visit in 2010. We will start and finish in Portisco and include Bonifacio and new areas of La Maddalena in the itinerary.

Booking is on a first-come-first-served basis so please contact us with your preferences as soon as you can. As the fleet is fairly small, we have decided not to book any meals ahead (apart from Welcome and Prize giving evenings) but will have a list of suggestions readyin advance with the itinerary. The Welcome party will be organized by the 2010 winners, the

Dutch team led by our first ever Comodoress, Carolyn. If the party is organized in the marina, independently, we may require some funds per person in advance. The Prize giving will be booked in one of the restaurants. For those of you that are skippers without crews or crews without skippers please contact us and we will do our best to help with forming a crew for you. I look forward to hearing from you soon and to sailing Sardinia and Corsica together next September!
All the best, Sasha, John, Mandy and Dave

Walking dinner at Lavezzi, September 2010:

The 18th Engineering Challenge Cup (ECC) will be held between Orhanye and Marmaris, 7th – 14th May 2011. There will be 62 boats competing and a support fleet of three boats (two catamarans and a RIB). We have teamed up with Sunsail and Moorings to provide as equal fleet as possible and even better support in Turkey. We will also, for the firts time in the ECC history, visit two countries in the same week – Turkey and Greece (island Symi).

10/10/10 – 17/10/10 - We spent a week in Turkey on the recce trip for ECC 2011. We sailed from Orhanye to Marmaris, visiting Daca, Bozborun, Symi, Bozukkale, Ciftlik and Marmaris. The trips was a great success and we are confident that the ECC 2011 will be a fantastic event – Photos from the ECC 2011 recce trip.

November 2010 – We have started the booking procedure, allocation of 58 boats to the skippers and their crews – Boat Selection.

In the next few months we worked on organizing the events for each evening. Please see some more information about the route: ECC 2011 route

Orhaniye (Welcome Party at hte Mistral Restaurant) – Bozborun (dinner and a band organized on the open area by the local community) – Symi for two nights (AVEVA nights organized in cooperation with the Mayor of Symi, location: town square) – Bozukkale (anchorage) – Ciftlik (Scottish and Dutch night) – Marmaris (Prize Giving Party)

April 2011 – ECC 2011 LOGBOOK has been published – LOGBOOK

2nd May – 6th May 2011 – The team is already in Turkey doing last minute preparations and enjoying some peace and quiet in beautiful Orhaniye before 360 participants start arriving on the 6th May.

7th May – 14th May 2011 – It has been one of the best ECC events! The organization was smooth, the boats were great, the team work was inspiring and the itinerary offered so much to the participants. From calming Orhaniye, to Symi, charming and beautiful Greek island, Bozukkale anchorage (with no road access), Ciftlik anchorage for the Dutch and Scotish night (Fritz showed us first set of his fantastic photos), with the finish in lively Marmaris with a fantastic Prize giving party at the Backstreet club!

Sasha King of Adriatic Holidays said: ‘…  Congratulations to the new Commodore Kay Heinrichs and his team for a great victory! Wonderful performance and a great spirit! I hope the year of organization is fun and great success for you guys. I thoroughly enjoyed yet another ECC event in Turkey and was so pleased to see all the familiar faces again and meet the new participants too… I would like to thank all the participants for their cooperation throughout the year, their ongoing support, particularly during the ECC week. It was very rewarding for us organizers…. I would like to thank David Boocock and his team for a great cooperation with Adriatic Holidays team throughout the year. It was crucial in creating another successful ECC event.
My special thanks go to the support team without whom this event wouldn’t have been such  great success:
-         Alen Kustic, our Race Officer – Having Alen on board made the racing very exciting, and very well organized. It was a great pleasure to work with a friend, professional and Croatian too!
-         Mustafa Gencaslan, our Referee, whose fantastic knowledge of the area and a great spirit were invaluable.
-         Bulent of Blues Yachting in Gocek who played the most important role in getting the licence for the Marmaris Race on the last day. Bulent also made sure that all the props and administration equipment for running the ECC week were provided.
-         Fritz for another set of fantastic photographs.
-         Sunsail guys who were a great technical and logistical support throughout the week.
-         But above all, I would like to thank Inci of Sailvation who inputted an extraordinary amount of energy and time throughout the year to make this event a great success. Fantastic spirit and great devotion.
I do hope to see you all again soon and I wish you a very successful year ahead…’

