Boating trips, soccer skills

ANYONE interested in sailing or boating holidays? If so, it should be worth going to Malahide, Co Dublin, for this weekend’s Boat Show where holiday offers are available from €280 per person.

Carrying an estimated total value of €35m, up to 180 boats will spread their sails across Malahide Marina in varying sizes from 10ft to an 82ft luxury cruiser.

This Irish Marine Federation event will also unfold holiday options from charters in the Mediterranean to white water rafting in Wales and sailing courses too.

Whether you want to sail in the Seychelles, cruise in Australia or to soak up the sun along Spain’s coast, Cosmos Yachting offer both fully-crewed and bare-yacht charters in a host of destinations.

Greece is a hugely popular spot for sailing with numerous islands and ports to be explored. A 3-berth yacht for 7 nights from Athens starts at €990 per week. For further information visit www.cosmosyachting.com.

Wales Waterways offers family sailing trips for €890 for two days with meals, accommodation and equipment for four people. It also offers three-day novice courses, with a cost of €390 per person. Details: www.waleswatersports.co.uk.

Ireland boasts 6,200 km of coastline and 800km of navigable inland waterways so is it any wonder that more than 50,000 Irish people participate in marine activity on an average summer weekend alone.

For home birds, Waterways Ireland will unlock all information whether you want to stay on a cruiser or take a boat for a day trip. For more information log onto www.waterwaysireland.org.

Show times are: Today and tomorrow, 10am-6pm; Monday, 10am-5pm. More info: www.dublinboatshow.com

* SLATTERY’S Travel are offering escorted tours to a couple of South America’s most spectacular destinations, Peru and Bolivia, departing on November 3.

The tour is priced at €3,689 per person sharing, and includes flights, transfers, first-class accommodation, breakfast daily, five lunches and four dinners and professional local guides. One of Slattery’s tour directors will accompany the party to and fro.

For more information, contact Norma McElligott or Annette Rochford; telephone [phone] or [e-mail].

* IF the children are dying to Bend it like Beckham, they might get the chance in a soccer school with Siblu holidays. The France specialist is relaunching its football skills service on eight family-holiday parks in July and August, with pro-coaching provider Premier Soccer School offering the expertise. The school recommends very good players for trials at professional clubs. Five-day coaching, can be booked for €40 at the French Holiday Centre in Marlborough Street, Cork: 021 4272527 with Suzanne McMahon.

Courses will run in July and August in Brittany, Vendee and Charente Maritime, Aquitaine, and Languedoc. More info: www.frenchholidaycentre.ie