It's Day 3 at sea now for the ARC Europe and Atlantic Cup yachts that departed Bermuda on Wednesday. And day 5 for Keep it Simple & Kia Orana, who are approaching the Chesapeake Bay, and day 4 for Lone Star, who's approaching North Carolina right now.
Southern Cross, the Lagoon 380 that completed World ARC this past spring in St. Lucia, was the last of theAtlantic Cup yachts in Bermuda. They departed Thursday after receiving a new crew member who flew in from New Orleans at the last minute, and are bound for the Chesapeake.
The other catamaran in the fleet, Traveling Light, actually departed Wednesday with the British yacht Oystermist, but both are having issues with their tracking devices, which explains why they appear in Bermuda. Rest assured, they are safely at sea and enjoying themselves!
The ARC Europe fleet, meanwhile, is offshore and headed east across the pond.
"We are making steady progress towards the Azores and everything hoped for has materialised, dolphins,starry nights, flying fish and landed fish," wrote Johanem from their at-sea blog today.
Alice in Red, one of the yachts that joined the fleet in Bermuda, is also having a nice couple of days. "Good sailing overnight on Day One but wind has now dropped this morning. Bright and sunny though as are the crew!"
Indeed bright and sunny it was. The Yellowshirt Team enjoyed a much-deserved leisurely evening on Wednesday following the start. Brian Oatley took the gang out in his Boston Whaler to explore the south shore of Bermuda, stopping for some swimming and fish feeding off of some of the outer islands. The team is off-island now, Lyall and Kieran back in the UK and Andy and Mia in the USA.
Unfortunately it's not smooth sailing for everyone. Peat Smoke returned to Bermuda shortly after the start on Wednesday with autopilot issues, and was anchored in St. Georges harbor as of Wednesday night. They plan to continue on as soon as they resolve their issues.
Ayama, sadly, has broken their boom and was motoring back towards Bermuda as of last night. The other Swedish yacht, Working on a Dream, had relayed the message to Rally Control after overhearing it on the SSB net. All aboard are safe and sound, and the crew expects too arrive back in Bermuda shortly, sort out the failure and get underway as soon as possible, trying their best to keep a positive attitude.