by First Class Sailing | Nov 26, 2019 | ARC Rally, Atlantic Adventures, Sailing Tales, Sailing Trips
Music and stars in the Atlantic Night two on the Challenger. This got me thinking about that line from a Joni Mitchell song “but clouds got in my way.” As these finally cleared, we could see the full extent of the universe unhampered by any light pollution. On my next...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 25, 2019 | ARC Rally, Atlantic Adventures
ARC Rally 2019 Monday 25th – the crew on board Challenger 2 are now well underway. Here’s an account of the first 24 hours from crew member Gary. To blow or not to blow out the spinnaker We just finished our first 24 hours of the ARC Rally, completing 195...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 25, 2019 | ARC Rally, Atlantic Adventures, Sailing Events, Sailing Holidays, Sailing Trips
A day into the ARC 2019 and all is well. Challenger 2 got off to a flying start and everyone has settled in well. Below we have a pre-race word from crew member Becs and our first message back from skipper Ricky and 1st mate Kirstie. We hope to get a blog from the...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 12, 2019 | Atlantic Adventures, Portsmouth - Gran Canaria, Sailing Holidays, Sailing Tales, Sailing Trips
Hurricane Pablo started off as an innocuous looking low pressure system on 23 October that no one was paying much attention to. As this system began to develop, our annual voyage from Portsmouth to the Canaries was looking to cross the Bay of Biscay. The plan was to...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 9, 2019 | Atlantic Adventures, Portsmouth - Gran Canaria, Sailing Holidays, Sailing Trips
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...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 7, 2019 | Atlantic Adventures, Portsmouth - Gran Canaria, Sailing Holidays, Sailing Trips
Champagne sailing Many sailors would probably say their very best experience on the water is sailing fast, downwind, with the headsail poled out surfing down the waves, in bright sunshine. Without doubt a fair definition of champagne sailing. Today, after more than a...
