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Club Galini in the Greek Ionians is one of Sunsail's most popular
dinghy/keelboat resorts. To find out if it lived up to its favourable
claims, sailpower sent dinghy/sportsboat sailor Brett Lewis, and his partner
Alex to test out the waters!
We'd thought choosing a sailing holiday would be easy. Let me see .
. . sun, water, some kit and a decent breeze; throw in a few beers and
that's it. Thumbing through the Sunsail brochure it seemed it was not
going to be quite that easy. Did we want a Greek style villa or something
Turkish near Mamaris or Bodrum? The clubs all seemed to offer very similar
facilities, even the size of the clubs seemed about the same all had
pools, all had beginner, intermediate and advanced dinghies, all offered
RYA courses and promised workshops, all had catamarans and all had day
yachts. As we are both discerning travellers, the deciding factor was
the flight that suited us; it left Gatwick on a Wednesday.
The blast of warm air as the aeroplane doors swung open at Preveza airport
on mainland Greece was very welcome. Once through Customs we were greeted
by the Sunsail crew and on the 40-minute bus ride to Galini given a quick
potted history of Levkas. Thus we settled into our Sunsail holiday.
Why choose a sailing holiday
The two us have quite different sailing experiences. My partner, Alex,
was a beginner and it was important when making our choices that she did
not feel under pressure. I have sailed dinghies, sportsboats and raced
offshore for several years so I wanted some fun craft. It was important
to us that this should be a holiday first and an opportunity to sail second.
But I know from past experiences that sitting on the beach is not high
on my list . In fact, I can't sit on a beach at all. When there is water,
I have to be on it or in it.
The kit
The equipment at Galini was good, 14 lasers, six Topper 16 sports, two
Topper 14 sports, two Dart 18s, four 
Dart 16s, one Breeze, one Spice, one Buzz, 10 Topazes, some Laser Picos
and Optimists and ten 30ft Jeanaus. There was also a good selection of
Windsurfers, Bics, Mistrals and Hifly's with rigs from 3.5 to 7.2m. There
was a number of canoes, too.
During the week we managed to sail everything. Lasers are always fun,
especially if you have not been in one for a while. The day I sailed one
there was enough breeze to get up on the plane. The brand new Dart 16s
were a good introduction to cat sailing, but I did prefer the 18s, especially
when trapezing single-handed.
The Breeze was fun - a very stable 6m asymmetric sportsboat with a lifting
keel and granny rails to sit on, very comfortable and loads of fun in
a breeze or light wind. This is a good introduction to bigger asymmetric
rigs.
I was slightly disappointed with the Sport 14. It was quite heavy and
slightly undercanvassed. Even on the windy(ish) day we took one on the
sailaway barbecue, getting it going was quite an effort. Most of the Sports
did not have any clew tie-downs so you could never get quite the sail
shape you wanted. But to be fair to Sunsail, it is an intermediate boat
and is a very stable platform to trapeze on. My partner found it more
than adequate and was pleased to make the beach in one piece.
 The
dinghy I really enjoyed was the Spice, in the light winds at Galini I
could experiment with the kite while on the trapeze. I weigh a good 14stone
so most of the time I sailed single-handed. It was fast, much faster than
the undercanvassed Buzz and Breeze, easy to tack and gybe. The single
line kite uphaul/downhaul did stick quite often, but if there was crew
doing just this, not trying to steer at the same time, I don't think it
would be a problem.
I did have my comeuppance on the last day while trapezing. Both the mainsheet
and spinnaker sheet got jammed in the main block and over we went. To
be honest, in the heat you actually want to capsize.
The beginner
Alex had booked herself onto a three-day RYA course with the understanding
that if she was not happy she did not have to stick it out. But after
successfully completing the course and coming 2nd in her first race, while
not becoming a convert she did actually enjoy sailing the Topaz. The hot
sun, warm water, friendly staff and not-too-challenging wind all contributed
to the fun atmosphere.
