Fizz of Cowes - Fizz dairy

Well it's certainly true that no 2 days are the same on the ARC Europe Azores leg. In the last 24 hours, we have had 35 kt gusts with 4m seas and during the night, the wind shifting 180' and dropping to light airs. So we have been on our toes with very little sleep as Fizz corkscrews through the ever-increasing seas heading for the Azores. Today's weather forecast includes winds up to 40 kts (gale force 8) to the north of our track so we spent 4 hours dropping further south to try and avoid the worst of the winds. There are a stream of fronts passing through over the next 5 days with winds averaging 25-30 kts from the SSW, so we should make good progress although it will be very rough. Given the lack of sleep and constant motion, we are certainly looking forward to tying up in Horta,. read more...

Fizz of Cowes - Fizz blog

ARC Europe Bermuda - Azores Day 9Luckily we found a loaf of bread at the bottom of the freezer, so all is not lost after the demise of the breadmaker. We have been romping along over the last 24 hours with a daily run of 207 miles. During the night we logged wind speeds in excess of 45 kts, so we added further reefs to the main and genoa. The wave height is incredible, over 4m, coming in from the stern. Fizz seems to be coping really well with the challenging conditions, but the crew could do with more sleep, so we are cat-napping during the day. The wind backed round to the SW earlier today, so we took the pole down and are now on a stb'd tack with the wind on the stbd quarter. The weather forecasts continue to indicate strong winds right through to Sunday, with a possible further gale. read more...

Fizz of Cowes - Fizz blog

ARC Europe Bermuda - Azores Day 10We were very sad to hear our good friends on Setantii had to abandon their yacht in the early hours of this morning after contact with an underwater object pushed their rudder up into the boat. Without steerage in these very challenging conditions, winds gusting to 40 kts, they had no choice but to put out a mayday. Via Falmouth coastguard MRCC , a merchant ship , the Esmerelda, was identified to be in the area, and was diverted to pick them up. The good news is that all crew on board were safe and are now on their way back to Portsmouth on board Esmerelda. Sadly Setantii has been abandoned to the elements. We got to know Bill and Jeff on Setantii very well in Bermuda, often finding ourselves on each other's boats in the early hours of the morning. read more...

Fizz of Cowes - Fizz blog

ARC Europe Bermuda - Azores Day 11We are now just into our last 24 hours before arrival Horta, and just for a change we have 40 kts plus blowing, with rain and 4m seas crashing over Fizz. The forecast suggests the winds will moderate around midnight tonight giving us a slightly less challenging final run in to Horta. Last night Alex turned his hand to breadmaking again, and we had very tasty baguettes this morning with bacon. Great start to the day. We continue to see dolphins playing in the waves and the occasional kamikaze seagull trying to land on the afterdeck as it pitches and rolls. Down below, feeding time has got to be seen to be believed, with food, plates, knives and forks , glasses etc, flying around the cabin, usually followed by a body in full flight. If you are sitting on. read more...

Fizz of Cowes - Fizz diary

ARC Europe St Augustine to Bermuda - Day 6Our last full day at sea on this first leg to Bermuda, and we recorded our best 24 hour run of 171'. It is still blowing 20-25 kts from the NNE so we are on our 3rd day of hard upwind sailing. We have 2 reefs in the genoa and the main and we are still doing over 7 kts. By general consensus Pam has been mentioned in despatches for her excellent cooking prior to the start. Last night we had Pam's cottage pie with beans, nice and easy to prepare, out of the freezer and into the oven. The accident book has been out again today, with both Peter and I bizarrely sustaining similar minor head injuries after trying to head-but door frames, Peter while trying to get dressed, and me while trying to get into my cabin.The breadmaker was put into service. read more...