ARC 2012
24/12/2011
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with great sailing everyone!
DS
This is an annual event run by the World Cruising Club which offers an exceptional sailing experience in steady trade winds from Las Palmas in the Canaries to St Lucia in the Caribbean. We will be entering our Hanse 470 yacht Ceilidh of Lorne in this event with a start date of 25 November, berths will be available from £3,000.This is an all inclusive price which will also include entry to various ARC social events both in Las Palmas and St Lucia.You should however arrange your own travel insurance policy. We would expect to arrive at Las Palmas on 18 November in good time for the pre start activities.
We will also be offering berths on the delivery trip from Kos departing on 20 October with visits to Malta and Gibraltar. These would be of interest for anyone looking to increase their sea time and experience passage making of over 500NM. The inclusive cost for this section is £2,000.
GRENADA CHARTER – 22 Dec 12 to 07 April 13
In conjunction with Horizon Yachts we will be offering charters from their base at the True Blue Bay Resort and Marina at the South end of the island of Grenada. This base is 5 minutes drive from Maurice Bishop International Airport. Grenada is known as the "spice of the Caribbean" and from here you can cruise the Grenadines. There are hundreds of tiny islands sprinkled over 60 miles making this one of the world’s great cruising areas. Carriacou, Bequia and Mustique are all in easy range of our base. There are regular direct flights to Grenada from the UK with Virgin, British Airways and Monarch.
The following bareboat charter rates in US $’s will apply:
Low Mid High
Ceilidh $4,195 $4,695 $5,495
ATLANTIC CROSSING 2013
We will also be offering berths on the return trip commencing on 14 April from Nanny Cay Marina at the BVI. There will be stopovers at Bermuda the Azores and Gibraltar with berths available from £2,500 for this section and £1,500 for the Gibraltar to Kos section with an ETA of 01 June at Kos. Again these prices are inclusive although you will require to arrange your own travel insurance policy.
2012 Season Details
22/10/2011
The booking programme has been opened for season 2012 commencing on Saturday 31 March. The yachts are being offered at the following bareboat charter prices:
Low Medium High Season
Ceilidh 2,500E 4,000E 4,700E
Flyer 1,500E 2,100E 3,000E
An early booking discount of 10% will be offered on all charters booked prior to 31 December 2011. Please visit the bookings section of this website for further information and equipment specifications.
Final weeks of 2011 Season
29/08/2011
At present both yachts will finish this season on 05 November on what has been a busy season. However they will remain in the water untill the end of November should there be further demand for charters. The weather remains very good in Kos with average temperatures of around 21 Deg C and F4 Nly breezes.
Ceilidh Availability
23/08/2011
High season is in full swing now with both Ceilidh and Flyer being very busy with charters as expected. There are very few weeks available between now and the last charter date of 05 November. Ceilidh does however have 10 September and 24 September available as single week charters. These weeks will be offered at a 30% discount, please use the "get in touch" page if you would like further information.
DSY Clothing 2011
20/06/2011
We now have a new range of Ladies and Gents leisure clothing which is available to purchase at Jackson's Beach Bar in Kos. This comprises of the following items:
Ladies beach shorts (Black)
Ladies skort (Black)
Men's shorts (Navy Blue)
Men's and Ladies T-shirts ( Pale Blue and Pink)
Ladies halter top (Black)
Baseball Caps ( Navy Blue)
Prices start from 10Euros, if the size you require is not in stock then please let us know and we can order this for you.The clothing range is featured in the "picture gallery" section of this website.
Holiday Experience
19/05/2011
We are always looking at ways of improving our customers holiday experience and have therefore placed our company flag in the following establishments. These have been selected as restaurants and bars that have consisently given excellent standards of quality and service in our opinion. Look out for further additions in the future. Enjoy!
Jacksons Beach Bar, Kos
La Prima Restaurant, Old Town, Kos
Gregory's Bar, Pithagorian Samos.
Harani Bar, Symi.
Knidos Restaurant, Knidos Turkey
The Dolphin Restaurant, Palamut, Turkey
Captain Nemo's Restaurant, Serce Limani, Turkey.
DS
Ready to Go!
