A harbour full of yachts is a ‘fantastic sight’

Scores of transiting yachts have given a huge boost to retailers and restaurants in St George’s.

Yesterday morning more than 60 yachts were either docked or anchored in St George’s Harbour.

Town Mayor Garth Rothwell described the influx of yachts as a “great start” to the summer season.

“The arrival of the yachts for the Arc Rally as well as other transiting crews has obviously brought a lot of welcome custom to the restaurants and other businesses,” he said.

“I counted more than 60 yachts in the harbour. It is a fantastic sight.

“We managed to get the dinghy dock up just in time and that has proved to be very useful.

“And we are targeting next year for the new marina so St George’s should be even more of an attraction to yachts and yacht rallies.”

Occupied

St George’s MP Kenneth Bascome added: “It’s certainly a bonus to have all these yacht crews in the town at the moment.

“It’s been a very busy week in St George’s and it seems all of the docks are occupied in the harbour.”

As well as the dozens of yachts taking part in the Arc Rally, St George’s has hosted several other trans-Atlantic yacht crews and cadet ships over the last week.

The town will welcome a second Rally of yacht crews later this summer in June.

Mr Rothwell added: “The Millennium ferry is back in Bermuda now so we have also seen an increase in the number of visitors coming to the town from Dockyard.

“And together with the yacht crews you can really notice how busy the town has been over the last few days.

“The big difference the yacht crews make is most noticeable in the evenings after the cruise visitors have returned to their ship.

“There are still plenty of people waking about the town once the last ferry has gone, which is obviously great to see.

“The last few days have shown again how important passing yacht custom can be for St George’s and we need to keep working to make sure they keep coming back.”