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...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 5, 2019 | Atlantic Adventures, Portsmouth - Gran Canaria, Sailing Holidays, Sailing Trips
With a storm to ride out, the crew weren’t able to keep sending in a blog each day. So, we’ve collated the skipper’s daily logs into one blog to give an idea of what it’s like to be in a storm. Bracing for the Storm – Day 3...
by First Class Sailing | Nov 1, 2019 | Atlantic Adventures, Portsmouth - Gran Canaria, Sailing Holidays, Sailing Trips
A magical dolphins sighting greets the crew of Challenger 2 this morning, before some cheeky stowaways are spotted. Cheeky Birds & Magical Dolphins For a long time this morning was had shoals of dolphins swimming alongside and jumping out of the water, truly...