As a wonderful plethora of yachts make their way to Kyrenia’s Old Harbour from South of Turkey, it is a great day to be in the Harbour area as visitors and locals sit around in cafes watching the boats enter the historical Harbour and ensure a warm welcome on docking.
The Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2009, and with its growing popularity, will no doubt see a record number of participants wanting to experience the event. Avid boating enthusiasts take part from all over the world including people from Great Britain, America, Belgium, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Germany as well as Turkey. Those taking part will get to experience some wonderful places all along the Aegean and Mediterranean coastline and includes visits to 3 continents and some 12 UNESCO world heritage sites, so there is more than just intensive sailing on the agenda! On docking at each location there is plenty of time to put their feet on terra firma, relax and enjoy the festivities and tours that are organised for them by each port they stop at. Participants will be in Kyrenia for a total of three days before departing on the 26th.
The event started in 1990 with a total of 17 vessels but had grown to 78 in number by 2008 with numbers set to increase this year with hopefully over 100 making the journey. The rally is over 2 months long, lasting exactly 74 days and covers over 1,679 miles with 24 ports being docked at in 6 different countries. It may seem a long time but there are two sections to the rally, one covering the Turkish coastline and the second covering the International coastline which includes North Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt.
Whilst in Northern Cyprus they will be treated to some relaxing and entertaining events held in their honour such as a reception at Kyrenia Castle, a sightseeing tour and a ‘Pirates Party’ held annually at the Dome Hotel as a final send off before they hoist anchors and set sail for the next leg. You can also find them parading around the Harbour in their costumes so don’t be scared if you get approached by a man with an eye patch, a peg leg and a parrot on his shoulder!
From North Cyprus they will then travel back to Turkey for another few days before heading on to Lattakia in Syria and then on south following the coastline, so there is a long way to go before finishing the event on 4th July at the port of Herzilya in Israel.
