(Las Palmas, Canary Islands)- The 200+ boats that are sailing this
year's ARC Rally across 2,800 nm of open Atlantic Ocean are experiencing
a handful of weather conditions. Normally, crews can expect a gentle
start from Gran Canaria once they've passed the wind acceleration zones
at the south of the island. Then it is a case of “sailing south until
the butter melts” and then gybing to the west and pointing the bows at
Saint Lucia with the trade winds of 25+ knots pushing boats along at a
fine pace.However, at the start of this year's edition, the weather forecast was a bit more exciting than it had been in previous races. The low pressure centered about 50NM south east of Gran Canaria developed a strong northeast flow of 15-25 kts for several days. Plus, the frontal system was tossing in some clouds and squally showers containing some strong gusts of wind. Now after seven plus days at sea, there's not an isobar to be seen!
As a result, the winds are abating and calmer seas are now the norm, especially for those boats leading the fleet. On one boat, the Navigator "Mirand" wrote, “Not an isobar printed on screen for hundreds of miles on the synoptic chart. Light and fluky breeze on the menu for the next day or so. There are a few large clouds around, but we have been left in peace so far today. It's quiet in the midday heat, the crew keeping movement to a minimum, and occupying patches of shade.“ While the racing boats are becoming frustrated, for the cruising boat the lighter conditions mean an easier and more relaxing life at sea.
To that end, the crew on the J/145 ACE may appear to be sailing in the lap of luxury, but by all accounts even a yacht this large can become quite small in the vast expanse of ocean. Here are some of their latest, entertaining, insightful and thought-provoking reports below.
"Dec 1st- Good Morning, my turn! Forgive me if I am redundant but we all agreed that we would not read each others updates until the crossing was over. Another glorious day in the North Atlantic with strong winds and a mix of squalls and sunny clear skies. Ace continues to slide along comfortably and very day it seems we exceed the previous day's fastest speed. This morning Rob was driving during a squall associated blast of air and exceeded 23 knots. That is about 26mph. Have someone drive along in your car at that speed and stick you head out the window, you will get tyne idea. Everyone continues to be healthy and covering each otter in terms of safety. I could not asked for a better group with whom to do this crossing. Everyone pitches in, gets along and we have an abundance of sailing skills knowledge and experience at many levels. There are many things that we did right on this trip and I cannot think of much we have down wrong. We debated bringing a steward along to cook, clean up and provision the boat leaving the sailing to the crew. Fortunately we did not do that and instead my brother William came with us and he has been outstanding and an inspiration to us all leading the cooking team of Adrian, Richard, Spider and himself. Adrian remarked to me last night that he did not think the food would have been better if we had brought a cook. We all agree. We have had many delicious meals of salads, home made soups, stews, fish, pasta and rice. Some days the cooking team, today it is Richard and William, is making a vegetable soup of the vegetables that need to be used. No doubt it ail be delicious.
We continue to make good progress reaching along (gentlemen do not go to weather) in excess of 10 knots. We have moved into second place in our class. Since more than 50 boat left two days ahead of us, including 2 in our class we may actually be leading there fleet. Time will tell. But that is not our objective. Our objective is to have fun which we have been doing. Last night on my watches spent time looking at the stars and identifying constellations and got drawn into reveries of the mythology of Orion, Pegasus, Sagittarius, Canis Minor and Major, et al. It is addicting to start to understand the stars identified by ancient mariners who sailed these seas navigation by these stars, including Columbus who left from the Canaries as we did more than 500 years ago.
For me this adventure is about the camaraderie and the voyage, but one learns as much about oneself as the sailing, the boat, the seas and the wind. Minor problems such as we had two nights ago, when we had some minor gear problems, take me into myself, my relationships, my motivations and my place in this world. When morning broke, we fixed the gear problems, we are back to full speed with full sails and I felt a profound sense of great privilege to be doing this with these men. Special thanks to my wonderful family to whom I am grateful for allowing and encouraging to do this. I love you all. Pax
Dec 2nd- 3rd Cruising A, 43rd overall in DTF! Sailing around 60+ footers! Happy Sunday dear family and friends, my time to chime in. As the novice in offshore sailing plus being from a landlocked country it took me as expected a few days to find my sailors legs, hence no way I cold have sat at a computer and typed anything remotely sensible (maybe I still ) Best only to go below deck for sleeping only for all I know. When thinking yesterday evening of "dark and stormies" it wasn't exactly of a never ending series of swells during the night I had in mind but there we were; reefed main sail only up and still we averaged nine knots and peaked and at twice that. Anyway as Strauss' song says "and tomorrow the sun will shine again" which concludes my deep nautical insights.
