My Quick breakdown
Diesel £195
8 Nights accommodation, food & drink £940
Entry £66
Measuring (approx) £40
Association fees (approx) £20
Ferry £600
As you can see I have budgeted quite a lot for accommodation, food and drink etc and this figure could be reduced if I slept in the van or tent but as for cooking (the wife wouldn't be coming). I also wouldn't be up to it after a days racing so I'd be eating at Restaurants. I also find that I do tend to spend quite a lot even when doing a weekend event here in the UK. £200 just seems to disappear so looking at the year ahead we have currently got about 5 planned events, so theres a £1,000 gone before Zandvoort. I think the kids will be on bread and water rations soon. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Right, you are taking a comfortable approach (who wouldn't?) to the event, whereas I'll bring a 18 year old crew desperate to sail. Wife and kids stay at home, so no need for a hotel. Tenting and cooking is very nice if you have the right gear, routine and is used to it. It's not for everybody..
You could probably knock off some of the cost (or increase them, like the food&drink tab), but hotel-food-drink and the ferry is hard to get around if you have to bring the family. Thanks for the setup. Looks like your cost for going to this even is larger than what my F-16 platform will cost to build.

Mark, I'll lend you my camping stove, it has twin rings and a grill!! You can even borrow my composter and shredder if you want. I'll throw in some tins of beans and things also.

Sue
Company Director

You're all heart, John doesn't deserve you!! When I win the lottery I will remember your kindness in this respect and others <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Don't take the Harwich -> hook ferry, but one of the Calais ferries. MUCH cheaper.

Wouter

And why not the tent on the trampoline...

No standing room, and too much risk of setting fire to the boat when cooking. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Cold smoked Norwegian salomon does not set fire on your boat eh...

Thought the F 16 was about to bring your boat, sail and have fun, and to h… with the winner because he is cheating anyway.

Sailing all day, then eating raw fish.. That's a bit too much, even for us west coasters. Give me some fenalår instead (salted and dried meat).

Totally agree with your last post. It can rip a class apart, but..


Looking forward to the next chapter of your boatbuilding blog btw.

If the class is worth something this will never happen. Look at the windsurfing or the minitransat, they started as something fun, simple and affordable to everyone, and they are not dead today only out of reach without sponsors…

Since the tunnel has not been mentioned in this thread I would gather that the tunnel is more expensive than ferries to get across the Channel?

Well done Mary, I've just looked at their website and it was £200 pound cheaper than a P&O Ferry (Harwich to Hook).

When we used to go to Texel we always took the freight ferries as they were cheaper with a trailer, from Harwich to Hook i think stena has a freight ferry.

Gareth

I think there is only a freight ferry. The slow Stena thing is 95% trucks. The fast thing is a mix, but is pretty much the same price as an overnight ferry + accommodation (which is compulsory for the overnight ones). The day-time crossing times of the slow one are hopeless.

I took the overnight ferry in September. Came to £500 return including cabin (work paid <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />). Very civilised way to do it. Get on board, decent dinner (included), couple of beers, and wake up somewhere convenient (then drive like a loony because the race is at 10am and they've closed the bl**dy motorway)

Going via Calais is cheaper - I've found the ferry to be cheaper than the tunnel with trailer - but there's a reasonable drive on the other side. A reasonable way to do it would be to get a late ferry/tunnel crossing, find a Formule 1 near Calais (all of £20 for a room) and finish the journey in the morning.

(edit: Mark - you said P&O - did you mean that? I thought that only Stena did Harwich -> Hook)

(edit: Oh yeah, one of the less well-known advantages of the F16 class is that packed sensibly, they'll fit inside the 6m trailer length bracket on the ferries...)

Paul

... and any further delay is now down to me. I'll get it on the site shortly.

Paul

I think that's probably a bit keen - I reckon I could do accommodation + food in one of the Schiphol 5-stars for that. Mind you, not sure I could fund that performance enhancing drug that you seem so keen on <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The only meal I've had in Zandvoort was a decent pizza coming to all of EUR9, so I reckon it should be possible to do on a sensible budget.

I'm sure that Hans can provide some suggestions for accommodation.

Paul

Another cost saver.

Pack two F16's on one trailer.

Wouter

I think some people are making some very negative comparisons concerning costs.

The entry-fee for Eurocat at Carnac is more expensive (for 3 days. Maybe 6 laps and 1 long-distance if you're lucky.) then the entry-fee of the GC.
Entry-fee of Texel ... + ferry to the island !
We also have 1 or 2 day events in Belgium that already cost half the price or more then the GC.

Next to that I must say that you always have to take a lot of extra costs into account if you're going abroad to sail.
I think it's even better to have 6 days of sailing instead of 4 because the major costs (transportation/accomodation)will be exactly the same.

Last thing, I'm guessing to pay € 30 for a hotelroom/night + breakfast. add € 65 to eat+expense/day and you'll be around € 100/day * 7 = € 700 (+/- £ 500 ?).

(What about hiring a big appartment with a couple of teams to reduce costs ?)

I wasn't making comparisons when I posted my original thread. But now you've come to mention it there can be no comparison between Carnac and GC. Carnac and Texel etc are in a league of their own attracting some of the largest Cat fleets and the best Cat sailors in the World, GC isn't.
What you say about the duration of the event I would agree with but the GC has included 3 measuring days one of which is also includes an invitational race or do they mean practice race?
Lastly, No way could you do B&B in an ordinary seaside hotel here in the UK and then keep going through out the day on £66 or 100 euros. I didn't realise things were so cheap in Holland.