Belgian skipper Quentin Debois has set a new world record for the fastest solo east-to-west Atlantic crossing, completing the passage from Cadiz, Spain, to San Salvador in the Bahamas in 24 days, 19 hours and 31 minutes. The time is subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

Debois crossed the finish line at 6:30 UTC on January 31 aboard his Mini 6.50, beating the previous record by nearly six days. The mark had been held since April 2024, when Aina Bauza completed the same route in 30 days and 22 hours.

At 38, Debois becomes the first Belgian sailor to hold a world record for a solo transatlantic crossing. His run covered 4,466 nautical miles and combined disciplined weather routing, conservative sail management and steady mental focus over nearly 25 days at sea.

“I’m really happy with the performance, morale was excellent throughout the crossing,” Debois said. “This second transatlantic race confirms that this is the right thing for me. I gave it my all, keeping a cool head and enjoying every moment. Above all, it’s a team victory.”

Debois left Cadiz on January 6 and maintained consistently high averages across the Atlantic while following a carefully managed routing plan. His strategy focused on staying inside stable wind systems rather than chasing extreme pressure patterns, allowing him to preserve equipment and avoid prolonged light-air transitions.

The crossing was not without challenges. Two downwind sails were damaged, and the bowsprit suffered stress, but the boat remained fully functional throughout the passage. According to his team, careful sail handling and disciplined risk management were central to the successful outcome.

“What made the difference was Quentin’s consistent pace and his ability to stay focused over the long term,” said coach Quentin Droneau. “He managed to avoid too much damage, which means the boat was well prepared and he sailed cleanly.”

Routing support played a major role. Basile Rochut, Debois’ router, monitored weather systems throughout the crossing and helped guide the boat through complex ridge transitions.

“Quentin was very precise and always on time,” Rochut said. “His sailing was clean, error-free and clear-headed.”

Debois also credited his broader support team, which included a technical coach, mental coach, communications staff and project partners. For Debois, the record was less about individual performance and more about collective execution.

“This record is the result of a long-term collective effort based on shared values,” he said. “From preparing the boat to crossing the finish line, I benefited from the advice and support of my entire team.”

For long-range cruisers, Debois’ achievement offers a modern reminder that successful ocean passages rely less on maximum speed and more on disciplined decision-making, equipment preservation and mental resilience.

Debois is now looking ahead to his next challenge. In June, he plans to attempt the solo west-to-east North Atlantic record between New York and Lizard Point, a route generally considered faster but more demanding due to weather variability.

“I’m listing a few technical improvements to be made and starting to think about how we will choose the weather window,” Debois said. “This second crossing won’t be easy. It’s the North Atlantic.”

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A huge crowd gathers at the breakwater in Gran Canaria to bid farewell to the yachts. One by one, boats from 26 nationalities file out of Las Palmas marina toward the start line at the north of the Spanish island. Crews dance and cheer, and the music changes from Queen to ABBA as Swedish yacht Dawnbreaker docks out to the blare of an Alpine horn. The two white-haired children at the bow seem awed by the fanfare, but their brother, Alfred, waves furiously from the top of a Jacob’s ladder, looking more than ready to take on the Atlantic.

The Chuck Paine–custom-designed yacht is one of 83 vessels (six of them American) taking part in the 2,700-mile rally to Grenada, which has a stopover in Cape Verde. The direct ARC, which sails to St. Lucia, departs two weeks later.

It’s been 40 years since Jimmy Cornell launched the ARC, an event aimed at cruising enthusiasts, not “racing’s elite,” with a focus on safety. Back then, Dawnbreaker skipper Lars Alfredson was navigating with a radio direction finder. Even during his first ARC, in 2003, he was reliant on an SSB radio and a modem to stay in contact.

“You’d spend hours and hours trying to connect, but you got through sometimes,” he recalls. “You see the boats the first day and the last day, and in between it’s just empty sea.”

Now, sailing with his son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren, Lars has Starlink, enabling the family to run their online retail business at sea.

“I wouldn’t say things are better now, but for the young people who need to be connected all the time and have to report everything that happens, they like it,” says Lars.

At 64 feet, Dawnbreaker is one of the bigger entries in the fleet, with the average yacht being 48 feet. These days, over a third of participants are multihulls, and most are equipped with satcomms, autopilots, solar, lithium batteries and MFDs. But how would the crews feel if they were zapped back in time, Marty McFly–style, to 1986? Would they still do it? This is the question we put to them as they made their final preparations for their big adventure.