What's best: seven guys sharing an incredible experience and having all the consideration for each other that the sparse quarters seem still small but a little bit larger than when we stepped aboard. To boot: Sharing the exhilaration of surfing down one more perfectly caught long atlantic wave at 20+ knots. The low points - forget about it. But it has to do with equipment failure (fixed since). And last: to be able to share this unbelievable experience with this group of friends aboard the ever trustworthy SY ACE.
For all of us greetings and cheers to you. You are all on our mind and present conversations and to my family: I love you very much- Adrian
Dec 3rd- Greetings from one of the Ace crew on day six of our sail. We are now just passing the midpoint of the journey distance-wise while we continue to make very solid progress, racking over 200 miles per day on average. As the least experienced member of the team, I'll offer a few observations to help color the rich details of the experience thus far from one unaccustomed to such stuff.
My day began- like each of us- with a nudge in the middle of the night, the probe of the red light of a headlamp shining unobtrusively inches from my face, and a whisper that it's my time. It is my time, at 01:30 hours, to rise and rotate the two person watch on deck -- 4 hours on, eight off, 24/7, driving ACE westward.
Rising stiffly from the narrow bunk, dropping to the floor whilst grabbing hold of the center console to stem the lurching, I make my way to the head to don my now heavy rain gear -- bib overalls, jacket, and life vest -- all soggy from the salt sprays of the surf and the freshwater dousing of the short powerful squalls of the preceding evening.
Making my way onto deck, a mumble of greeting to the two figures, I sit to windward, hook in my life line, look around, and take the measure of the morning. The speed and power of Ace barreling through the swells at 10 knots quickly strips away the fog of sleep as the night sky emerges, the instruments come into focus, and the unchanged rolling of the seascape and boat wake take shape.
In a few minutes, I take the wheel with my fresh assignment to steer our course of 260 degrees -- more or less -- as Ace continues to surge forward. Winds are ranging from the low to high 20's, a passing squall douses Fred and I, and a surging wave sends me sprawling briefly.
I am at the wheel, flying in the night, with Ace surfing and ploughing her way forward at unbelievable speed. I have a huge, unseen grin on my face. This, I think to myself, is sailing.
A couple of observations to help complete the picture. First, unquestionably, is the scale, power and rapid variability of the ocean around us. We are but a little pig pong ball blowing along her surface. Second is the depth and professionalism of the crew, most evident during sail changes and adjustments on a rolling deck of a lurching locomotive, and in calmly deliberating approaches to emerging issues as they arise. Thirdly, Ace herself is an incredible performer thus far, with muscular power, speed and performance that it itself deeply impressive and relentless.
There is also the human dimension that lies at the rich core of the adventure, both in personal terms as we each explore our own spaces and as we contribute to a working human chemistry amongst the seven of us, all crammed into this surging locomotive. In short, things are good- William
Dec 4th- What do you get when you put a lawyer, two architects, an artist, yacht broker, businessman and yacht captain in a 48 foot boat for seven days? Surprisingly enough, a very cohesive crew. Hailing from Switzerland, Scotland and the United States, our 7 member crew has an average age of 54 years with 23 years spanning the largest gap. Three of our crew have crossed the Atlantic multiple times while two of our crew have never been to sea before. When not at sea each crew member is a captain of their own sort when at their respective jobs. We constrain these 7 unique individuals in a 48' x 13' vessel and set them loose on a 2700+ mile journey across the ocean. While there is one "Captain" of the vessel, all crew share duties and do their part to make the trip safe, fast and enjoyable without ego. We cook. We clean. We sail. We talk. We debate. We learn. We have lost family (one a mother another a father). We read about Columbus, Caravans, History, 50 Shades of Grey and House of Holes (don't ask). We have seen ships, competitors, dolphin, flying fish, squid and a whale. We deal with leaks above bunks, stuffed toilets, sail changes, food management and house keeping with out complaint. We do not argue. We are a team. We are a good team. We are a happy team. We are half way there.
