The scale of Raymarine’s position in the boating market can be judged by the announcement of its new out sourcing contract with Flextronics, a Singapore based company. In a contract estimated to be worth US$500 over the next five years, Raymarine will move part of its production to its new partner’s factory in Hungary. Flextronics, a company with a US$16 billion turnover, is a specialist in electronics manufacturing and distribution. “We took this decision to access the latest technologies and skills,” said Raymarine’s CEO, Malcolm Miller. None of their staff will be transferred to Flextronics.

Until the arrival of the Common Market, stocking up with duty frees before cruising abroad was always an important right of passage. But the system hasn’t disappeared completely. Until recently only commercial vessels could take advantage of duty free supplies but the Customs & Excise (now H.M. Revenue and Customs) have now extended the scheme. To be eligible, yachts must proceed directly either south of Brest or north of the River Eider. If leaving from the West Country, such a passage south is eminently possible, and W.V. Brahms (Ships’ Chandlers) will be happy to help. They run the only Duty Free stores in the south west and can arrange deliveries at most of the main ports. They will calculate the amount you are allowed, based upon the number of crew (aged over 17) and the duration of the passage. Cartons of cigarettes are around £17 and spirits £7 - £9 per litre.
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Sweden Yachts is a small specialist yard producing just 30 to 35 sailing boats a year. They offer top quality offshore performance cruisers but the boats are inevitably expensive. For people who cannot justify the time or financial commitment involved by an outright purchase, Mark 1 Yachts has introduced its second “partnership” sheme, whereby they maintain the yachts for the exclusive use of partners and look after all the running costs. Following the success of its first plan, which has now been operating successfully for three years, two new boats will be located in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean where Part- ners can use either of them for up to four weeks a year.

Contact: Mark 1 Yachts Ltd. www.mark1yachts.com

Four marinas in Greece are now offering longterm berth leases for boats of 10 metres and above. Triangle Berth Brokers are marketing the leases, which are avail- able for between 17 and 20 years. All the marinas are now of a top international standard, and Gouvia in particular has made enormous progress over the past few years in improving its facilities and service. All have numerous air connections, both direct and via Athens, and are situated in the heart of some fabulous cruising grounds.
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Hamble Point Marina will host the UK’s largest used boat show this year for the 11th consecutive time. The event will feature over 300 used craft from a wide selection of boat manufacturers. “The show has gained an excellent following over the last 11 years,” says Jonathan Walcroft, Assistant Manager at Hamble Point Marina, “and we are committed to ensuring that our visi- tors receive the best customer service and a great day out.” MDL owned and operated Hamble Point Marina is located less than 15 minutes from Southampton Boat Show, and is home to over 60 marine companies. These offer a wide range of services such as finance, sail makers, insurance and chandlery.
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Various schemes are available for minimising (or even avoiding) VAT on new boats or on EU-owned boats entering the EU for the first time. Some, however, are so complicated and expensive that it’s questionable whether they are worth it. An easy alternative was to take advantage of the unique legal status of the Azores. Unlike the Channel Islands, the Azores are part of Portugal and hence a member of the EU, but the local authorities attracted imports by levying a rate of just 12%. Following recent EU regulations, however, a minimum rate has now been set across the EU of 15% and this applies to all imports into the Azores after the 31st July 2005.
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Following the success of the 2005 Med-Red Rally, the first international yacht rally to transit the Suez Canal, the organisers have announced the 2nd event for next year.
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Croatia’s new regulations designed to stamp out “black chartering” are being widely interpreted by different harbour masters. In addition to draconianmeasures against charter companies, private owners are now limited in the number of visitors they are allowed. Earlier regulations required skippers to submit a crew list annually in advance. This clearly unworkable system has now been altered to allow a total number of visitors over the year of 2.3 times the number the boat can carry, but nowhere is it explicitly explained what this number represents. A superyacht declaring 6 double cabins could be allowed 14 visitors, while the Editor recently came across the owner of a RIB whose papers allowed him 28, even though his boat had no accommodation whatsoever and was never slept in. Boats caught with what a police control might consider incomplete paperwork can be subject to serious penalties.
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Welcome to this first edition of Cruising World. We hope you enjoy it and we welcome
your comments and contributions. You can also log onto our new website: www.cruisingworld.co.uk and post your views there.

Our aim is to entertain and inform, but not to instruct. We’re not going to cover racing, nor explain how to use a sextant. Destinations will be our bread and butter, with contributions from around the world, as well as regular features on charter bases. We’re also going to cover marina developments and include places where you can keep a boat, or just sit on the balcony and look at them. With Cruising World, you won’t need to “sell up and set sail” – you can experience it here instead.
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From the Istrian peninsular in Croatia, Venice is just 50 miles away. It was nearly 2,000 miles since we had left the south of France in the early summer and we now had little time left to find somewhere to leave Calypso for the winter. But after two months of reliable, settled weather and calm seas we had unexpectedly reached the northern Adriatic with Venice just an irresistible day-sail away.
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