Cape Town to UK route advice please?

[mikeyboards]

I am planning to sail from Cape Town to UK , leaving Cape Town in January 2020 to arrive in the UK in june-july....i have a 30ft steel cutter of 7tons...
My question is how possible would it be to sail more or less up the west coast of africa to get to Cape verda islands and then (NOT MUCH INFO ON THIS PART OF THE ROUTE) the easiest route from there to the UK and europe...i am trying to avoid the longer route of going via south america and into the carribean and across the northern atlantic to Azores to the UK..i have been crew once before from Cape Town to Cook Islands via Panama canal in 1998 that being the total of my sailing..i am preparing my vessel 'Christina' and hope to sail her often in my area Jeffreys Bay -Port Elizabeth until i leave January 2020.

I am hoping to find good winds so i dont have to use the inboard (volvo penta md2 ) too often.

There isnt much info of the route from Cape Verda to Azores or UK so i would appreciate some input if it is manageable or do i go the longer route..

thanking you all.

[moctrams]

According to “World Cruising Routes” it is best to travel from Cape Town to Brazil via St. Helena between March and September with winds from the East, Southeast. Best not to go between October and February with winds out of the Northeast. The best time to go from Brazil to Europe is between April and September. You could also go from the Azores to the English Channel from June to July. This is a very short window. Best thing to do, IMO is to look at the “Pilot Charts” and “World Cruising Routes” for the best routes for you.

[edsailing]

The route you propose is against the wind, all the way!

Unless you like beating, have enormous fuel tanks and a lot of time, don't even think about it!

But, each to his own......

[moctrams]

OK Ed,

He is asking. What would you suggest? It's easy to criticize.

[edsailing]

The best route is the one the OP detailed initially, going with the trade winds rather than against them. The window for crossing from the Azores is almost unlimited but most do it Jun to Oct to minimise gales (I've done it twice) crossing time 10-12 days on top of the 20 days from, say, Antigua.

It's a long way from SA, especially if your experience is limited and the vessel needs to be very well prepared.

Good luck

[atoll]

Originally Posted by mikeyboards

I am planning to sail from Cape Town to UK , leaving Cape Town in January 2020 to arrive in the UK in june-july....i have a 30ft steel cutter of 7tons...
My question is how possible would it be to sail more or less up the west coast of africa to get to Cape verda islands and then (NOT MUCH INFO ON THIS PART OF THE ROUTE) the easiest route from there to the UK and europe...i am trying to avoid the longer route of going via south america and into the carribean and across the northern atlantic to Azores to the UK..i have been crew once before from Cape Town to Cook Islands via Panama canal in 1998 that being the total of my sailing..i am preparing my vessel 'Christina' and hope to sail her often in my area Jeffreys Bay -Port Elizabeth until i leave January 2020.

I am hoping to find good winds so i dont have to use the inboard (volvo penta md2 ) too often.

There isnt much info of the route from Cape Verda to Azores or UK so i would appreciate some input if it is manageable or do i go the longer route..

thanking you all.

i have done it in a 35ft motorsailer,we left capetown in april sailed easily with the se trades to st helena,reprovisioned then sailed almost to the equator with the trades then started the engine which ran continuously motorsailing into 15-25 knot ENE winds with reefed main and staysail till were reached mindelo in the cape verdes,refuelled provisioned then motorsailed to funchal in madiera with again 15-25 knot headwinds ,reefed main and staysail.

most of the time ran the engine at 1200-1500 rpm wich was enough to give 4-5 knots in the right direction with the sails,probably used about 1200 liters of fuel for the 50 hp engine.

after madeira we sailed to gib arriving in the first week of june.
going north from there would have been fairly easy after that as the prevailing winds become SW not too far north of there.

i would suggest heading from st helena to the azores at the latest in june if you plan to sail unless you have large fuel tanks-800 liters and the motor gives a reasonable push motorsailing 24/7 for 2-3 weeks then the cape verdes and madeira might be possible

[mikeyboards]

Atoll....ouch !! sounds to be a hard push and not much fun and a different type of adventure..most helpful description of your journey,thank you.

[mikeyboards]

Edsailing...thanks for your input..i understand this longer route Cape Town -St Helena-Brazil- Carribean-Azores-Uk...is the most acceptable route..it is a long way and i was hoping to shorten it,but alas it seems the only safe and efficient way to go...

[mikeyboards]

Moctrams.....the best time to leave Cape Town is southen hemisphere summer (dec-march)when the south atlantic high is most dominant between cape town and st helena and brazil..i have done this before and is a good sail but i was hoping to go up the african coast for as long as possible (see something different) and then cape verda and see from there if it is feasible to go north to europe..(but i haave to concede that this is not a viable route in a small vessel with a small engine and will be burning too much diesel.thanks for your input..