31/03/2011
Both yachts have now been relaunched and are both seaworthy and in first class condition to go cruising from Kos Marina. Flyer has a new fully battened tri-radial mainsail fitted, this was supplied by Quantum sails. Ceilidh has had some final snagging list items completed in addition to the usual annual maintenance. Ceilidh is first out on the water from 09 April followed by Flyer on the 19th. We are looking forward to another great season in the Dodecanese. D.S.
Argyll & Bute Rugby Development Officer Car Sponsorship
16/03/2011
We are delighted to announce news of our support for Youth Rugby and the Rugby Development Officer post in Argyll and Bute. This has been achieved through a cash sum payment by David Sturrock Yachting which has also been matched by Sportsmatch Scotland ( a division of Sportscotland). The DSY logo and other Rugby DO partners Argyll and Bute Council , Argyll & Bute RFC and the Scottish Schools Club are now displayed on Billy Thomson's car as he travels through the region to undertake coaching assignments. This will bring rugby to new youth groups and new areas of the county while providing further support for the Rugby DO post. Photos of the car's new livery have been added to the gallery section. DS
New Year 2011
02/01/2011
We would like to wish all our customers, friends and partner companies a very happy and prosperous New Year for 2011. Both yachts are now on the hard at Kos Marina undergoing their annual winter maintenance. Charter bookings are ahead of schedule for both yachts with approximately 1/3 of their summer seasons reserved so far. High season weeks are going fast so please make an enquiry for the weeks you maybe interested in. There are still however plenty of spaces early on particularly in April and May. Happy Sailing! D.S.
Winter 2010
03/11/2010
Ceilidh and Flyer will remain afloat until mid December at Kos Marina for anyone wishing to charter either boat off season, Ryanair have flights operating to Kos from Frankfurt Hahn and of course there are several daily scheduled flights to Kos from Athens all year round. Thereafter the yachts will be on the hard for annual maintenance before launching in March 2011. Istion are now taking charter bookings for 2011 and several of their travel agents will be represented at the major European boatshows over the winter months including Barcelona, London and Dusseldorf.
Ceilidh of Lorne Charter
12/09/2010
As an introductory offer on our new yacht, we will be offering a 30% discount on any charters booked up untill the end of this season only. This is because Ceilidh was only recently issued with her Greek Charter Licence making it difficult to take advance bookings. Please use the "get in touch" page if you would like further information. D.S.
DSY Merchandise
31/07/2010
We have a range of personalised clothing for sale this season. If you are intersted in purchasing any of the items below, please use the get in touch link on this website. The rugby shirts can have any name or number added to the back at your request. All of our clothing range is featured in the "Gallery" section of this website.
Prices ( Plus P&P)
DSY Baseball Cap ( Navy) £12
DSY Polo Shirt ( White) £25
DSY Gill Shorts ( Navy) £45
DSY Rugby Shirts ( White or multi-coloured) £45
Hanse 470
29/06/2010
We are pleased to announce the arrival of a new Hanse 470 yacht which will be available for charter from Kos from 04 September 2010. This yacht has been named " Ceilidh of Lorne" and has an extremely high level of equipment specification. See the gallery section for photos. There will be future opportunities to take a share of ownership in other new vessels which will be chartered from Kos. We are also planning to enter any new yacht's into the ARC and have a winter season's charter in the Caribbean. If you are interested in the above and would like further detailed information, please use the "get in touch" section. Please also mention DSY when enquiring or booking any charters with Istion or Horizon Yachting.
DS
Charter Availabilty 2010 Season
18/04/2010
The current confirmed charter bookings for Flyer this season leave only the following dates available from Kos:
Saturday 08 May for up to 2 weeks duration
Saturday 09 October, any date thereafter in this month.
So if you would like to sail the Dodecanese or Turkish coast, please contact our charter mangement partners Istion using the links on this website. If you would like any further detailed information about any of our services, please use the form on the "get in touch" page.
Good Sailing!
Flyer Launched!
11/03/2010
Flyer was re-launched today at Kos Marina by Christos and his team. The winter hull maintenance has been completed and the re-furbished Kiwi Prop has been fitted. The season is filling up nicely with charters so that from June to early October only 06-20 August currently remains vacant. There are still spaces in April and May so please enquire if you are interested in having an Easter break.
