Sailing News
All the latest news from the world of sailing and stories from experienced sailors.
Preparing for the Rolex Fastnet in August, the First Class Sailing crew will enter three races and last weekend they competed in the opener – the Cervantes Trophy Race. Below is skipper Ricky Chalmers’ report of how the action unfurled and how the FCS crew fared on their first real test. Crew Bonding And Jockeying… Read more
ARC 2016 – Day 18 – The First of the ‘Lasts’ is the Spinnaker
But which crew will be on the beach first? “We are going through the series of “lasts” at the moment, doing the last night watches and we have just had the “last supper”” Only One Short Cut to St Lucia Wednesday 7 Dec 2016: The last 24 hours have been very interesting, and somewhat… Read more
ARC 2016 – Day 17 – A Bubble of Light Storming Across the Atlantic
Enroute to St Lucia – will Challenger 3 make it across the line first? We must have looked a funny sight, a hive of action in our little bubble of light storming across the Atlantic Ocean in the darkness. Tuesday Morning 6th December 2016: Still flying the spinny, still with Ricky on the helm,… Read more
ARC 2016 – Meet the Crew – Skipper Ricky Chalmers
Challenger 3 Skipper Ricky Chalmers South African Skipper Ready to Tackle Atlantic Race The thrill of ocean racing has left this South African-born professional skipper eager to begin a high-profile transatlantic race that started last weekend (Nov 20th). Ricky Chalmers, 55, forms part of an expert quartet that is overseeing a crew of 12… Read more
ARC 2016 Training Weekend Captain’s Review
Sunday Tack on the Solent The crew joined Challenger 3’s sister ship, Challenger 1 on a cold and windy Saturday morning in Portsmouth for a weekend of boat familiarisation, big boat training and most importantly spinnaker training. Before the big sail could be used it needed to be “wooled”. This is a laborious process of… Read more
Day 14 on the ARC – The finishing post is in sight. What an adventure it has been.
Sunday 6th December Race Day 14 The last day in the Atlantic Another fine sunrise in paradise, revealing a beautiful blue sky, and already warm at 0830 so going to be hot, hot, hot! Despite the reality of not being able to catch challenger 1, the Challenger 3 crew are still very focused on making… Read more
Day 13 on the ARC, 315nm to go, fast downwind sailing in warm t-shirt and shorts weather
Saturday 5th December Race Day 13 It was another hot and humid day out in the Atlantic, that started with freshly baked bread and an amazing fruit salad….but our supply of fresh fruit and veg is now nearly depleted. Spirits however are still high and there has been a change in mood as everyone is… Read more
Day 9 on the ARC – No need for an alarm clock. Or shoes. And are the crew down to one loo?
Tuesday 1st December Race Day 9 A word from the ARC Crew After more than a week into our journey it is hard to imagine seeing anything other than the ocean, the sky and our 70 foot home. Even a container ship on the horizon a few days ago looked odd! It is also difficult… Read more
Day 6 on the ARC – will the cunning plan pay off?
Saturday 28 Nov Race Day 6 A word from the crew Day 6 here on Challenger 3 has been quite eventful. The morning started with Lucia finding and disposing of a few flying fish that had decided to make the deck their new home. Once we had a fish free area it was time to… Read more
Day 5 on the ARC – Whales?, moonlit bakeoffs and a smooth gybe
Friday 27 Nov Race Day 5 A word from the crew Day 5 here on Challenger 3 and time is starting to get a little warped on board! Ricky and Dave (Skipper and Mate) remain on UT (GMT), whilst the rest of the crew had a 26 hour day yesterday which involved two seven hour… Read more
