British Soldier - ARC BLOG - DAY 3 (TUE 23 NOV 10)

Great sailing conditions and high crew morale to report in the last 24hours. A mostly clear and moonlit night with a steady breeze of 15 knots fromthe north east allowed British Soldier to gently surf down 3 metre swellat an average speed of 9 knots.Smiles all round from the crew and herskipper, especially following a legendary spag bowl and green saladprepared by Sarah. Our first gybe (turning the boat away from the wind and on to the othertack) in the race took place at 0045 hours and was executed as if we hadall sailed together before. Our new heading took us away from the CapeVerdes in search of more favourable wind and somewhere towards ourtropical destination.As morning approached several yachts were sightedseeking some of our favourable wind direction and strength.It wasn'tlong. read more...

British Soldier - ARC BLOG - DAY 1 (SUN 21 NOV 10)

We're off!Race started this afternoon for the racing class at 1240 hours in 12 knots of north easterly breeze, with BS reaching off the line withJib top and full main doing about about 8 knots.With Roddy Simpson on thehelm taking much delight in squeezing some bigger boats up towards theSpanish corvette "Vencedora" acting as the committee vessel, we passed 20m offher stern and out into open water.20 mins later the cruisers started, making  an extremely impressive sight with the mix of colourful spinnakers to our stern.Were currently tracking southwards keeping Gran Canaria to starboard.Within20 mins of the start we peeled to the S4, our brand new spinnaker and havebeen holding it ever since.Sailing's been great - at the time of writingwe've  covered 30 miles, top speed surfing down the. read more...

British Soldier - ARC BLOG - DAY 2 (MON 22 NOV 10)

Just completed the 1st 24 hour log and it's showing 1 mile short of the200 mile mark which isn't bad considering the half ton of tonne of water,rations and spare kit we're carrying for British Soldier's 7 months awayin the Caribbean and east coast of USA.We've been flying the kite nowsince the beginning of the race, sailing as deep as we can go in the ENEbreeze, trying to gain as much westing as possible towards St Lucia.At thetime of writing we're approximately 110 miles off the coast of Sahara.A greatwind shift has kicked in about 30 mins ago and now for the first time we'resailing directly towards our destination which is great.Weather is fantstic - plenty of sun and numerous flying fish and squidon the deck to keep the crew amused.Conditions on board are extremelycomfortable -. read more...

British Soldier - ARC BLOG - DAY 4 (WED 24 NOV)

BRITISH SOLDIER ARC BLOG - DAY 4 (WED 24 NOV)At the time of writing we've sailed a total of 562 miles through the water, although we've only made 400 miles towards St Lucia. It's funny how everyone has loads of news to email home when on watch, but can't think of anything amusing to report for the blog - suddenly anything is more interesting. So, having cleaned the heads (boat's toilet), galley, and scrubbed the deck, Starboard Watch have no option but to put pen to paper...The excellent wind conditions we were enjoying yesterday afternoon have disappeared overnight leaving us almost becalmed. The Port Watch spent a frustrating night chasing the breeze before changing the S4 spinnaker (heavy-duty downwind sail) for a much lighter S2 spinnaker at 05.30 hours in an effort to maintain. read more...

British Soldier - ARC BLOG - DAY 5 (THU 25 NOV)

BRITISH SOLDIER ARC BLOG - DAY 5 (THU 25 NOV) Yesterday it was basting hot with no-one else on the horizon.  Wind was negligible and a battle to chase but we got the promise we were all waiting for; "let's swim".  Typically, the wind gods noticed once safety lines and fenders were prepped and the wind teasingly lifted to spoil our chance of a cool down and a first bath.  However, we have been inadvertently 'chumming' the waters with the spoilt meat from our supplies but no fins have been spotted yet!  I'm sure all were secretly relieved by the cancelled swim after chatting about 'how do sharks actually attack?', the best bits of Jaws and agreeing you wouldn't see the shark. read more...