Flyer of Lorne - Approaching Las Palmas

28:21.54N 14:42.68W Friday 21 November Days Run 180NM With steady F4-5 NE'ly trades blowing, Flyer has been able to show her form downwind and finally bring our destination of Las Palmas in sight. With over 2,600NM sailed since we left Kos on 01 November, it has been a challenging target to be ready for the ARC start on 23 November. I am amazed to report that we have kept to our planned schedule throughout this voyage, only delays in my travel arrangements at the outset meant we started 2 days late which has unfortunately greatly reduced our time to enjoy the festivities at Las Palmas. Oh well, just have to make up for this in St Lucia.We now have 38 NM to run before we reach the marina at Las Palmas, our ETA there is 07:00hrs local time this morning. We have appointments with the ARC. read more...

Flyer of Lorne - Great Start

Sunday 23 November Flyer crossed the ARC start line at 13:00hrs local time in glorious conditions with a F 4 NE'ly breeze blowing and warm sunshine. It was a memorable send off with large crowds gathered at the marina and the whole fleet of 235 yachts putting out to sea together. We have some great team photos which will be posted on this website soon! It certainly felt like a major achievement for me to be starting  on time having arrived in port only 18hours previously. I cannot praise the efforts of all the crew more highly for having completed our extensive repair list and loading nearly 3 weeks worth of provisions onboard. We had Chieffy at the masthead repairing our troublesome tricolour LED which is now functioning normally, he also dropped in another gennaker halyard and added. read more...

Flyer of Lorne - Taking a Flyer

Monday 24 November, Days Run 153NM The winds have continued to be favourable in the first day of the ARC if a little fitful at times.The No 2 gennaker was hoisted at 03:00 after the wind had eased to around 10knots and has been flown thrioughout this period.  After checking our 3 day forecast we decided to take our first "flyer" of the race series and stay on port gybe as the wind was due to veer to the ENE. This is exactly what happened and our course became due South. We held this course until we were around 35NM offshore before gybing to a more Westerly course. The midday positions provided by the World Cruising Club have shown we were the second most Southerly boat in our class although also the most Easterly. Time will tell as usual if our gamble will pay off, there is certainly. read more...

Flyer of Lorne - Glorious Weather

Tuesday 25 November, Days Run 133NM The breezes have continued to be fairly light again today although gradually freshening in the afternoon to give around 14knots from the NE.We decided to stand off the West African coastline until we were around 150NM offshore and picked up a more Northerly breeze. We then gybed on to port tack for a more Southerly course again. The forecasts continue to show freshening breezes towards latitude 20N which is where we are headed. The armchair navigators at home have been out in force telling us which way to head, so thanks guys for all your input! One pleasing aspect today was we had visual sightings of several yachts during the afternoon and we were able to overhaul each of them, none of them were close enough to identify so unsure if they were in our. read more...

Flyer of Lorne - Another Glorious ARC Day

Wed 26 November The temperature continues to rise as we make our passage South. The NNE or NE breeze has been more consistent today allowing better progress to be made although we continue to head South rather than West. Our log distance is considerably less than recorded on the ARC website as I am reporting actual distance travelled through the water compared to VMG towards our destination of ST Lucia. There are fascinating times ahead regarding tactics as there appear to be more than one large area of very light winds in which you could all so easily sail into. Although there is a good trade wind flow established around latitude 20N, this does not look although it will be sustained for more than a few days. We have only sighted one yacht today which was around 8NM astern and heading in. read more...