Superyachts and semirigidas

Ian Henderson suggests a few ways to get afloat in the Med this summer for The Spectator magazine.

The Mediterranean is made for boats. (Or was it the other way round?) No tides, settled weather, warm water. Out in the breeze, away from the lubricated lines of landlubbing sunbathers. Round the headland there’s a secluded cove for just you, your boat and a Dutch naturist hiking couple.

Of course, there are challenges. One is the rising flotsam of regulation; from this summer you need a licence (ICC – www.rya.org.uk) to hire anything bigger than a dinghy. And a maiden voyage through a crowded harbour with crossed mooring lines, angry fishermen and swimming children would have put Magellan off.

But if the call of the sea is still loud in your ears, let’s look at your options for a day or two afloat. There’s a saying that if it flies or floats, rent it (you may have heard the longer version) and that’s what most people do. Even the billionaires. Those sunglassed exotics looking down from their superyacht at your borrowed runabout are in much the same boat. Only theirs will have cost a bit more.

Your easiest option in most places is a basic motorboat. Some have solid hulls and are more easily dented, others have rubber tops and are called RIBs. (In Spain they’re semirigidas, which can lead to unseemly heckling from one’s passengers.) Most upmarket places will have a rental operator – let’s use the Catalan coastline around Begur (near Girona) as our first example.

Down through the woods at Aiguafreda you’ll meet Sylvie Portavella or her family in the preposterously pretty little harbour (www.begurboats.com). Sylvie charmingly manages a very efficient business, charging north of EUR 240 for a day’s hire from June to September.  With speedboat or semirigida, you’ll be free to explore the castles, caves, woods and islands of one of Spain’s most beautiful coastlines. You’re in El Bulli territory too – most of the best restaurants are inland, but we love Tragamar in Calella. Wherever you’re going, find the local Sylvie. Ask at your hotel or search the web before you go.

Now let’s say you fancy something fancier. What about a Riva Aquarama, the utterly gorgeous, handbuilt in wood, twin 320 horsepower, 60’s filmstar’s speedboat of choice? And where else would you be in a Riva than further along the Med, in Antibes or Cannes? Don’t for a moment imagine you’ll drive it yourself though; this is what’s called a crewed charter. A Riva is worth around half a million Euro, but as you arrive at Club 55 on Pampleonne Beach you’ll feel like at least twice that. And all from a mere EUR 1800 a day.

Of course chartering a beautiful boat doesn’t mean you have to swank about among the beach clubs of St Tropez. In fact you may consider that a little, well, vulgar. An immaculate 1930’s sailing yacht, eighty feet of teak decks, white sails and gleaming brass fittings, will cost you around EUR 3,500 for a day (www.boatbookings.com). The sensation of steering one of these works of art in a fresh breeze across a sparkling bay is worth every single cent. The Voiles de St Tropez in late September is where the most gorgeous sailing machines ever created gather for a week-long regatta - you could try joining one to try racing for yourself. Or for the more adventurous, there are testing races like the Rolex Middle Sea Race based in Malta (www.rolexmiddlesearace.com), where you can enter your details to join one of the crews.

But let’s take the pace down a little and head further east, to the gentle waters of the Greek Ionian Sea. Between Corfu and Ithaca (birthplace of your fellow sailor Odysseus) lie some of the kindest sailing grounds known to man. Zephyrs waft you to picturesque villages where you can enjoy a simple meal of locally caught fish for roughly the same price as the fisherman’s house. You can rent small powerboats in many places (and regulation is sometimes a little more relaxed) while day trips on large gulets (traditionally-styled East Mediterranean wooden vessel, originally for cargo but now built to carry passengers) can be a great way of seeing the coast in comfort – though there’s always a risk of joining someone else’s booze cruise.

But this is such a perfect place to sail, you should really be looking at a sailing yacht – up to 40 footers can be handled by a vaguely competent skipper, with a bit of help. Unfortunately this is trickier, as most yacht charter firms don't book less than a week. Search carefully though and you can enjoy day or two’s sailing on a decent yacht by booking a month ahead (www.sailionian.com). Ionian can give you a skipper if you don’t have an ICC or the experience, and also rent dayboats (a small, fast, open yacht with no cabin – the way God meant us to sail) with skipper from EUR 190 a day. They are based on the island of Lefkas, from where you can anchor off Skorpios, Onassis’s island; visit the pretty (and inexpensive!) restaurants around Fiskardo’s harbour on Cephalonia; and call at One House bay on Atoko island for a perfect swim stop. Or, if you just fancy a day’s pottering, look up Dimitris Tsakalos at the north end of the harbour in Nidri who has a good choice of newish motor boats (and a microlite!). His email is tsakalos_boats@yahoo.gr.

Where else?  Like Spain, Ibiza and the Balearics are enjoyed at their best with a boat, at least in the busiest months; and the places to head then are the gorgeous unspoiled beaches of Formentera (www.ibizanonsense.com). The trick is to pack a picnic and find your own spot - although if you want a beach-chic place to go for lunch, try Juan Y Andrea – or ask the people you rent your boat from. Croatia is fast becoming just as fashionable, and much of the lovely coastline is still undeveloped. I could go on. The Mediterranean has about 45,000 kilometres of coastline (that’s more than once round the Equator) so there’s plenty to explore. The choice of boats is almost as big, and whatever your level of competence (or depth of pocket) there’s really no better way to enjoy the place mankind first messed about in boats.

We’ll certainly be afloat in the Med this summer. Wave if you’re passing, from your yacht, your Riva or your semirigida.