Sailing News
All the latest news from the world of sailing and stories from experienced sailors.
Only a day away With the crew of Challenger 2 around a day from the finish line today their thoughts are turning to being back on dry land, seeing loved ones and of course sampling some of the local rum! We wish them good luck for the final few miles of an epic trip and… Read more
ARC Rally 2019 – St Lucia here we come!
Tuesday 10 December Becs and I are back on MF watch today, having taken over from the chuckle brothers Jim and Jason. Personally I don’t get why they have a problem with getting up at 5.30 having been sailing half the night to cook a bunch of smelly crewmates breakfast Land ahoy! Sat here about… Read more
ARC 2019 – DAY 16 – More stories from the Motherwatch
What a shower! Avid readers may be interested in the process of showering on the good ship Challenger 2 . Our water production capacity allows for a shower every other day provided we all use minimum water. As we are very warm below deck and subject to random dowsing with sea water whilst on deck… Read more
ARC 2019 – DAY 15 – Challenger 2 then surfs down into the wild foam and spray
Jim’s Blog – 2243 Nautical miles covered, computer says 740 Nm to go There’s been a perceptible change in the mood aboard Challenger 2 today, at least from my perspective and I think it’s shared by others. It seemed that after the half-way party (of which more later) which was excellent and a great release, the… Read more
ARC 2019 – DAY 14 – What winds me up – penguins!
Ode to my Mum from Mothers Watch It was just past midnight when I glanced at our logbook before tucking into my bunk and noted that we had sailed 2,080 nautical miles with only 892 miles till the finish in St Lucia. I left word with the crew on watch to be woken promptly at… Read more
Nuns, Pirates, Greek Godesses, Mermaids, Newly-weds, Sharks , Arabs, & Ducks – A First Class Sailing Blog
The Fancy Dress Party Friday 6 December 1000 miles from anywhere and we are having a fancy dress party! Nuns, Pirates, Greek Godesses, Mermaids, Newly-weds, Sharks , Arabs, & Ducks. Loud music and sun all on a boat rolling 15 degrees either way and speeding through the quartering swell. To me it felt great but… Read more
”I can’t steer by the stars, they swing about too much” – A First Class Sailing blog
Midnight gybing, showers on deck and fancy dress. The crew of Challenger 2 have passed the half way point to the Caribbean. The daily report from Skipper Ricky below is actually yesterday’s and Kirstie’s blog below came in at 01:54 this morning. Midnight Gybing Date : Wednesday 5 December 2019 Time : 12:00 GMT (10am… Read more
ARC 2019 – Day 11 – “Whoa we’re halfway there” (nearly)
Halfway to paradise Today is day 10 of the ARC, we have close to 1,600 nautical miles of Atlantic Ocean behind us and we just encountered our first real squall. At this time last year I had never even heard of the ARC. This past April, while visiting St Lucia with Molly, we happened into… Read more
Butterflies mid Atlantic – well, just one actually – A First Class Sailing Blog
Whilst watching a pod of fin whales the crew of Challenger 2 were treated to something else, also rather special. N 20.36.88 W035.14.345 We are scooting along at a decent rate of knots and it feels a bit odd to think we are almost half way across the Atlantic. There’s been a lot of chatter… Read more
ARC 2019 – Day 10 – Having a whale of time
Tuesday 3 Dec 2019 – Jason As I sit at the PC we have 1672Nm to St Lucia and we are currently travelling at 10.5Kts I won’t write our estimated ETA as it is a little optimistic and the one thing you learn on-board is that things change regularly. As mentioned in some of the… Read more
