Mudeford Sailing Club

Chilling out in Lesvos in October in the sun

Where might that be?   Greece, but very close to Turkey

Who did you go with? Neilsons Beachclubs

Any good?                  Absolutely brilliant!

Winds F2-5                 Clear skies all week

Warm?                        22-26 degrees

The crew and I decided on a late sailing break and searched the www. for a bargain; we soon found one at www.neilson.co.uk The last week of the season in Lesvos was on offer so after trolling through forums and tripadvisor etc and getting all good reviews we thought we would book it. Now the last week of the season can mean staff have given up and are in party mode, equipment has been trashed and not fixed and a general lowering of standards all round but this was most definitely not the case at Neilsons!

The beachclub at Scala Erressos is in a lovely location just 10 mins walk outside the town; it is a 2 hour coach transfer from Myteline airport but the drive soon passes with wonderful scenery, small mountain passes and a very tight passage through one town with just inches to spare on the side of the coach.

Neilson is not like Sunsail, it is friendlier in our opinion and less competitive – this may be down to the lack of day yachts! There is also a wider mix of people who are interested in other sports on offer such as Windsurfing, Waterskiing, Wakeboarding, Tennis and Cycling and many there had the energy to do most of them every day.

The last week saw the club just over a third full at 130 with probably 20% single travellers who were very well looked after. 

Boats on offer were Lasers, radials (I sailed one for the first time in F5), 4.7s, Darts, Laser Bahias, Picos, RS Fevas, Laser 4000, Funboats and all were in good condition. Elaine and I have been used to re rigging Sunsail boats over the years but we did not need to touch these and whenever we needed a boat we mostly did not have to wait.

There were free courses everyday for beginner, intermediate and advanced sailors and all MSC members would go straight into the advanced bracket.! The courses also applied to all the other sports on offer. At the end of the week they held a Regatta in F4-5 winds which surprisingly was a 30-60 min race going well out to sea, these events are usually held on much smaller courses but as this was the last week they wanted to do it differently and I am pleased to report the MSC entry won it in a Laser Bahia ( bit like the L2K with kite but bigger).It was very satisfying to beat the staff instructors on the Laser 4000.

Now the most important part of the week – Food!  Simply wonderful; Head Chef George was out front every day at the buffet tables introducing one and all to his superb dishes and he even held a Greek cookery class for anyone interested. Neilsons offered a Greek night and a BBQ evening and provided all breakfasts, all lunches and 4 evening meals in the price giving you the opportunity to go into the village to sample the restaurants for the remaining nights. Why not sign up for emails at www.neilson.co.uk and get the offers – don’t pay brochure prices!

Elaine & Alan Dalziel

[Home] [Grandstand] [Editorial] [Admin] [Social] [Caption?] [Saga Tales] [RS 100] [New Laser] [Chill Out] [Vrouwe Johanna] [Dinner Dance] [Laser sail] [Calendar] [Crime awareness] [The Troll]