Quasar IV - hello from the crew

Hello everyone!We will be keeping you informed of our progress over the next week on this website, but can't stop at the moment as we have another ARC party to get to....!Graham. read more...

Quasar IV - Day 1 - The Crossing Begins!

Four years in the planning and at 13.15 on Sunday our Atlantic crossing began when we crossed the ARC starting line at Las Palmas! Getting 220 boats across the line proved quite interesting as the racers juggled for position to cross at exactly the start while the rest of us simply made sure we avoided each other in the rather tightly packed melee. We hung back and so were one of the last to cross, working on the principal that crossing the line 15 minutes late would, in the course of the next 21 days, make very little difference to us.Our course currently is taking us South to clear Gran Canaria. We then had a choice of heading straight for St Lucia - a more direct route but would mean that we would not get to the consistent and reliable Trade Winds until later in our trip - or head. read more...

Quasar IV - Day 2 - Downwind Sailing

Fantastic news! We are not the last in the Fleet! Today we had the first of our daily radio link ups with other ARC boats and from the position reports have determined that at least one other boat is behind us. Brilliant!. (not that we are racing of course!). The sea has remained calm and the day sunny and we have experimented with getting the best out of the boat when sailing downwind. Until I learned about sailing I simply assumed that you got the wind behind you and let the sails blow you along. In fact boats get 'pulled' along by wind far more effectively when it is to the side or ahead of the boat. No boats sails particularly well downwind, that is with the wind directly behind them. This is the situation we are in now and it is likely to remain that way as we go across the. read more...

Quasar IV - The loneliness of the Long Distance Sailor...

It's 2am, the sky is clear and bright, the occasional shooting star makes its short lived mark and the thinnest crescent of the moon is just beginning to poke its head above the horizon. And so another day begins.We continue to head South and with about 200 miles now behind us we reckon on between another 400 and 500 to go. In the early hours of the morning we had seen the lights of 5 other yachts but now the sun is up there is nothing but blue sky and a flat sea - itself a rich, deep blue that you only seem to see in the open ocean. There is absolutely nothing from horizon to horizon and you can clearly see the earth's curvature; maybe it's an illusion, I don't know, but it does emphasise that you are a small dot in a big expanse of water. Standing in the cockpit looking out across it. read more...

Quasar IV - Wind at last....!

The last few days have been pretty much devoid of wind so it was great last night to finally see the boat speed increase momentarily to a speedy 7 knots. An early dinner of spicy meatballs and potato stew, allowed us to enjoy a very mellow sunset over coffee. Dark came upon us, and all was quiet on the Western (Sahara) Front. Bang. Thud. OK, here we go...what has happened? We found a small furry bundle in the cockpit, later identified as a Strom Petrel, which had flow into our wind generator. Luckily, we think it may have hit the rudder and not the blades, so was still breathing OK. As per usual on the QUASAR IV bird sanctuary, out with the spare cushion, small bowl of water, bread and tuna, and leave the bird in peace in a quiet part of the cockpit to recover. Our last recovery project. read more...