Jan Bonset, The Firm, Boat 3
Sasha, We did not get to say goodbye in Marmaris. I wish to thank you for an excellently organized ECC. Hope to meet you before the next ECC. Take care, Jan Bonset

ECC Admiral, John Hall Hall, Boat 5
Guys and guyesses,
What a fantastic week.  Thanks so much for all your hard work to make it all happen so enjoyably and we certainly enjoyed it all to the full on Boat 5.  The boat was great and, but for a few unforgivable skipper errors, we should have won the Commodore’s Cup.  Alen did a great job of choosing perfect courses with lots of up-wind stuff.  Every evening was so different and always something going on to enjoy.  Not sure which of you gods was in charge of the weather, but whoever it was did a good job there too.  Prize-giving was a great venue even though the music was not my first choice!  The buffet was the best ECC one yet, I think.
Look forward to seeing you all again soon, and a special thanks to Mustafa for an afternoon on his new racing rocket machine!!
Love to all,
John

Gerold Weitzel, Boat 10
Dear Sasha,
Thanks for excellent organisation last week at the ECC. Have here 2 pix from you, particularly the one from the Hawaii party looks pretty cool.
Hope, you like them. Until next time, Gerold Weitzel

Dave Miller, Boat 73
Sasha,
Thanks for everything, we (all of boat 73) thought the event was fantastic, one of the best we have been to.  I’m sure everything didn’t run smoothly for you, but from a participants point of view none of that was visible, a sure sign of great organisation and a fantastic supporting team.
In particular I thought the exit entry procedure between Turkey and Greece was managed very well and didn’t interfere with the sailing one bit, although I’m sure you and Inci had some very long and tiring days….
Thanks again.
Dave & Crew
Boat 73

ECC 2011 Winners! Kay Heinrichs and team, Boat 39!

During the week we sailed about 20 miles each day, holding one or more friendly races on passage. We enjoyed the fantastic area of Sardinia and Corsica, we shared our racing experiences and improved our techniques. Although we were a small fleet of four boats and 23 sailors, there were 13 nationalities in the group! We have done some fantastic networking and are all looking forward to seeing eachother next year and welcoming more people on board. We shall announce the 2011 destination shortly.

Please see our 2010 logbook produced by John and Mandy – HPYF 2010 Logbook

You can also see some of the photos taken during the HPYF 2010 week – Photo gallery

HPYF 2009 will be held in Trogir, Croatia, 3rd – 10th October 2009. The route, Trogir – Trogir, will cover most of the Central Dalmatian islands and will offer a great combination of beautiufl anchorages and lovely little towns rich in history. For more information on the regatta, entry procedure and itinerary, please log on www.highpointyachtfest.eu  

The Annual High Point YachtFests are multinational fun sporting regattas to be held in October around the Mediterranean, involving non-aggressive, non-professional sailing with the focus on the social side.

They are for people who like sailing and want to meet others from a common professional background. HPYFs take place around the Mediterranean, allowing participants to enjoy the history, culture and stunning natural environment of the region.  Participants in the regatta are drawn from different professions and the regatta itself is competitively priced to allow anyone who wants to participate.

The October 2009 fleet will consist of boats between 42ft (berths maximum 6 people) and 46ft (berths maximum 8 people). Below are examples of boats available for the HPYF 2009, 3rd – 10th October, with their prices. Prices may vary between the charter companies, so the final price will be given on request. All boats are subject to availability and will be allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

Bavaria 42c Euros 1,700
Elan 434 Euros 1,800 
Bavaria 46c Euros 2,100

The Charter Prices are per boat for the given week and include VAT.

