Dave and I went early in the season this year, we have been a few times before but last year July was just too hot for us.
This year we stayed at the Iris Hotel Apartments. Our room was conveniently close to the bar and the two pools, and we were impressed by the cleanliness of the room and the very friendly staff. The food is pretty good pub grub and we had the huge advantage of our Lugger pulled up on the beach just a dozen yards from our room.
Phil gave us the Lugger Angie with the new sail rig which we christened ‘The Ozzie’ rig.
The rig boasted a new Genoa foresail, a topsail with brailing line but joined with a batten to effectively form a single, bigger mainsail. The mizzen also featured a topsail with brailing but again with the batten to work as a single sail. The result was a much faster boat, very good performance in light airs and I believe closer winded that the conventional rig. The brailing lines were essential to spill wind when striking the sails, making the process as simple and quick as the standard Drascombe Lugger rig.
Dave enjoyed a great beat to windward whilst I loved the downwind performance of the new rig.
It goes without saying that Phil’s attention to detail is unmatched – the boats are very well prepared with all the kit you will need including a picnic hamper. He welcomes you with a delicious lunch at Gialos Taverna and provides a thorough briefing for the boat.
Phil has a number of Luggers with different rigs, all have good engines so I would recommend this type of day sailing in this fabulous place to anyone, no matter what their experience.
