Prices
for the inaugural Christmas Caribbean Rally have dropped by
almost £1,000.

The
Sailing Rallies team have announced that they have been able to negotiate lower
prices with their suppliers and will be passing the savings on to rally
participants.

The
new savings, coupled with ‘great support from sponsors’ mean that until
February 28, early bird prices will range from £986 for yachts under 25ft up to
£2475 for yachts of 65ft to 75ft.

Those
who have booked and paid already need not worry, as their entries are also
being adjusted in line with the new prices.

John
Simpson, managing director of Sailing Rallies Ltd, said ‘We have had some good
sponsorship deals come through over the last few weeks and some of the costs
have been much lower than we initially thought.

‘We
have decided to pass all these savings onto the participants and as of this
morning we have reduced the entry fees – quite substantially – to attract a few
more entries.

The rally will start from Marina Rubicon in Lanzarote on
16 December, which is fully supporting the inaugural event.

After crossing the Atlantic, the fleet will finish in
Jolly Harbour, Antigua.

John had a career in retail management, holding senior
positions with B&Q, W H Smith and British Bookshops & Stationers,
before he took a sabbatical and crossed the Atlantic in his own yacht last
year.

He enjoyed it so much so that he decided to organize his
own rally.

John
added:  ‘I wanted to
organise a rally that was fun and filled with passion for the adventure of
crossing an ocean.

‘I think that the experience of sailing the Atlantic in a
smaller more socially knit group is a real bonus; à la carte rather than the
set meal option, so to speak.

‘However the participants will be well prepared with
seminars and courses both on and off the water.

‘We
have had a very good response to the launch of the rally both here and in
mainland Europe.

‘We
think the rally will be of particular interest to PBO readers because unlike
some other rallies, we have set our minimum boat size for the rally at 6.4m and
we see the event as much more inclusive and appealing to ‘real’ sailors rather
than those with bigger boats who perhaps sail with paid crew.’  

Find
out more at www.sailingrallies.com