ARC or ARC Europe

[Time2Go]

Hi Friends
Next up on my learning curve is a Transatlantic passage.
What are the pros and cons, comparisons & contrasts
between east to west and west to east.
Trying to decide between the ARC and ARC Europe
I will be joining a boat as crew.
I hold both ICC and RYA Coastal/Tidal
and have been across Biscay twice, so have some experience.
Just trying to determine which would be the better passage
from the point of view of knowledge gained and fun.
Cheers
Neil

[boatman61]

Go West to East Young Man...
The other way round is just sailing from one tourist trap island to another... and boring..!!
The Azores are a pretty unique island group sitting 900 miles out in the Atlantic and well worth the visit.. plus you'll be one of a much smaller group of sailors who have visited them.. unlike the many hundreds of thousands who visit/charter in the Canaries and Caribbean..
Also.. Bermuda's cute as well..

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Go West to East Young Man...
The other way round is just sailing from one tourist trap island to another... and boring..!!
The Azores are a pretty unique island group sitting 900 miles out in the Atlantic and well worth the visit.. plus you'll be one of a much smaller group of sailors who have visited them.. unlike the many hundreds of thousands who visit/charter in the Canaries and Caribbean..
Also.. Bermuda's cute as well..

Having sailed all of the Carib - both east and west - I agree with boatman - Carib is crowded and well it is overboated a bit - but the Azores is like wow -
we could have spent all our Schengen days there.
Have not been to the Canaries yet but you won't be there long anyway

[Tom and Maje]

Rubbish. I, for one, get completely bored in places where there is nothing. I lived in Europe for years and love it. I'm going with the ARC Europe Rally in May to do the crossing. We're spending out third season in the Caribbean and I love it here as well.


As to crossing times, it depends. We normally calculate the time it would take averaging 5 knots, which is what we have figured out (after several off-shore passages) is our average speed. Then do the math. Of course, if the wind is with you, it will take less time. If the wind is not, it will take more time. We've made the trip from the US to the Virgins twice. Two times it took us 8 days. One time we didn't get far enough south, ended up sailing ENE for almost two days and had to come back. That trip was 14 days. The average time that year was 10-11 days. You can also do what Mark J says he does and plan for an average speed of 2 knots.


Maje