Rallying Across the Atlantic

In November 2023, Adrian and Lyn took part in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), a cross Atlantic competition that crosses the Ocean from Gran Canaria to Granada in the Caribbean via Capo Verde. 

Both Adrian and Lyn have an adventurous spirit, and while Adrian grew up by the sea, Lyn has developed her skills since meeting Adrian.

So following a large amount of preparation, training, testing and provisioning for a five or six week trip (no easy task in itself), and accepting that when you're doing offshore sailing, things break (!), they were ready to set off on their trip.

It's hard to imagine how much is involved in a trip such as this, but Adrian and Lyn explained in entertaining detail everything that they had to do.

Ninety-five yachts set off from Las Palmas on 5th November, and very shortly experienced weather that wasn't what it should have been - high winds and huge seas! Arriving at the stopover in Mindelo, Capo Verde five days later was therefore something of a relief!!

The second leg, heading for Granada, started out on 17th November with most of the 95 yachts still in the contest. The fleet split on departure, all trying to find the best route across with up to 350 miles between them (north to south). Average speed was around 170 miles per day but they did manage more than 200 on a couple of occasions.

But there was always something to do, be it checking the weather, working out the route, changing the rigging or any of the numerous other jobs required on board. The weather could change in a heartbeat and was not always avoidable, so there were often occasions when they had to buckle down in pretty awful conditions.

The trip ended at St George, Grenada on 1st December and they arrived in the middle of the night, finishing 10th. Being effectively 'on call' seven days a week had been an unforgettable experience for them both.

There were several questions from the floor, following which Rotarian David Pike, on behalf of the group, thanked Adrian and Lyn for their fascinating presentation.