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Croatia Yacht Rally 2011 Meandered Toward Its Conclusion In Dubrovnik Last Week With A Race From Korcula To Mljet, A Distance Of Just Twelve Miles.

Croatia Yacht Rally 2011 meandered toward its conclusion in Dubrovnik last week with a race from Korcula to Mljet, a distance of just 12 miles.

The 'Pearl of the Adriatic ', situated on the Dalmatian coast, became a vital Mediterranean sea power from the thirtheenth century onwards. Though severely ruined by a quake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its pretty Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, priories, palaces and fountains. Damaged again in the 1990s by armed conflict, it's currently the focus of a major restoration program co-ordinated by UNESCO.

The 'Pearl of the Adriatic ', on the Dalmatian coast, was a vital Mediterranean sea power from the thirtheenth century onwards. Though severely ruined by a quake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its pretty Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, priories, palaces and fountains.

Dubrovnik was set up in the first half of the 7 th century by a grouping of refugees from Epidaurum, who established their settlement at the island and named it Laus. The Latin name Ragusa (Rausa), in use until the fifteenth century, originated from the rock (Lat. Lausa = rock). Opposite that location, at the foot of Srcic ; Mountain, the Slavs developed their own settlement under the name of Dubrovnik, derived from the Croatian word dubrava, that means oak woods. When the channel that separated these two settlements was filled in the 12th century they were united. From the time of its multinational the town was under the protection of the Byzantine Empire ; after the 4th Crusade the city came under the sovereignty of Venice (1205-1358), and by the Concord of Zadar in 1358 it became part of the Hungarian-Croatian Dominion, when it was effectively a republican free say reached its peak in the fifteenth and 16th centuries. A commercial crisis in Mediterranean shipping and, more especially, a catastrophic tremor on April 1667 that levelled almost all of the public buildings, destroyed the well-being of the Republic. This forceful tremor came as an important point in the city's development.

Dubrovnik is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a late-medieval walled city, with a regular street layout. Among the exceptional medieval, Renaissance and Baroque monuments in the wonderful fortifications and the gigantic gates to the city are the Town Hall (now the Rector's Palace), dating from the eleventh century ; the Franciscan Monastery (completed in the 14th century, but now principally Baroque in appearance) with its imposing church ; the intensive Dominican Monastery ; the cathedral (reconstructed after the 1667 tremor) ; the customs house (Sponza), the eclectic appearance of which exposes the proven fact that it's the work of one or two hands over many years ; and several other Baroque churches, for example that of St Blaise (guardian saint of the town).

The original International heritage preservation site consisted solely of the defences and the intra-mural city. It was later extended to include the Pile medieval industrial suburb, a planned development of the fifteenth century, and the Lovrijenac Fortress, located on a cliff, which was likely begun as early as the eleventh century, but owes its present appearance to the fifteenth and 16th centuries. Also included were the Lazarets, built in the early 17th century to house potential plague-carriers from abroad, the late 15th-century Kase moles, built to protect the port against south-easterly gales, and the Revelin Fortress, dating from 1449, which was built to command the town moat on its north side.

Six yachts finish in the same minute on the water!

The south westerly course and the prevailing 12 knot mistral produced a wind angle of ninety degrees for the first part of the race and 5 boats ran each other off to the left side of the course while the ensuing winner Alan Woodward stuck to the rum line with the other 4 yachts of the ten identical Beneteau First 45's. The fleet eventually came together as the finish line approached and in the end 6 of the ten yachts completed in the same minute on the water. The match racing hot shots filled the last 5 placings.

The post-race dinner at the Bourbon eaterie in Polace set the scene for a Roman style party, acceptable because Polace boasts the remains of a Roman villa.
All of the northerly end of Mljet is a nationwide park and the lay day was spent walking through the luxurious pine forests that surround Lake Jezero.

The next and last race was set on a course across to Kobas on the mainland but dawn broke on a glassy sea with really little prospect of wind. Around 12 nevertheless , and to everyone's surprise, a twelve knot south easterly filled in around 1pm and the fleet worked across the passage on a flat sea in perfect summer conditions. Once more the fleet split and those that stayed to sea caught the yachts looking for non-existent lifts along the shore. After a run to the finish the yachts again completed in a 'heap'.

The cunning Alan Woodward of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club stayed out of the match racing frays between Roger Hickman, Steve Barlow from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and David Buckman from the Port Lincoln Yacht Club. Alan finally won the day on handicap from Alan Hare, a racing beginner who delighted in leading the famous Roger Hickman for a big part of the last race.

The final two nights at the sumptuous Dubrovnik Palace Hotel saw a gentle wind down from an outstanding rally sailed in perfect conditions.
The 2012 Croatia Yacht Rally will be run by Mariner Sailing in the same 14 days of 2012 and will likely be improves by a new event in Croatia to the north of Split in the Kornati Islands. The Croatia Kornati Yacht Rally will be sailed in the 1st 14 days of September. Again a matched fleet of yachts will be used, all with battened mains, triple spreader rigs, folding propellers and deep keels. Three double cabins will provide spacious accommodation and a 4th twin cabin will be offering storage for baggage.

Details of the 2012 Croatia Yacht Rally are available on the internet and details of the Croatia Kornati Yacht Rally will shortly be available, writes tagza.com.
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