EMYR 2009 Comes To North Cyprus
May 29, 2009 by Essential Ed
Filed under See & Do, Water Activities
Well it was all but a brief visit, but the arrival of the yachting fraternity to North Cyprus was a lovely spectacle to watch. The 2009 Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally descended on North Cyprus on Saturday 23rd May with boats arriving all morning into the New Harbour’s Delta Marina. Due to some issues with local boat owners not wishing to vacate the old harbour all the arriving yachts were moored at the new harbour, but it didn’t detract from the event, rather it served to drive home the popularity of the rally with being able to see all the boats in one place.
Boats started arriving very early, and from up in the mountains you were able to see clusters of yachts sailing in 
together from miles away. The participants had set sail early morning time from Alanya in Turkey which sits to the north west of the TRNC coastline, so to see the shores of North Cyprus must have been pretty nice as the weather was perfect and the sea very calm. This year a total of around 60 boats made the journey.
It is a truly international event with boats flying the flags of many different countries. We managed to spot some from countries such as France, Germany, America, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand amongst probably dozens of others which made for a very colour event indeed! The boats also were varied from large catamarans to 
smaller yachts, some older and some newer, although not being very knowledgeable on the boat side of things, it would not be sensible to guess at the different types we saw!
The EMYR has already been in full flow for exactly one month, with participants starting from Istanbul and working their way down the Aegean and Mediterranean coast with various stop off points along the way. The event is not however due to finish for another month and a bit yet, so there is a long way to go, with the event finishing on 4th July at Herzliya in Israel.
With all the participants having safely arrived and moored they were then treated to a few days of events and entertainment t
o offer them the chance to experience some true Turkish Cypriot culture during their stay. Their first night was a reception at Kyrenia Castle, where they were treated to a wonderful display of Turkish Cypriot folk dancing which the folk dancers enjoyed just as much as the guests! There were also plans for a visit to St Hilarion Castle and a concert at Bellapais Abbey on the agenda before the participants departed.
With a wave goodbye, boats set sail on Tuesday 26th May, this time for Mersin on the south coast of Turkey. From there they will sail on to another 11 ports in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Israel, so it’s a long journey ahead of them, but one which should be very rewarding; and if the weather remains as good as it is then what a lovely way to spend the next few weeks! 
In the next few years hopefully there will not be an issue for the EMYR organisation with regards to mooring facilities, as the North Cyprus Port Cyprium Marina should be in full swing and will have no problems in inviting the event to moor at its state of the art facility, and will begin what is hoped to be an acknowledgement of what North Cyprus has to offer the ever growing sailing fraternity.