BLUEWATER SAILING 2012 ARC EUROPE from Wild Goose on banjo, who teamed up with John Simpson (guitar and trumpet) and Mikaela Meik (vio- lin) from the British Warrior 40 Chis- cos, plus Andrew Siess, crew from Outer Limits (also on violin). John, a retail executive on sabbati- cal, told me he’d been performing in pickup groups with other sailors throughout his cruise across the Atlan- tic and back. “The name of the band is Linda and Hugh Moore aboard Wild Goose in mid-ocean (left); they celebrated their 25th wedding always Sailing Together,” he explained. anniversary while on passage together. David Leyland aboard First Edition III in Bermuda (right) “As in people ask what the band’s name is, and I say, ‘I don’t know. We’ve when she struck what is believed to tiently while Joost and crew boarded just been sailing together.’” have been a whale late at night and a 36,000-ton container ship bound for The start out of Bermuda on May 16 started taking on water. Joost hoped Italy as Outer Limits started sinking was spectacular, with all the fleet his pumps could keep the boat afloat beneath the waves. But it was among streaming out Town Cut at St. Georg- long enough to get back to Bermuda, the Hampton boats, particularly on es under sail together. But soon but soon he called for an evacuation. Wild Goose, that the loss was most enough the group from Hampton felt It was one of the Tortola boats, Halo, a acutely felt. fate pressing them again. British-flagged Hallberg Rassy 42 “We are devastated,” wrote Hugh in The first shoe dropped aboard Outer manned by doublehanders Mike and his boat’s cruising blog (wildgoosesail- Limits, just two days out of Bermuda, Alexandra Bailey, that stood by pa- ing.com). “It changes our mood and WX Rules: Avoiding the Azores High The primary weather feature positioned in the slot be- in any west-to-east Atlantic tween the high to our east crossing is the Azores high, and lows moving off Nova which in spring and summer Scotia. is normally established near The first low passed us to 40 degrees north latitude. the north, and with it we The traditional sailing in- experienced the strongest structions are to route north winds of the crossing, from over the top of the high, with- the west gusting into the out going so far north as to upper 30s. As the cold front get caught in the low-pres- trailing below the low went sure systems marching through, the wind abruptly across the Atlantic to Europe. shifted to the west-north- When crossing the Atlantic, cruisers alter their routes to avoid the This year as the ARC west and eased. The front light winds that come with the Azores high Europe fleet departed Ber- brought rain, but with the southerly rhumbline route also tracked south and muda, the Azores high was wind shift the sky cleared and finished over a day be- caught the slower boats as centered abnormally far and the stars came out. The hind Kinship, recording 50 they approached Horta. north, near 46 degrees, air was noticeably drier. engine hours to our 22. Con- Chiscos, a Warrior 40, saw blanketing the middle lati- This pattern continued versely, the bigger yachts sustained winds over 40 tudes with light and variable for the duration of the south and farther east were knots, and First Edition III, a winds. But the long-range crossing. We sailed along able to stay ahead of the high Catalina 42, was knocked forecast was for the high to the top of the high with the as it moved south and made down by a rogue wave. quickly drift south. On Kin- wind oscillating between very fast passages. In the end the boats that ship, the Saga 43 that I southwest and northwest as The boats toward the made the fastest passages skippered, we aimed north, the lows passed to the back of the fleet experi- were not the ones that went looking to route round the north. Only once, for per- enced the worst weather. north or south, but the ones top of the high as it moved haps half a day, was the Despite the northerly posi- that committed to either south. By the fifth day out wind forward of the beam. tion of the Azores high as route and sailed a steady we’d already reached the The boats to the south of the fleet left Bermuda, it course. It was the boats latitude of the Azores, 38 us and slightly west had ended up farther south than that never made up their degrees 30 minutes, but lighter air and recorded more normal, as had been the minds as to which way to continued ENE, aiming for engine hours. Talisman II, pattern over the spring. The head that took the longest 40 degrees. We were well another Saga 43, sailed the last low to overtake the fleet time to cross. – ANDY SCHELL Photo by Linda and Hugh Moore (top left); by Charles J. Doane (top right); sailmagazine.com - September 2012 53 image courtesy of Andy Schell (bottom).