2010 Season
30/10/2009
Flyer is now undergoing the usual winter maintenance in preparation for next season so she will be ready for use from March onwards. This year turned out better than expected despite the economic gloom and Istion's charter fleet were kept very busy in Kos. If you would like details of availability and prices then please contact Istion using the links page. For all other enquiries please complete and submit the form on the "get in touch" page of this website.
Return to Kos
10/06/2009
Flyer is once more berthed at Kos Marina since Sunday 07 June and is available to be chartered through Istion. This follows a 30 day delivery trip by a proffessional crew fromSt Martin to Gibraltar. I then completed the final 1,826NM to Kos with a stopover at Malta with the aid of Zoe Michlig and Mick Morrell. It was great to receive the usual warm welcome from staff and friends at Kos Marina after a 6 month absence. DS
ARC Fundraising
18/03/2009
I would like to thank everyone who donated towards our fundraising efforts for RYA Sailability Scotland while competing in The ARC ( Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in Nov/December last year.
The total amount raised now stands at £1,745 which is a tremendous effort.
During the race from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria to Rodney Bay in St Lucia we logged 3,329NM aboard Flyer of Lorne. Myself and the other 4 crew onboard Richard Philips, Alan McCann, Brian McCann and Connla Conway shared the watches to sail the boat around the clock. Generally in this year's event the trade winds were lighter than usual although we did have one period of gale force winds overnight and some line squalls of 35-40knots. The trip was definitely in the category of "lifetime achievement" and gave a deep sense of satisfaction not to say exhiliration when making our landfall at St Lucia.
The full story of the trip can be seen at http://blog.mailasail.com/flyeroflorne where the daily logs from the trip are displayed.
For the record, Flyer completed the crossing in 20 days 2hrs 29minutes and was placed 2nd in Class D and 25th in the whole ARC fleet of 215 yachts. She also received a trophy from the German yacht manufacturer Hanse which was presented at the Dusseldorf boatshow as Flyer was first on corrected time of the 7 Hanse yachts which entered the ARC.
Dave Sturrock
Arrived at St Maarten!
26/12/2008
We arrived at Flyer's winter destination at 16:00 on Friday following a very fast and somewhat bouncy 65NM trip from Pinney Beach, Nevis. Most of the trip was a close reach with the F6 NE breeze causing breaking waves to come over the windward side from time to time. The passage between Nevis and St Kitts was particulary challenging as this was very shallow in places at only 5metres.
Antigua
22/12/2008
We have visited 3 islands since the last blog entry, Isle des Saintes, Guadeloupe and Antigua. Flyer is now anchored in English Harbour, possibly one of the most photographed and iconic of Caribbean destinations. Skip and crew are all having a couple of days off here to catch up and take it easy with some beachtime in order once again.
Iles des Saintes was a beautiful stopover and this group of small islands is very European being French compared to the independent Dominica only 20 NM to the South. The main town of Bourg was almost a miniature town due to the small sized and neat buildings. We explored Fort Napolean which was veryt interesting with detailed models of warships and old Naval battles fought in the area. The gardens were notable due to the many wild Iguana that would allow themselves to be photographed.
Sunday afternoon saw us take in some snorkelling before heading to Guadeloupe. The approaches from the South were very interestin g with lots of sandbanks and shallows as we made for Point a Pitre. We moored at teh Marina Bas du Fort where we took in an excellent dinner at the Pirates of the caribbean restaurant, very appropriate you might say!
ARC Final Positions
22/12/2008
Great news was received on Sunday afternoon when ARC control finally released the corrected finish times for all yachts.
This placed Flyer 2nd in class D behind Skyelark and ahead of our Irish competitors Mollyhawks Shadow in 3rd. Flyer was also listed as 25th overall in the ARC fleet which was mightily impressive and I think stems from the fact that we hardly used the engine for forward propulsion. The crew will tell you I was on suicide watch when we were becalmed and were forced to motor as I had really wanted to complete the crossing under sail power only. However I think the 7hrs and 20 minutes we recorded was the lowest in our class and many of our competitors had recorded between 30 and 80hours running.
I am delighted with our placing and this is testament to the teamwork and commitment of everyone on board which never waned from start to finish. Time to celebrate our achievement boys!
It is all the more rewarding as the last 2 days of the race were very difficult with the Easterly winds forcing Flyer to gybe downwind and add to the distance run. We felt at this point that any "podium finish" had been lost as we gave up so much ground on the race leaders.