The 15^th annual Ocean Village/Boatshed Gibraltar-Morocco Yacht Rally, which took place over the long 12 June Bank Holiday weekend, has tripled the charity money raised last year and amassed an incredible £6,780.60 for the Gibraltar Red Cross.

Karl Bisset, Pier Master for Ocean Village Marina, said, “Ocean Village Marina has been hosting and sponsoring the Gibraltar-Morocco Rally for many years and it has gone from strength to strength.  Not only did the fundraising considerably beat all previous records, but there was also a more-than 30% increase in the number of yachts taking part, with over a third of them non-locally-based.  It was our pleasure to welcome these newcomers to Ocean Village Marina.  Long may ‘the most sociable yacht rally in the world’ continue.”   

Participants enjoyed near perfect sailing conditions at this year’s Rally, although, maybe, a little challenging for some of the smaller boats.  All crew reported seeing friendly dolphins with some schools having well over a hundred members.  Meanwhile several yachts returning on the Sunday afternoon were treated to the rare spectacle of a pod of fin whales just east of Gibraltar.

At the Rally’s post-event party on Saturday 20 June, Founder John Alcantara thanked all participants, the organising committee, headline sponsors Ocean Village and Boatshed Gibraltar, and main sponsors Gibraltar Port Authority, Eroski supermarket, GibOil, Sovereign Insurance, Hire U Shop and the Algeciras-based Isla Verde shipyard for their generous support.  Another 20 sponsors enabled the organising committee to source prizes, many of which were auctioned or raffled to raise funds for the charity. 

John concluded, “This event represents the core fabric of the Gibraltar yachting scene.  It just shows that with good planning, marketing and support, together we can raise sizeable funds for charity and have a fabulous weekend of sailing and social activities.”

Next year’s Rally is pencilled in for the weekend of 8 July 2016.  Interested parties should email boats@boatshedgibraltar.com or go to Facebook.com/boatshedgib to receive updates.

Contact Ocean Village on tel 00 350 200 400 48, email info@oceanvillage.gi or visit www.oceanvillage.gi. 

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