Sailing News
All the latest news from the world of sailing and stories from experienced sailors.
Exploring the breathtaking scenery of the Norwegian Fjords, our skipper Matt on the 16-day voyage – Norway Sailing Adventure to the Fjords and Back trip shares photos and gives his account of this incredible trip onboard the Challenger 72 yacht.
INVICTUS
The final blog from Challenger 2 finds the crew in a reflective and poetic mood. Carey and James G describe the trials and tribulations of such a sea-going voyage, and why it was all worth it Today we wanted to write about those aspects of ocean sailing that are perhaps not as readily evident… Read more
Toffee Crisp-Gate
A scandal has ensued aboard the Challenger and 2 rival watches are forced to argue their cases as Skipper Sue holds court. Find out who wins and what constitutes as currency on board these days 30/01/2020 Toffee crisp-gate So today was an eventful day for several reasons. Firstly it felt like the day… Read more
Life On The Fo’csle Without Any Signal
In today’s blog, a crew member describes what if feels like to be air-gapped from the internet for a month and the challenges of working on the fo’csle. But what exactly is the fo’csle? 29-JAN and all is well. Today was a sunny day, something we might otherwise take for granted; but we… Read more
Wilson The Stowaway
In today’s blog the crew battle with light winds and Matt explains how crucial food is to daily life aboard, before “Wilson”, the stowaway, makes an appearance. Monday blog 27/1/20 Last night we had bioluminescence, strong bioluminescence and dolphins. The electric blue silhouetted their trajectories through the seas as they overtook Challenger 2 and then… Read more
Final preparation for Challenger 2 before sailing across the Atlantic – Man Over Board and emergency drills
The Crew of Challenger 2 – go swimming Training Challenger 2 slipped lines shortly after 1100 yesterday for a training sail to complete MOB & emergency steering drills in slightly more clement conditions than they had back in the UK last month. They then picked up a mooring buoy in Falmouth Harbour for some more… Read more
Challenger 2 has reached the finish line in the ARC Rally 2019
Back on dry land You will no doubt be glad to hear our intrepid crew have safely made port in St Lucia after an epic trip across the Atlantic. Here at First Class Sailing it has been my honour to post the blog daily and most of the time I have merely posted the thoughts,… Read more
ARC 2019 – Day 5 – Dorado fishing quotas not yet breached
Thursday 28th November – Day 5 – Hook, line and sinker Just coming off the night watch and reflecting on the journey so far and the last 24 hours. It has been great to get to know the rest of the crew and share stories about our lives and to get a sense of why we… Read more
Wednesday 27th, Day 4, Challenger 2 in quiet waters
We’ve just received word back from our boat Challenger 2 currently crossing the Atlantic in the ARC Rally 2019 and you can read all about the progress and some of the more information on the day to day running of the boat. Mates Blog After a fast and rolly blast south from the Canary… Read more
Gates of Hercules: Day 8-9 Biscay ’19
Passing through the Gates of Hercules From ancient mythology through to the Romans (perhaps even later) the Gates of Hercules held a special place in the folklore of seafarers. They were the place beyond which unknown hazards lay and monsters awaited. Today we passed outside rather than through the Gates, which we now know as… Read more
