” Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed in the things that you didn’t do than in the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover. ” Mark Twain

it all started from this...

Δε φοβάμαι τόσο τις ανοιχτές θάλασσες. Τ’άγρια κύματα. Τα πεινασμένα σκυλόψαρα. Πιο πολύ με φοβίζει η πλήξη των λιμανιών. Η αβάσταχτη απειλή των κάβων… Αλκυόνη Παπαδάκη …
Απο το βιβλίο “Σκισμένο ψαθάκι” της Αλκυόνης Παπαδάκη

The Captain

My name is Dimitris Krassopoulos and I am Greek. I have studied aerospace engineering in Germany and I was involved in the computer Industry in Greece. I was a shareholder in various companies in the information Technology sector. From the summer of 2005 I have sold all my shares and I am now more involved in the yachting industry.

captain Dimitris

I like very much sailing and on my website I wish to invite everybody who is interested in sailing as much as I do. I am a member of the Yacht Club of Greece (NOE)and I wish also to be in touch with Amel owners to exchange views about sailing an Amel boat.
In the past from 1996 to 2002 we owned an Amel Santorin, which we sailed in the Aegean sea. The name of our boat was ” Aeolian Fantasy”. My crew was me, at that time, wife Gianna and two daughters Hara and Elena age 11 and 14 respectively.
After having wonderful memories sailing our boat in Greece our boat Aeolian Fantasy has been sold as we have decided to upgrade and buy the Amel Super Maramu 2000. We wish to the new owner to have the same wonderful time on board their new boat. In June 2002 we took delivery of our new boat ” ALMA LIBRE ” and we have sailed our new boat to Greece. In the section Captain’s Log you can follow our cruise from Hyeres to Greece and back to Hyeres as I plan to change the boat and buy the new Amel 54. I will post a comparison between the Super Maramu 2000 and Amel 54 as I could not find any detailed comparison in the world wide web. This is going to be my third Amel boat.
In the winter time we are sailing in Saronikos, which is the golf around Athens. Our boat is based in Kalamaki Marina ready to be sailed all year around exept for one month which is necessary for the maintenance. As the weather in Greece is very mild we can sail the boat 11 months per year. I believe that only with an Amel you enjoy so much care free sailing with a low experience crew. As the children grow they are not so willing to follow in the sailing and I am trying to find new ways to be more time onboard. A sail racing page is now available with our racing adventures.

Interests

My main interest is sailing. My dream was to sail around the world with my family. I admire people that have the passion to make such a dream come true, not only from the sailing point of view, but also for their determination to educate their own children and to teach them the real values of life.
As this dream can’t be realized I found out that participating in yacht races gives me the reason to spend more time onboard with fellow sailors and friends even when weather conditions are not favorably for cruising. You may refer to the Sailing page available with the ” Alma Libre ” racing adventures.

I believe that the Amel is a wonderful boat that you have to sail by yourself to be able to judge. However I am very glad to give you my personal opinion after sailing the boat for 8 years in the Aegean sea and also during the delivery of the boat from France to Greece. Before buying the Amel Santorin boat we owned a french Galliant Ketch motorsailer Athos, with two engines that had a poor sailing performance .

Athos in Sporades

We were looking for a sailing boat that could be sailed by two or single handed. We are sailing with my wife and two small children age 8 and 11 by now so you can imagine that we have to have a boat that could be handled by one person most of the time. The Super Maramu is such a boat that you feel total security even with 7 beaufort and two kids in the cockpit. I believe that the Santorin and now the Super Maramu 2000 are the only boats in the market that it are made to be sailed every week end as you practically do not need crew to sail it you can even leave alone if you like. The thinking behind it is very wise. No maintenance as the boat is so well thought practically you can do all the maintenance by yourself. You can change oil and all the other regular maintenance by yourself as the engine room is big and you do all the necessary works with ease. There is no wood on the exterior of the boat so you do not need to varnish anything for the season. The system for dropping the dinghy in the water is excellent and although there are no davits for the dinghy you can prepare it very easily. I have a zodiac 3.1 meter dinghy with inflatable bottom that is excellent and a 8hp Yamaha engine. Even the outboard engine can be lowered easily on the dinghy with a well thought system. In the harbor you can moor the boat easily due to the powerful bow thruster that is lowered when you need it and is really very useful. In the present mooring in Kalamaki Greece I would have been unable to move the boat without the bow thruster as the position is very crowded. Last week end we put the boat in place Mediterranean style with 25 knots cross wind if you can do it without bow thruster in the particular position in the marina you are an artist.

Regarding the sailing characteristics: I believe that the boat is sailing excellent despite the weight and volume and without effort. Due to the furling of the sails you can adjust the sail area easily to the wind and continue sailing when others are fighting to put a reef. The windward characteristics are impressive for such a cruising boat. I believe that the Super Maramu is a boat that provides pleasure in sailing it and not to prepare it for sailing. At the end you are sailing much more than any other boat as you open the sails whenever a suitable wind is coming even 2 miles before entering the marina. Regarding the light wind characteristics going downwind I have only used once the famous dual poles systems and I was amazed I look forward to be able to use the system on trade wind sailing down wind it should be a dream come true. The sail we use very often is the mizzen staysail which provide one more knot sailing on the beam reach and down wind to 120 degrees with a maximum wind force of 15 knots apparent. The systems of the boat work very well and are of excellent quality. We have never had any serious problem that I could not solve by myself with very low cost. The boat has even an air-conditioning system that is working very good in the summer with cold air and winter with hot air and the boat stays completely dry even in the most humid days or rain or storm in the sea the boat is dry which is very important for the shelf life of the systems, instruments, cabling etc. The Raymarine system is one of the best on the market the same also for the Autopilot , Radar , VHF etc. The quality of the fiberglass and the overall construction is very good and you only need to put antifouling once per year if you want not to reduce the speed of the boat due to barnacles etc.
I really believe that Amel is producing excellent boats. The best way to find out is to sail one . If you need any additional information do not hesitate to contact me again

Written by: admin on September 7, 2011.
Last revised by: on September 25, 2011.