15 boats of the World ARC 2015-16 fleet got off to a cracking start today, heading to their next destination of the Galapagos Islands. The wind, waves and current were all in a favourable direction and with winds around 20 knots across the start line, the fleet were well-propelled out into the Pacific. The fleet had been enjoying exploring the Las Perlas Islands for the last week, since they transited through the Panama Canal, but they met together for a short programme on the island of Contadora and now it is time to begin their crossing of the Pacific.
The Craven family on board Aretha will delay their departure from Panama until next weekend, and so they kindly volunteered to be the committee vessel. As Bluebell (9) and Columbus (8) helped with the countdown, the World ARC yachts lined up to cross the line. First across were Jens, Dagmar and Hanna on board GarliX, closely followed by Juno, Makena, A Plus 2 and Hugur. Given the lively conditions, all boats were across the line extremely quickly and heading out to the south west, through a deeper water channel in the beautiful Las Perlas Islands.
The conditions for the leg are expected to be typical for the area and time of year. Stronger north-north-easterly winds will help the boats sail south, but the yachts are expected to sail out of this area of better wind within 48 hrs. Hopefully soon after though, they will be sufficiently south and west to start to benefit from light south east trades, blowing into the equator. If not, it will be some time of gentle sailing or motoring, to find the wind again. But the yachts will cross the equator about this time and so hopefully they’ll be the distractions of Crossing the Equator ceremonies to keep the crews entertained.
The first yacht is expected to arrive in Galapagos on Tuesday 18 February. Follow the fleet here.
