Southern Cross Timer was happy to have three returning crew participants from 2012 join her again for the 25th Bodrum Jubilee Silver Cup regatta, as well as one new crew member from Belgium. She was even happier to come in first place in her category for leg 2 of the race from Turgutreis to Kos, and came in 7th overall.

This year, the committee introduced a performance based rating system (BPR) which is used quite frequently worldwide especially in super yacht and mega yacht races. It is practical, simple and accurate enough to employ efficiently to yachts racing in the Bodrum Cup for more exact results, and it helped us get onto the podium.

It is with great pride that Southern Cross Blue Cruising announces the 2014 and 2015 lease of Queen of Karia and Why Not gulets.  

Having worked closely with both yachts since their launches, we know them extremely well and are pleased to bring our high standards and professionalism to the full management of both yachts.

Queen of Karia is 35 meters long with five staterooms, including a Master suite, VIP, two twins and a double. She has a magnificent presence in the water and is one of the best known luxury gulets in the Aegean and Mediterranean. She will charter for 3800 Euro per day during high season, 3200 Euro per day mid-season, and 2500 Euro per day all other months.

Why Not is 24 meters long with a master, VIP, double and twin cabin.  She has a extraordinary contemporary, clean feel throughout and is an affordable luxury gulet for up to 8 persons. She charters for 2250 Euro in July/August, 1900 Euro in June/September and 1500 Euro all other months.

It wasn’t just eating, drinking and sailing – we were here to view yachts and meet the crews.

Fortuna arranged inspections of a variety of gulets, motor-sailors and mini-cruisers. Highlights included the 25 meter motor yacht Korab with her extremely cheerful captain Mate and crew.  The formal dining room set forward of mid ship brought an old school feel to this roomy vessel, and several independent sources raved about the chef. Another highlight was luxury motor sailor Navilux, undoubtedly the most luxurious guletish yacht currently offered in Croatia. At 37 meters LOA, she sleeps 12 guests in 6 staterooms in the vicinity of 49,000 Euro per week during high season.  Another spectacular 27 meter transom gulet was Andjeo, which charters for 20,700 Euro during the high season per week.

When asked to compare Turkish gulets with those operating in Croatia, several observations included that Croatian yachts tend to have owner/captains and significantly higher running costs than Turkish gulets, which is why the charter rates are higher in Croatia than they are when comparing two similar build gulets in both countries.  We received excellent vibes from the crews that we met, all of whom seemed to thoroughly enjoy what they were doing.

In no particular order, we made the following interesting observations about Croatia

• Croatia is a dream for lovers of 80s and 90s pop music.  The radio played rare old songs that we hadn’t heard in decades.
• There are over 1000 islands in total along the coast.
• As of July 2013, Croatia is now a member of the European Union.
• Nikola Tesla was born in present-day Croatia.
• In addition to great sailing, the roads are excellent with spectacular views along stunning drops, rivers, waterfalls and valleys.
• There is a 16 kilometer stretch of Bosnia-Herzegovina along the Dalmatian Coast, meaning that drivers heading north or south to or from Dubrovnik will exit the EC and re-enter Croatia again.
• Marco Polo was from the island of Korčula.
• The columns of the White House were built using stone from the island of Brač.
• The Croatian language is very difficult, but we did master ”moje” which roughly translates to ”ok