The entry fee for the HPYF regatta is Euros 160 per person and it includes:
- End cleaning, outboard engine, transit log
- Initial boat provisioning
- Welcome dinner in Trogir
- Prize giving dinner in Trogir
- Race organisation and support crew
- Log book
- Regatta T-shirts

Extra services:
- Transfers from/to Split Airport can be organized at extra charge

Once the route is finalized we will negotiate mooring fees and three dinners
along the route. Prices for this will be published shortly, but costs for
participants will be lower than the individual rates for any of these
services. We expect this cost to be approximately Euros 100 per person.

The skipper should have an internationally recognised sailing certificate and a VHF certificate to participate in these events.

Security deposit: € 1,500 per boat by credit card (Euro,Visa, Mastercard) or
cash. Credit Card payments will not be cashed unless required.

The yacht will have to be refueled at the end of the trip.

The entry fee and the deposit for the boat are payable on signing the
contract.
The balance is expected by 1st September 2009.

For more information about the event, please log on www.highpointyachtfest.eu or contact us directly on info@highpointyachtfest.eu

HPYF- The Annual High Point Yachtfests (HPYF) are multinational fun sporting events to be held in October around the Mediterranean, involving non-aggressive, non-professional sailing with the focus on the social side.

They are for people who like sailing and want to meet others from a common professional background. High Point YachFests will allow participants to enjoy the history, culture and stunning natural environment of the regions.  Participants in the regatta are drawn from different professions and the regatta itself is competitively priced to allow anyone who wants to participate. Our first HPYF took place in Gocek, Turkey, 18 – 25th October 2008 and it was a great fun! Congratulations to the new Commodore Martin Suter and his team on winning the first HPYF! HPYF 2009 will be in Trogir, Croatia, 3 – 10th October 2009.

For more information please visit www.highpointyachtfest.eu

Following the success of ECC 2007 in Gocek, we were chosen again to organize ECC 2008, for 450 participants on 70 boats. This time, we were chosen by the 2007 winner and new Commodore, Peter van Beuzekom and his team, strongly supported by the main sponsor Hertel. So in May 2008, Turkey was again a host to the 15th Engineering Challenge Cup Regatta 2009. This time we raced around the windy Bodrum peninsula visiting historic places such as Bodrum and Iasos and very well organized new marinas such as Turgutreis and Yalikavak. We once again experienced most friendly welcome everywhere.

Quote from the ECC Commodore, Peter van Beuzekom:
“Dear Sailors,
After having said goodby to you all at the prize giving party we didn’t really felt ECC was over. Coming home we read many positive reactions on the fantastic week we had together in Bodrum and this was our greatest reward for the time we spend by organizing ECC 2008. Our team like to thank your nice words. Organizing ECC 2008 was really a pleassure to us!“

Lorenzo Ghelfi, Boat 14:
‘Many thanks Sasha. The event was really great!
What crowd of sailors and engineers! Unfortunately, we haven’t had the chance to offer you a burning hot SWISS cafe! Next time, somewhere. With best regards, Lorenzo’

Inken Braunschmidt, Boat 34:
‘For us it was a fantastic windy week. I love weather like that we had, thats the reason we had a lot of fun and we were lucky that we didn`t had any damage! And of course: it was all perfect organised, thank you again for your good support!’

Christian Hepfer, Boat 64:
‘First of all, I would like to thank you and the ECC team for the organisation of a great week of holidays and sailing in Turkey, we really enjoyed it very much. You and the whole team did a great job.’

Carsten Heise:
‘We all arrived safely and at time. You are totally right it was a perfect week in a really nice area. I had never such good weather conditions for all the days. You and your team accept the challenge and have done it quite well.’

