Cruising Paradise Islands

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(Ivan Verzar/David Cass/Seychelles Travel)

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(Ivan Verzar/David Cass/Seychelles Travel)

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(Ivan Verzar/David Cass/Seychelles Travel)

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What better way to explore multiple islands than by arriving from the sea? (Ivan Verzar/David Cass/Seychelles Travel)

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As well as racing, there are beautiful natural wonders to explore. (Ivan Verzar/David Cass/Seychelles Travel)

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As well as racing, there are beautiful natural wonders to explore. (Ivan Verzar/David Cass/Seychelles Travel)

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You know that you are a thousand miles from anywhere when you look at the horizon and there is no yellow pollution stain; when you look up and all you see is what nature put there - clear blue sky and fluffy white clouds and, specifically, not the condensation trails of jet aircraft laying the evidence of their carbon footprints 35,000 feet above the planet's surface.

Welcome to the Seychelles. Never was there a more appropriate advertising slogan than ‘...a thousand miles from anywhere', which was highly successful in attracting adventurers to the magnificent Seychelles archipelago around the turn of the 21st century. Quite appropriately named ‘The Paradise Isles', they are now beginning to gear up for the third annual Seychelles Sailing Cup, an event which is growing rapidly in stature and entrants despite being held, because of an already crowded international yachting calendar, in late January and early February. That's well into the Northern Monsoon period, when winds and weather can be, to say the least, unpredictable.

I was fortunate enough to take part in the first two events and by 2007 it had already been transformed from an out-and-out holiday attraction into an event that could begin to attract serious yachtsmen and women, as well as the northern Europe winter vacation set. Here is an opportunity for the adventurous holidaymaker to enjoy a unique combination of racing, fishing and eco-tourism, through a cleverly designed programme that takes in five of the Seychelles' main islands. Take the very first day of racing, for instance, when the 26 starters (almost a 100 per cent increase on the inaugural SSC) were scheduled to have two races, the first a 14-mile course between Baie St Anne, capital of Praslin Island, around Cousin island to Anse Lazio, followed by a little four-mile hop to the spectacular Cote d'Or.

Trouble was that nobody had booked the weather! The morning race began in light, five-knot winds that were barely enough to fill the racers' sails, then dropped to the lightest of zephyrs before a full on tropical squall with winds gusting up to over 30 knots blew in from the south west to bring a little excitement into the proceedings. This again abated into an hour of minimal puff, before switching 180 degrees and lifting to around seven knots once more, to at least provide an end to the race. By the time the last stragglers had arrived at Anse Lazio it was far too late to contemplate the second race, so the fleet motored round the point to Cote d'Or for the official opening of the event and a well earned barbecue supper. Such are the facts of life on the southern Indian Ocean in late January. Spirits, however, were far from dampened and the ensuing party blew away any disappointment from the racing day as crews looked forward to the long haul from Praslin to Denis Island on Day Two.

Despite the uncertain start, the first day's racing had heralded the SSC as a remarkable success story. In 2006 it had attracted 15 entries, of which only 12 made it to the start line. This year there were 26, mostly from Belgium, where the organiser, Philippe Martin's Briefing Organisation, is based. There were also six local entries, against two the previous year. By the end of the week the talented local skipper, Danny Gertrude, had sailed his Outeremer 55 to the multihull title, leaving last year's winner, the Catana 47, American Express, trailing to sixth place in his wake.

Maurice Lousteau-Lalane, the Seychelles Minister of Tourism, said that future growth would depend upon more local skippers making themselves available to assist the European crews in what is seen as much as a social event as it is a competition. It was a view endorsed by Philippe de Baetts, the Seychelles Consul to Belgium, who put together the American Express team. He believes that the competition aspect will grow in importance while the vacation aspect of the event will remain a major attraction.

Here is an opportunity, in the depths of the European winter, for the adventurous holidaymaker to enjoy a unique combination of racing, fishing and eco-tourism, through a cleverly designed programme that takes in five of the Seychelles' main islands. Rather than a full-on race, this event is about cruising the Paradise Isles as part of a sizeable fleet, racing or fishing between islands, with organised entertainment at each stopping point along the way. Most of the boats are provided by Loic Bonnet's Dream Yachts, the largest charter company by far in the Seychelles. Each comes complete with a local skipper to advise on local conditions, like the treacherous underwater rocks and wind conditions that can switch dramatically in the blink of an eye. If you are among those who prefer ‘go it alone' cruising, just delete the ‘organisation' from this experience and you can sample some of the most spectacular coves and coastlines on the planet while believing you are the only folks around - which you probably are, given the huge areas of open water that separate most of the 115 islands in the archipelago.

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