Sailing from North America to Europe: Into the wind

[river251]

I want to sail to Europe one day. Are the winds mostly from east to west? That means I'd be sailing up wind most of the time? Or do people sail from east to west, and motor from west to east?

Thank you.

[psk125]

Going from the East Coast of the US to Europe, winds tend to blow from the west, though we had some upwind work on our trip despite this. Going the other way, people usually go south, down to the Cape Verde or Canary Islands, and then over to the Caribbean, to take advantage of the prevailing Easterlies. Motoring would use more fuel than most boats could easily carry.

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by psk125

Going from the East Coast of the US to Europe, winds tend to blow from the west, though we had some upwind work on our trip despite this. Going the other way, people usually go south, down to the Cape Verde or Canary Islands, and then over to the Caribbean, to take advantage of the prevailing Easterlies. Motoring would use more fuel than most boats could easily carry.

That's if you are normally taking the tradewinds from Europe/Africa to the west. The tradewinds have their typical clockwise circle, meaning the cross from North America to Europe is on a northern Atlantic route. Tons of materials online and in guidebooks.