Almond angst

“Yes, I’d still go, because I wouldn’t know any different,” says Richard Cropper, skipper of Beneteau 60 Salty Rascal. “You’d just get by with the tools you’ve got.”

The British dad’s decision to embark on a yearlong adventure with wife Louise and sons Jake (9) and Harry (11) was inspired by a Secret Santa gift, a book entitled Sail Away: How to Escape the Rat Race and Live the Dream. Though the idea took hold on Christmas morning 2014, it would be over a decade before that dream became a reality, and only recently did they learn that the gift was from Louise’s sister.

“I think she wanted to get rid of us,” laughs Louise, a primary care physician. “For years afterward, Richard kept saying, ‘Would you do it? Would you do it?’ I only said yes because I never thought we’d go through with it. But I wouldn’t have done it 40 years ago, not without the technology. Everyone back home thinks we’re mad, but they can follow us using the YB tracker, and knowing we’re doing it in an organized group and can send pictures back home normalizes what we’re doing.”

Richard adds: “But the danger of being part of a huge rally is you can’t stop buying stuff. It’s like when you’re at school waiting to do your exams, and everyone’s talking about what they revised, and you’re thinking, ‘God, I didn’t do that.’ You start asking if you’ve got enough equipment. Did you buy enough toilet rolls? We had a panic about almonds, and Louise is like, ‘How many almonds have you actually eaten in the last year?’”

To ease the stress of the passage, the Croppers have hired Brazilian skipper Juan Manuel Ballestero, who made headlines during the pandemic when he sailed three months from Portugal to Argentina in order to see his sick father.

“I was in Porto Santo, and the borders closed. There were no flights, no ferries. I just decided right away, I’m going,” he says. “It was more than a sailing trip, it was an inner trip. I’m still trying to shape it, after all these years, asking myself what really happened. We love our families; that is what COVID taught us. I was going home, and I didn’t care how long it would take.”

Then it was a trip of solitude: a 29-foot yacht packed with 160 cans of food and a bottle of whiskey. This time, Juan’s looking forward to an altogether different experience, as was clear the night of his arrival in Las Palmas, when he was whisked to an ’80s party by a giddy Louise in luminous leggings.

“This family is lots of fun,” he says. “I’m pretty stoked about doing the voyage with the little ones. It will be unique.”

MOB rescue

Hoisting eight flags onto the forestay—an act counted excitedly by a group of boys fishing off the pontoon—is Swan 51 Eira. The monohull is doing the main ARC, and Finnish delivery crew Markus Leppanen and Vilhelm Sjöström are preparing her for the paying passengers.

“Sailing Eira wouldn’t have been much different 40 years ago,” says Vilhelm, tapping the elk-skin-covered wheel. “We have an autopilot now but hand-steer 95% of the time. We have a big racing rudder, which is really responsive, and people participate because they want to steer and sail. They want to learn something new.”

Markus and Vilhelm have tens of thousands of sea miles under their belts. Markus recalls that in the 1993 ARC, they didn’t have a sat phone—just GPS and a plotter. Instead of weather apps, they had a guy navigating onshore, giving instructions over SSB.

Back then they were “just a bunch of friends with the smallest, fastest Swan.” Now, Eira has 85,000 nautical miles on the clock and 15 crossings. She’s a veteran in every sense of the word.

“We use a traditional spinnaker,” says Vilhelm. “At first only in light airs until we know how experienced the crew are. Running it at night requires a bit of practice. The biggest risk is something happens, and the thing that should never happen is a man overboard.”

They reflect on the tragedy in last year’s ARC, where Swedish sailor Dag Eresund, 33, fell overboard from Volvo 70 Ocean Breeze.

“I was routing from Finland,” says Vilhelm. “I noticed all the fastest boats changing course and I knew, hours before it became news, that there was an MOB. It was around 0230, 20–25 knots. When it’s pitch black and a swell of about 6 meters, you know it’s really hard to get someone out of there. These old Whitbread boats don’t turn on a sixpence.”

Eresund was wearing a personal AIS beacon, a safety device that transmits your position to the mothership and nearby vessels, yet sadly he could not be located, reinforcing the fact that even the latest satellite technology is no substitute for lashing yourself to the deck, which people have done since the beginnings of sailing.

Markus recalls an MOB on his 1999 ARC, though happily that had a positive outcome.

