Yachting

(Wang) #1

EXPERT OFFSHORE


20 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com MAY 2016

EXPERT OFFSHORE


Lessons learned from


an Atlantic crossing


M


arinas in Britain are
full of lost dreams,
but here we are,
living my dream in St
Lucia. The Caribbean
on my doorstep – not bad, is
it?’ Jonathan Paull, a 53-year
old-part-time teacher was right,
December in the Caribbean is
pretty special. He’d taken seven
weeks off work to fulfi ll his
ambition to cross the Atlantic. For
some people, sailing across an
ocean is a statement send-off into
the golden years of retirement
and the next chapter of their life,
for others it’s a dream realised.
Either way, it’s a real adventure.

What can you learn from sailors who have crossed the Atlantic? Graham Snook met


crews who had just finished the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers in St Lucia, to find out


‘The ARC gave us a


deadline that we


had to work towards’


Tim Aitken, 71, was one of four
skippers to sail in the fi rst Atlantic
Rally for Cruisers (ARC) in 1986,
on his 47ft Wauquiez Centurion,
Airwave. This time he sailed his
Hoek 75, Braveheart of Sark. At
75ft, she could be considered as
far from a family cruiser as a one
of the all-singing, all-dancing
racing boats, but she sailed with
just one person on watch for
most of the time.

A very varied fl eet
The fl eet ranged from round-the-
world racers such as Team Brunel,
a Volvo Ocean 65, and some 80ft
luxury yachts, down to smaller

boats like a Hallberg-Rassy 310
and a Contessa 32. Offi cially the
minimum boat length is 27ft
(8.2m), though dispensations
can be made for smaller boats
providing you can satisfy the ARC
organisers’ queries about passage
speed, tankage, downwind rigs,
self-steering and the like.

It’s easy to procrastinate, only
for poor health to rob you of your
dreams. Some people fi nd paying
upfront to join an organised event
like the ARC makes that less likely
to happen. ‘It gave us a deadline
that we had to work towards’
explains Alex Mayor, 54, skipper
of the Rustler 42 Pantalaimon II.
If you take home nothing more
from the crews I spoke to, just
follow your dreams. But there’s a
lot we can learn from people who
have just sailed over 2,500 miles.
Read on to fi nd out.

Just 27 miles long and 14
miles wide, Saint Lucia is
beautiful tropical volcanic
island that forms part of the
Windward Islands chain.
It’s famous for tourism and
banana production and
the Pitons have formed the
backdrop to many fi lms.

Destination:


St Lucia


http://www.saintluciauk.org

The Pitons, St Lucia’s
trademark natural
feature, loom over the
town of Soufrière

PHOTO: GRAHAM-SNOOK.COM

PHOTO ABOVE: THEODORE AITKEN. LEFT: GRAHAM-SNOOK.COM

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, organised by
World Cruising Club, started in 1986. ARC
2016 will depart from Las Palmas on Gran
Canaria on 20 November this year. Over 200
boats participate every year, taking around
1,200 people from Europe to Saint Lucia in
the Caribbean. http://www.worldcruising.com

Atlantic Rally for Cruisers


Rodney Bay
Marina in St Lucia
marks the end
of an ocean-
crossing odyssey
for the ARC fl eet
Free download pdf