One thousand thirteen hundred miles separate us from our families, friends and responsibilities. We still have many challenges ahead. We will have light winds to deal with before the trade winds return. We have boats to catch and boats to hold off. We have jokes and stories to tell. There is still so much time for each of us to learn more from one another and together. There is always something to learn when at sea. It is a university all of it's own. But today is a special day. Today is our half way point. Today we remember absent friends. Rest in peace Charlyn Fisher. Rest in peace John Dowling. Best to all- Chris
Dec 5th- Start of Day 9. Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. I'm sure you're all bored of hearing about how happy we all are, how well we are getting along, how we are finding both peace and inspiration in the smallest of details…..well I thought it might be an apropos time to tell you some of the real details. Some of the true facts about our day to day life at sea, 9 days out on a small 48 foot boat.
To begin, the boat stinks. Not in sailing ability but I mean it has a foul odor that seems to have saturated everything and everyone. The forward cabin, or the place that Chris and I call home, has earned several nicknames, the most popular being "Fetid Swamp", "Crepuscular cave", or just plain, "ghetto." A deck pad-eye above Chris' port side bunk has been leaking since we left and thus his bed is virtually floating in a sea of rust colored salt water weeping from the headliner. My starboard bunk is in much better shape with only the spinnaker pole constantly dripping sea water into my berth. And oh yeah, the overhead hatch has a leak and leaks on to my bunk as well. We tried to air the boat out yesterday by opening the hatches during a period of relative calm. Bad decision. While Chris was dancing on the foredeck with his headphones on, he failed to notice the wave that was washing across the foredeck and rolling onto our bunks. I believe Bruno Mars, "Runaway" was playing on his iPod. What I also failed to mention was the forward sail locker open to our cabin has been housing the slowly rotting fruit and vegetables which William was steadfastly been trying to get us to consume, despite our fierce reluctance to eat rotten and spoiled food. Perhaps a depression baby? And the last straw thrown on the forward cabin Camels back was that the aft head was "broken" a few days back by a dynamic duo to remain unnamed, and thus all 7 un-showered bodies have been doing their dailies between the leaks and the decaying vegetables beside our bunks in the Ghetto. Please don't think that the other bunks and areas of the boat are immune to this sort of tragedy. Little Ricky's bunk had a flood from an overhead port light left open, as did Prince William's, and the port light above Adrian's bunk has had a steady drip, though he hardly looks up from reading "50 Shades of Grey" to notice. Chris lack of sleep seems to have developed into an allergy to the galley. Fred is constantly looking for Uranus and thus driving us in circles at night. And Rob-- actually Rob's mild manner seems to avoid any attempt at sarcasm. Can that be true? I'll get back to you on that.
Now on the serious, we are still sailing pretty damn fast though we are supposed to run out of wind tomorrow afternoon. And even more impressive than our consistent 20+knot surf rides, is the fact that we are en route to making our 9th consecutive 200+ mile day-- an incredible achievement for anyone familiar with sailing. Its been too fast to fish but we have managed to catch a few flying fish on the decks each night, and even a little squid! Poor bugger was dried up and clinging to a turning block when we found him. A pilot whale surfed by us this AM after a beautiful sunrise, and I was fortunate to see the Southern Cross low in the sky just as night was departing.
As you can tell from this email, we are all having an amazing time. Think "Big Chill" without college. Without land. And with a really bad smell. Keep the emails coming. We all look forward to them. Its my time to drive, bye- Spider (AKA Bingo, Peter)"
So, while the J/145 ACE guys are living with all manners of the human condition aboard a large yacht sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, a veteran offshore sailor and racer in the form of Sophie Olivaud from France is racing her J/109 ALBACOR IV in Racing Division II and doing very well- she's currently 5th boat-for-boat and 5th on IRC handicap. More power to her and her crew!! You Go Girl! The uncharacteristic doldrums and light airs will determine the outcome of this race as out in front of this group are a giant lollipop to taste and savor for days-- in the form of trade winds pumping out 10-20 knot ENE winds all the way into the finish at St Lucia.
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