More than flight chaos, it’s holiday chaos. The jet fuel crisis, due to the conflict in the Persian Gulf and the tight knot around Hormuz, seriously threatens tourism, which experiences its best moment in the summer months. The news arriving is schizophrenic – from Lufthansa canceling 20,000 flights until October, to the CEO of Ryanar declaring: “Stocks guaranteed until May, then we’ll take a guess” – and in addition to fanning the flames of uncertainty, they throw early bookers into despair, those who in April not only have clear ideas about where they will spend their holidays, but have also already booked them, starting with the flight.

Doubts reign, and last minute doesn’t come to the rescue this time, because in that case the risk is paying an exorbitant price. So, should you book now with the risk of having your flight canceled due to fuel shortages – and here there is still the unknown issue of refunds, which the EU is working on – or wait hoping not to run into exaggerated price increases? It’s the question that has been at the table for weeks with friends, in the office, at the bar, in the family. Moreover, in the spring the worry about the gas bills that could arrive next year is not even on the horizon, the priority is to organize Ferragosto.

Sailboat fashion

The dilemma seems already resolved. “Let’s make a boat.” Anyone who has among their friends, or even simple acquaintances, inveterate holidaymakers who would never give up at least a week at the seaside this summer will have heard this proposal at least once. The alternative is the train, but the destinations are drastically reduced and the journey becomes longer. To go from Rome to Croatia, you can get to Trieste in 6 hours by high speed, from there rent a car and drive another 4 to Zadar. Otherwise you can take a ferry to Split from Ancona, but the fuel problem is the same as for planes.

Our beautiful Italy remains an excellent parachute and the sailing boat – which in recent years has represented the most accessible bridge for an exclusive holiday close to that of the ‘rich’ (who meet offshore or in the harbor) – becomes the most popular choice. There are many tour operators who organize group trips, or who rent the boat with a skipper, and offer convenient packages. In high season, renting a sailing boat in Sardinia for 6 people, with skipper, costs around 600 euros each, excluding food and fuel (the little you need). Even less in 8, squeezing together a little and sharing the only bathroom on board. An affordable sum, which falls within the summer budget of average salaries and has made this type of holiday a trend for a while now.

Oversailing

It will be this scenario of uncertainty that will definitively explode it, consecrating it in the Olympus of the middle class. Between the Aeolian, Egadi, Tremiti, Pontine and other wonderful local archipelagos, from Sardinia to Tuscany, this year we will witness oversailing rather than overtourism.

More or less modest boats to show off on social media, zooming in on the best details. An all-Italian ‘flotilla’ that doesn’t give up on holidays. And even the sea becomes “low cost”.