Dear reader, I have only last week taken over as the General Secretary and will try to keep you informed about the preparations for the Open Europeans.

Thank you, Maria, for the good work you have done and I count on having access to the base of information you have collected since you started in this job 10 months ago.

Last week was the coldest week in Helsinki for 50 years. However, we do believe that warmer times are ahead and that the ice covering the Gulf of Finland will melt well before the Open Europeans crowd arrives.

A lot of things are going on within the Open Europeans organisation, let me highlight a few of them:

1. Accomodation

Rather few of you have already reserved rooms for your stay in Helsinki. We strongly recommend that you have a look at the offering of our accommodation partner Scandic Hotels and make your reservation as long as their special rates apply. Last summer all hotels in Helsinki were fully booked in July so do not wait too long! The Scandic hotels are located within reasonable distance from the Hernesaari base and they are also in the city centre or close to it.

For those of you who bring your own camper or mobile home or caravan, there will be parking possibilities on the Hernesaari base area at a charge of 25€ per day.

Tents for living in will not be allowed in the Hernesaari area but there are camping sites nearby which offer all necessary services.

However, if your country team requires a tent for meetings etc.., they can be ordered from us. Conditions for renting a tent are as follows ( 29.6 – 15.7, prices to be confirmed)

- Tent 8m*4m + 2 tables + 12 chairs + electricity 1600€.
- Tent 6m*3m + 1 table + 6 chairs + electricity 1400€.
- Tent 3m*3m + 1 table + 4chairs + electricity 1000€.

Note that the number of such tents is limited too, so please do come back to this issue as soon as possible.

2. Entries

For most classes the entry processing is handled by their international organisations. The Finn and Womens’ Match classes are the exceptions. The Entry form for the Finn class will be posted on the Open Europeans web site in the next few days and the Match entry issues are handled as specified in Notice of Race available now on that same web site.

3. Coach boats

We have had requests about renting coach boats. This obviously is a good alternative particularly for those who come from far away.
The Open Europeans organization is working on this, trying to locate boats from private persons and from professional renting companies. RIBs are difficult to get as a large number is required for the race organization and as in Finland we mostly use boats made of fibre glass or aluminium. However, properly equipped they can be used for coaching too.
If you wish to rent a coach boat, please let us know and we will try to connect you to somebody who can help you.

4. How to get to Helsinki

To get to Helsinki, most of you will have to take a ferry. There are ferry lines between Helsinki and e.g. Tallinn, Travemünde and Stockholm. Key ferry companies are Tallink Silja, Viking Line and Finnlines – all of them have their internet sites for information and reservations.

We are negotiating with all of these companies to have special deals but do not expect significant discounts as the ferries are anyway very booked in June and July and the companies thus have only limited interest in providing special rates.

On our website you will soon find information about any special deals we may get but we strongly recommend you to make at least a preliminary reservation as soon as possible.

The shortest – and thus cheapest - ferry crossing is between Tallinn and Helsinki. If you choose that alternative you obviously have to take the time to drive to Tallinn along the constantly improving Via Baltica.

5. Coach registration

Coaches are required to register before arriving to the Hernesaari venue. There will be a fee for 50€ for each coach covering the costs for the mooring and certain other services. The coaches are also required to act as rescue boats should conditions require that. A registration form will be posted on the Open Europeans site by Mid-March.

6. Tracking

A deal with the Danish Trac Trac company has been signed. All classes will be included in the live tracking experience and Trac Trac will also be an official sponsor of the Open Europeans.

I look forward to seeing you in Helsinki. In the mean time, do visit www.openeuropeans2011.com regularly.

Yours,
Patrick Andersson
General Secretary, Open Europeans
pata_andersson(at)hotmail.com
c/o NJK
Koivusaari Etelä
00200 Helsinki, FINLAND

28/2/2011 00:00