In April 2007 Turkey hosted the 14th Engineering Challenge Cup Regatta 2007.  The regatta took place over the course of a week around the Bay of Fethiye and was a resounding success. It brought together 500 engineers from across the world to compete, socialise and talk business.  They came come from 20 countries, four continents and from all areas of the engineering industry.  Each boat represented a different engineering company. Foster Wheeler was the host company, being last year’s winners.

‘Adriatic Holidays’ was appointed by the new Commodore, John Hall Hall of Foster Wheeler, to assist in organizing the event.  The regatta was also being supported by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Turkish Offshore Racing Club, the Turkish Sailing Federation as well as by the Gocek Municipality, Gocek Sailing Club.

2007 is not the first time the regatta has been held in Turkey.  Formerly the regatta, founded in 1993, has been held in Croatia (2001, 2004, 2005), Turkey (1996, 1998), Greece (1995, 1997, 2002, 2006), Italy (2000) and Spain (1994, 1999, 2003).

Quote from the ECC Commodore, John Hall Hall: 
“The ECC regatta was last held in Turkey eight years ago with just eight yachts and I was keen to go back there in 2007 with seventy yachts.  In July I received some excellent proposals to organise the event in Turkey, Croatia, Spain, Greece and Italy.  I was delighted that Turkey was the most attractive overall and selected Gocek as the location for ECC 2007.  Everyone involved has been unanimously, overwhelmingly and enthusiastically positive about the choice of Turkey.”

Sasha King, the managing director of Adriatic Holiday said:
“Adriatic Holidays has a long track record in the organisation and delivery of large sailing events, and organised the ECC regatta in Croatia in 2004 to great acclaim. The ECC regatta Gocek was the largest event I have organised to date; with 70 boats and over 450 sailors and it was a huge success. We had great feedback, not only on the sailing but on the organisation and entertainment, and a number of participants said it was the best ever. I would like to give big thanks to the Commodore John Hall Hall who was such a great pleasure to work with, and also to our local partners in Turkey and the participants who all contributed to making the event an incredible experience. ”

Ashley Brydges, Boat 65:
‘ What a great and wonderful week it was and I would like to thank you for all the organisation and effort you put in. I truly hope the ECC can join with you in the next event where ever it might be. Can you also pass my best wishes to Mustafa as he was the best !!!
The mariner staff where wonderful and so helpful so again please let them know what a great job they did and are doing. All the Turkish people where wonderful and so friendly and I for one will be back to their country for some more sailing.’

Allard de Vos Klootwijk, Boat 8:
‘It has most certainly been a memorable week. We (boat 8) all agree that the location was great, especially with regards to sun, wind, mooring locations and chartered boats.
On behalf of the crew of boat No.8 I herewith like to thank you very much for all the effort you have put into making ECC-2007 a successful event. We sincerely hope to meet you again on the next ECC-2008.’

Gordon King, Boat 9:
‘Thank you for an extrermely well organised event. Once again you have really put on a great event and to think that it was done in a foreign country and with 70 boats -  what can I say.
I think you are just great!!!!!’

Ralf Braune, Boat 26:
‘Dear Sasha, it was realy a fantastic weak. Great thanks to you and your team for all the arrangements.’

Martin Fordham, Boat 24:
‘Our team would like to thank you for your input to a superb event. Turkey is certainly a wonderful sailing area…’

In May 2004, Adriatic Holidays organized one of the biggest events in Croatia – the Engineering Challenge Cup 2004 – www.ecc-sailing.com . There were just over 350 participants on 53 boats.

Michael Kuhn the Commodore of ECC 2004 said:

Sasha and Team,
Thanks very much again for helping us organise this years “Engineering Challenge Cup” Regatta with 53 boats and 350 people in Croatia!
We could not have found a better partner for the organisation. It was a lot of work but the final event was more than perfect!
Everybody was happy and some people who are participating in this regatta now in the 11th year have said that this was the best ECC ever. Chapeau!

Hope to see you soon again, regards

Michael
Commodore ECC 2004