Free Spirit Jezera: Seascape sailing centre at the gateway to the Kornati islands

Sailing centres are, unfortunately, rare. You have to imagine them as a mixture of school and charter business, holiday camp and beach bar. In other words, challenging and stimulating, but also incredibly relaxed. The best-known centres include Wildwind in Greece, Sail & Surf Pollensa on Mallorca and the Stickl Sportcamp on Lake Garda.

Recently, there is now an equivalent in Croatia, the favourite Mediterranean destination of Germans and Austrians. In a beautiful corner of Dalmatia, in Jezera on Murter, just ten nautical miles south-east of the Kornati National Park, Barbara Brencic and her partner Ivan Nemet Free Spirit Sailing.

Their speciality is not only that they only have Seascapes - currently two 18s and two 24s. From the coming season, two Seascape 14s, the new one- and two-man planing dinghy (test soon in YACHT), will also be added. If there is no or too much wind, half a dozen SUPs are available for paddling and mountain bikes for island tours.

Free Spirit offers one of the most varied programmes of courses and activities: from beginners' courses to regatta training, from bareboat charters to guided flotilla trips to the most beautiful bays of the Kornati, which can often only be reached by swing-keel boats.

If you are travelling with a large charter yacht from Biograd, Zadar, Trogir or Split, you can stop off at the ACI marina in Jezera and try out one of the Seascapes for just a few days, provided they are not chartered out for longer periods (160 euros per day for the Seascape 18, 250 euros for the 24; 10 percent discount for three days or longer).

There are also a number of other events, such as family courses and cruises as well as the Freedive Sailing Week, during which a diving instructor accompanies the participants and teaches them apnoea diving during the sailing breaks.

For last-minute travellers, here are the next dates for the guided flotilla cruises, which Free Spirit calls "Chasing Kornati Week".

• 18 to 24 August
• 15 to 21 September

Participants can choose to sleep on the boats or in a konoba on the Kornati islands, which serves as a base and catering station for the duration of the trip. Further information here.