 Beach
staff
One very enjoyable aspect of the Sunsail holiday life is that the staff
actually rig the boats for you, so it's no problem hopping off a Dart
and then onto, say, the Spice. Booking was by room number and each sailing
day was divided into four sessions. The system worked well and there was
never a problem obtaining the boat you wanted. Lifejackets and harnesses
were all Crewsaver and were all in good condition. The beach staff base
was the 'love shack' (don't ask!). It was in constant VHF contact with
the excellent rescue cover.
 Wind
strengths
The wind during our week in May in Galini was usually between 4- 6knots
from the south in the morning, then 6-10 knots from the north in the afternoon.
Most days the north and south breezes managed to cancel each other out
and there was no wind until late afternoon. There was only one afternoon
when this presented any sort of problem. We were out in the Breeze but
hey, it was 70º+, the sun was hot, the water was cool so we just
drifted around the bay looking at the amazing hills.
Workshops
Although billed as workshops, these sessions are definitely aimed at the
less experienced, but are of interest if you have not sailed with an asymmetric
spinnaker or on a catamaran.
 The
day yachts
The ten day yachts based at Galini were 30ft ex-flotilla Jeanneaus in
good order. The large furling headsails and the undersized mains made
handling very easy.  The
booking system was very fair: your room number is placed in a hat and
then a day is allocated to you. We sailed down to Abelike Bay for a mid-morning
swim, lunch stop in Vathi and a pleasant sail past Nidri on the way back.
There were just the two of us on our day boat; Alex had never been on
a yacht before and the introduction via small boats was ideal.
Food and drink
Food at Galini was always excellent. The holiday price included three
lunches and three evening meals; on remaining evenings we were free to
explore the local tavernas.
Nightlife
This was not quite as good as we had hoped. Nidri was the nearest town
of any note with dozens of bars. Twice we walked the four miles back at
2am until we discovered the local trick of asking the bar staff to point
out the local taxi driver, or even (in one bar) to get his brother to
drive us back. Levkas town was a bit more promising with several nightclubs.
Here also there were more taxis available!
The good and the not so good
The Galini club is located four miles north of Nidri on the island of
Levkas. It is in a Greek village style and very comfortable. The rooms
are clean and tidy and a pleasure to stay in. During our week, in the
middle of May, there were about 120 guests and were 50 children. The following
weeks were booked to capacity which meant 50-60 children. The Sea Urchins
and Junior Gybers were very well looked after by the very professional
Sunsail staff and seemed to be having a great time. We were honestly surprised
by the number of children at the club in fact, apart from the group
of sailing chaps from Maidenhead sailing club and the three singles, we
were the only couple without. This meant that conversation in the evenings
we stayed at the club was a bit limiting. I think the brochure would do
well to explain this clearly and personally believe that a child head
count per week per club based on the expected number of children could
be of value. But then Sunsail know their clientele well and for many parents
this place must be worth its weight in gold.
Strange quote of the week
As we were leaving the pontoon on our day boat for Megasini, the over-helpful
yacht instructor informed us that there was a 2º W magnetic variation;
fine if a) we had a chart with a compass rose and b) I don't think I've
ever steered to a compass course as accurately as that!
Would we go again
Yes, definitely, but not to Galini or any other high-child-count club
well, not until we had our own. To be fair, details are in the Sunsail
brochure; it does tell you how many guests are expected at each club and
that 'children's facilities' do exist; it also tells you when there are
child-free times. We ought to have picked a smaller club with no children
and more wind, but the downside is that those clubs are not located near
any large towns so the nightlife could be limited and also the choice
of kit.
Accommodation for: 180 guests
General wind conditions: Force 1-4
Suitable for: Beginners and intermediates
Activities: dinghy sailing, catamaran
sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing, canoeing, tennis, table tennis, swimming
and excursions.
Children and Teenagers Clubs: Mini club, Penguin club, Sea Urchins, Junior
Gybers and beach team.
Flight time from Gatwick: about three
hours, flights leave on Wednesday. Transfer time:
45 minutes.
Price of the holiday we tested: £502 per person
including insurance but not including the three-day RYA beginners course
which cost £60.
Contact: Sunsail, The Port House, Port Solent.
Portsmouth, Hants PO6 4TH. Telephone 023 9222 2333.
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