andrewhaslam on December 7th, 2010

Cowabunga!  Surf’s up and we’re moving along nicely.  The northwest swell we were climbing over has slowly clocked around to the north-northeast and we’re starting to get some nice surfs when the winds freshen up.  With winds in the low 20’s this morning we were surfing at 14.5 knots.
Sailing conditions have been a bit lumpy [...]

Continue reading about ARC Rally, Day 15

andrewhaslam on December 6th, 2010

For the first time in our Atlantic Crossing, we have spent the entire day sailing directly toward St. Lucia.  With 15-17 knots on our beam, we spent yesterday afternoon reaching with the shy kite at speeds between 8 and 10 knots.  A 3-4 meter swell from the north made the ride a bit rolly, but [...]

Continue reading about ARC Rally, Day 14

andrewhaslam on December 5th, 2010

We’re heading west on the trade wind express!  After a frustrating afternoon of light and shifty breezes clocking from south to north, a steady breeze from the north-northeast filled in just before happy hour.  We set a shy kite, our 2.2 oz symmetrical spinnaker, and have been close reaching on the great circle route to [...]

Continue reading about ARC Rally, Day 13

andrewhaslam on December 4th, 2010

The trade winds stopped trading yesterday afternoon and we have been slowly but steadily working our way through (hopefully) the last patch of light and variable winds before we can get on the westbound train to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  The breeze has mostly been in single digits for the past 24 hours, slowly clocking [...]

Continue reading about ARC Rally, Day 12