A pleasant picnic and a broken mast

I go on a day out with a group of local friends – sailing down an estuary in our dinghies to land on a beach for a picnic. But our short cruise has unexpected consequences... The boats are three Ilurs, an Aber and a Silmaril. All of them were designed by François Vivier. MUSIC Lonely River Footsteps in the Sand by Roots and Recognition La Marseillaise traditional All from Epidemic Sound www.epidemicsound.com INTERESTED IN DINGHY CRUISING? Read my book, "The Dinghy Cruising Companion" www.bloomsbury.com And join the Dinghy Cruising Association: www.dinghycruising.org.uk AVEL DRO Do you want a boat like mine? Avel Dro is an Ilur designed by François Vivier, and built of clinker plywood by Les Charpentiers Reunis of Cancale in 1994. I bought her in France in 2003 to import her into the UK, and more recently returned her to France again. The design is based closely on the traditional inshore fishing boats of Brittany in the early years of the twentieth century – hence her simple boom-less lugsail rig and lack of a mainsheet horse, (sometimes controversial among my viewers). Although rare in Britain, Ilurs are relatively common in France. Modern Ilurs are however slightly different internally from mine, as they have more built in buoyancy. The name Avel Dro is Breton, Avel = wind, Dro = to turn – so it means a whirlwind. Length 4.44 m Sail area 12.2 m² Beam 1.70 m Draught 0.25 / 0.86 m Displacement loaded with camping and sailing gear 400 kg Design category C3 François Vivier's website (in English): www.vivierboats.com/en/ Similar dinghies can often be found for sale on the website of the French magazine Le Chasse-Marée: www.chasse-maree.com/revue/ Or try Le Bon Coin, (where you can buy anything in France): www.leboncoin.fr BREXIT AND BOATS Since January 2021, when Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) left the European Single Market, if you buy a boat in France or elsewhere in the EU with the intention of importing it into the UK, you are liable for VAT and other duties on the import – even if it is second hand. Similar charges will be due if you take a British boat the other way. This does not apply to a boat taken to another country for a brief holiday, however.