Opinions Requested

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, tunc.aytunc.

[tunc.aytunc]

Thank you very much GordMay

[boatman61]

Another thing I should add/suggest..
Make St Martin your jump off point.. or Antigua.
Although Yeloya got it right regarding W'lies back in 2012 I crossed last year in July with a 62ft mono and was beating into the wind all the way to the Azores.. ended up turning ESE 400NM from Flores and motoring back down.. the E'lies stretched to up past 42*N.. so though 90NM+ further E may not seem much, when you look at the flow of the GS and its rate it can make a big difference to where you pop out the other side.. also SXM is a much better place for provisioning.. and wait till the winds are S of E.. you get some long windows where its nearly SE.. use them.
I could be wrong but I don't think last years going to be an aberration..
2014 I had S'lies and N'lies the first 1200 odd NM, then E'lies.. mind that was a Feb start from Ft Lauderdale to the Azores..

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Another thing I should add/suggest..
Make St Martin your jump off point.. or Antigua.
Although Yeloya got it right regarding W'lies back in 2012 I crossed last year in July with a 62ft mono and was beating into the wind all the way to the Azores.. ended up turning ESE 400NM from Flores and motoring back down.. the E'lies stretched to up past 42*N.. so though 90NM+ further E may not seem much, when you look at the flow of the GS and its rate it can make a big difference to where you pop out the other side.. also SXM is a much better place for provisioning.. and wait till the winds are S of E.. you get some long windows where its nearly SE.. use them.
I could be wrong but I don't think last years going to be an aberration..
2014 I had S'lies and N'lies the first 1200 odd NM, then E'lies.. mind that was a Feb start from Ft Lauderdale to the Azores..

That's true Boatman. What I described was the standard. Unfortunatly because of global warming or whatever the trade winds are not predictable anymore.. 3 out of 5 last ARC from Canaries to St Lucia have either been windless at all or upwind sailing..

Cheers

Yeloya

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Another thing I should add/suggest..
Make St Martin your jump off point.. or Antigua.
Although Yeloya got it right regarding W'lies back in 2012 I crossed last year in July with a 62ft mono and was beating into the wind all the way to the Azores.. ended up turning ESE 400NM from Flores and motoring back down.. the E'lies stretched to up past 42*N.. so though 90NM+ further E may not seem much, when you look at the flow of the GS and its rate it can make a big difference to where you pop out the other side.. also SXM is a much better place for provisioning.. and wait till the winds are S of E.. you get some long windows where its nearly SE.. use them.
I could be wrong but I don't think last years going to be an aberration..
2014 I had S'lies and N'lies the first 1200 odd NM, then E'lies.. mind that was a Feb start from Ft Lauderdale to the Azores..

Agree with this - we left from Antigua and had a great crossing and sailed almost all the way - we were 500 east of Bermuda when we passed it and actually pointed almost the entire time directly at Horta - no going north and back down - as for sailing we used 15 gallons of fuel for the entire trip and the majority was off Horta as the winds became dead still -

[exitstrategy]

Thank you guys for the continued advice. I really appreciate it.

I have not yet visited Antigua. But I am quite fond of St Martin for provisioning and supplies and can really appreciate how that 100 nm of easting would make a big difference.

If you could choose either way, in that same regard it would be worth it then to hop down to Antigua I am understanding?

@Boatman, I saw in another thread you delivered a Lagoon 440 in feb from FL to Europe. That of course is interesting. What was your strategy for that delivery if you are willing to share?