After months, and in many cases years of preparation, the second edition of the CCR set off from Marina Rubicon, Lanzarote on 14th December 14th at noon. The fleet enjoyed almost perfect start conditions sailing in 20 to 25 knots of breeze from the NNW in a calm sea.
The fleet are currently enjoying fantastic sailing conditions, with some of the boats cruising along at almost 11 knots. The wind is expected to veer round to the NE over the next couple of days as participants sail out past the Canary Islands and start to settle in to Atlantic life. Weather for the passage looks to be very favorable with steady trade wind conditions forecasted for at least the first week. As the boats move further south these conditions are expected to continue.
During the crossing boats are in touch with each other via iridium and SSB radio, and will be emailed weather forecasts and position reports from the Sailing Rallies team daily. GPS trackers provided by British based company GTC track are fitted onto each boat and will report at 4 hour intervals, you can follow their progress here.
Day Two Roundup
After almost 48 hours at sea, crews will well and truly be getting into the swing of their watches and adjusting to life onboard. All boats are now clear of the Canary Islands and are speeding their way towards Antigua. Any signs of seasickness will hopefully be disappearing and crews will be tuning in to the rhythm of the ocean.
Bianca Rosa is the only boat to have chosen to go north around the Canaries, and now that they are past La Palma they will begin to turn south. Raven, Patchouly, Duplicat and Escape seem to all have the same idea and are heading deep south. French Kiss, Doppelbock and Penn Er Karreg are choosing to stay in the middle ground and mosey their way to the trades. Speeds of up to 14 knots are being reported, and if conditions continue then fast crossing times are expected. All are well throughout the fleet, read the following blogs here.
Day Three Roundup
As usual at this stage in the crossing, the fleet are separating further as they make their way to Antigua, after just 3 days they are spread almost 300NM north to south. Bianca Rosa, after sticking north for the first few days has taken a dive south, and it appears Doppelbock are not quite ready to commit hovering around the 26°N mark. A small low developing over mid-north Atlantic and moving it’s way across could mean some light winds for CCR boats further south towards the end of this week/early next, but it’s a way off yet so we are poised to see what happens. Here are the latest blogs.