“It was a Norwegian racing boat, sponsored by Jägermeister,” he says. “The spinnaker came down in a squall, and they gybed, knocking a crewmember into the water. Even when it’s warm, you’ll only last 24 hours, but here is this guy in a Hawaiian shirt—he takes off his life jacket and places it under his butt to stay out of the water. After 28 hours, a German boat passes and picks him up!”

It’s not the first time a sailor has been rescued by chance during a cruising rally. In ARC+ 2021, British catamaran Coco happened upon a dismasted yacht 140 miles from Grenada and towed it into port, to the relief of the distressed French skipper.

For crews’ safety, it’s a requirement of the ARC that all skippers have the ability to send and receive emails at sea, whether via SSB radio (via a free messaging program called Airmail) or a satcom device such as Iridium Certus 100 or Inmarsat Fleet One.

“We talked about getting Starlink,” says Vilhelm, “but the skipper doesn’t want it because the experience for the crew changes. We have satcomms and can make phone calls and emails, but we don’t want everybody hanging around the cockpit reading the news. You spoil the experience.”

It was during World ARC 2023 when Elon Musk’s low-cost, high-speed internet service took off among long-distance cruisers. While only two of the 20 boats leaving St. Lucia at the start of the rally had Starlink, by the time they’d completed a world circuit six months later, only two boats didn’t have it.

Medical backup

Onboard Frolic, a J/44, we find Rhode Island sailor HL DeVore opening the cava, having successfully Googled a fix for his B&G wind sensor, saving $3,000 in parts and labor. His ex–U.S. Coast Guard vessel is equipped with Starlink, a piece of kit HL wouldn’t sail without.

“I do love the romanticism of not being able to communicate other than with attempts at SSB,” he admits, “and I’m old enough to have sailed in those days, but being connected gives the family at home security, and means we can liaise with a medical team if needed—in fact, the same one used by round-the-world sailor Cole Brauer. We’ve got IV kits, medicines—everything you could possibly need—and with modern comms we have the comfort of knowing we can solve issues at sea.”

Meant to be?

Although Starlink draws a significant amount of power, the benefit of being able to make video calls and stream sports games or Netflix has made today’s cruising yacht a true home from home. It’s allowed Mexican family the Sidauys to sell their home and possessions and move onboard their Lagoon 52F catamaran Ruaj. This new wave of adventurous young families, who buy production catamarans and choose cruising as an alternative lifestyle, was rare in the ’70s, when the majority of ARC participants were older, wealthy couples.

For Gabriel Sidauy, the idea of taking on an Atlantic crossing was sparked during a chance meeting on a flight from Tijuana to Cancun.

“The man next to me was checking out boats and charts,” says Gabriel. “He was about to start this amazing adventure with his wife and three kids. I said to him, ‘That’s the best thing I heard in my life!’”

Gabriel’s children, Moises (now 14) and Natalie (10), loved the idea, but it took four years to persuade his wife, Victoria, to sell up and sail away. When finally she agreed and they shared their plans with neighbors, they were put in touch with a sailor who agreed to be their mentor.

It turned out to be none other than Emanuel—the guy Gabriel met on the plane.

“I told him he changed our lives, and he didn’t remember me,” laughs Gabriel. “But he was great. He told me about the ARC, what boat to look for, and he came several times to the house with his wife to tell us about his experience.”

The Sidauys bought Ruaj in Italy and spent a year sailing around the Mediterranean before making their way south to the Canaries. Thanks to Starlink, Gabriel can run his plastic recycling business at sea, while Natalie and Moises can be homeschooled, with regular calls to classmates and tutors.

“We have learned many things,” says Gabriel. “We used to live in a big house in Cancun with all the space we wanted, and now we learn to live with what is necessary.”

The bare(ish) necessities

One of the joys of the ARC is seeing what families deem “necessary” for their transatlantic, whether that’s a 50-inch TV, washing machine, coffee maker or, in the case of the Sidauys, “aerial silks,” which gymnast Natalie has tied to the forestay.

“Gymnastics is my passion,” she says breathlessly, while twirling and tumbling to the applause of neighboring boats. “I also love the night sky and can’t wait to see shooting stars, and play my ukulele with Moises on his guitar.”

So, a final question: Would they do this 40 years ago?

“No, it would not be possible,” confirms Gabriel, who has to cut short the interview to receive a video conference call.

