Having been approached by Bob Geldof, the organisers of the International Festival of the Sea are delighted to be able to accommodate Sail 8 as part of their four day celebration of all things maritime.

The International Festival of the Sea takes place in Portsmouth, 30th June-3rd July, and is occupying a site almost bursting to capacity – some 350 vessels berthed along a 4km frontage. It is planned that at around 3.00pm on Sunday the 30th the leading vessels of the Flotilla will arrive in Portsmouth and the Festival Maritime Team has risen to the challenge of finding some extra space and that allows us to squeeze in up to 20 additional boats from Sail 8.

Appropriate customs and immigration procedures are already in place as the festival will have already welcomed sailors from 32 countries as part of this huge international event.

Earlier on the Sunday the Sail 8 Flotilla will be in constant touch with the International Festival of the Sea Maritime Department in order to arrange the logistics of the berthing of the leading boats. The Sail 8 organisers will disperse to local harbours and marinas those Flotilla craft that cannot be accommodated into International Festival of the Sea.

Mike Richmond, Managing Director of International Festival of the Sea said:
“We are happy that we can assist with Sail 8’s return to the South Coast and work with an organisation that is so aligned with the International aspects of our event. Besides which Bob Geldof is a very hard man to say no to!”

Please note, only registered craft may take part in the flotilla.
For more information on Sail 8 and to register go to http://www.sail8.ybw.com.