Without modern tech, Gabriel would still be in Mexico dreaming of a long-ago conversation with a man on the plane. Most likely, the Croppers would be in drizzly Manchester, England, working long hours and doing school runs. Yet for experienced sailors such as Lars Alfredson, who has sailed to the Arctic and Antarctic, and HL DeVore, a navigator with 14 Newport-to-Bermuda races under his belt, waking up in 1986 in the middle of the ocean would pose no problem whatsoever.

The great thing about rallies such as the ARC+ is that these types of sailors can come together and cross the ocean in whatever way suits them, knowing that at the end of it all, in Port Louis Marina, Grenada, they’ll be sharing stories over a rum punch as the sun goes down over the Caribbean Sea.

The post We Asked: Could You Survive the ARC Without Modern Tech? appeared first on Cruising World.

With bows pointed west and months of preparation behind them, the World ARC 2026-27 fleet officially got underway January 10, departing Saint Lucia to begin a 15-month circumnavigation of the globe.

The start came at midday local time in steady northeast trades of about 15 knots, ideal conditions for the opening leg to Panama. For many aboard, simply crossing the start line marked the fulfillment of a long-held dream years in the making.

“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to start the trip across the Pacific, and going through the Panama Canal is going to be a blast,” said Tommaso Amadori of Cashew ahead of the start. “The group is amazing, and the organization is fantastic.”

For long-range cruisers, the days and weeks leading up to departure are often as demanding as the miles at sea. In Saint Lucia, crews focused on final systems checks provisioning and mental preparation.

“You need to get the boat ship shape for what’s coming,” Amadori said. “It’s a big job mentally and physically, but the reward is amazing.”

That mix of hard work and shared anticipation defines the opening chapter of World ARC. While some crews are new to organized rallies, many have crossed oceans together before through World Cruising Club events. Regardless of background, the Saint Lucia start brought together a new fleet bound by a common goal.

Seminars, safety briefings and social events helped establish that sense of community, supported by World Cruising Club along with the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority and Events Saint Lucia. IGY Rodney Bay Marina served as the fleet’s base, offering a practical and welcoming launch point for the adventure ahead.

Over the course of the rally, boats will visit 19 countries. Many stops are places rarely reached by travelers arriving by air, a key draw for sailors seeking deeper engagement with the places they visit.

Flexibility is also built into the program. Some crews plan to pause midway, effectively taking a cruising gap year before rejoining a future edition of the rally. For many long-range sailors, that adaptability mirrors the reality of cruising life, where plans evolve with weather, family and opportunity.

The 2026-27 fleet reflects the diversity of today’s cruising community, including eight family crews and seven doublehanded teams. Different boats, different backgrounds and different sailing styles converge under the shared challenge of going all the way around.

“This has been a dream for decades,” said Will Lee of Sea Wisdom II. “I’m really looking forward to doing it with my wife Chloe and sharing this experience with everyone in the fleet.”

Later this month, the boats will transit the Panama Canal, a milestone that marks the beginning of the 10,000-nautical-mile Pacific crossing. For cruising sailors watching from home, the fleet’s departure is a reminder that big voyages are built on careful preparation, strong community and the willingness to finally cast off.

The post World ARC Fleet Begins 15-Month Circumnavigation appeared first on Cruising World.

The Blue Water Sailing Club’s (BWSC) Atlantic Canada Cruise 2024-2025 (ACC) was an unprecedented undertaking, a first of its kind in the club’s history. Four vessels—Going Merry (a Hallberg-Rassy 42), Grayling (Sabre 38), Truant (Southern Cross 31), and Avocet (Oyster 41)—set out from Boothbay Harbor, Maine, on August 15, 2024, immediately following the annual “Maine Cruise.” Despite the varying capabilities of the boats and the diverse experience levels of their captains and crews, not one captain had previously sailed their boat north of Halifax. The fleet was later joined by a fifth boat, Walkabout (a Sabre 38), in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in June 2025. The expedition eventually concluded for Avocet in Boothbay Harbor on August 17, 2025, after a 49-hour sail from Halifax (Rogue’s Roost).

Truant was single-handed, more often double-handed and occasionally had three onboard. With a 25-foot waterline, Truant proved that many of our smaller BWSC boats, if sailed by inspired skippers, can manage this trip. Typical daily mileage was limited to usually not more than 25 nautical miles—and often considerably less daily mileage than previous Club trips to Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy. Alternating lay days and short legs appealed to many participants.

A number of things made the trip unique for the Club. The cruise was long. We sailed 2,200 nautical miles. We were at sea for 83 days. We saw 47 harbors. It spanned two summers. We went to three countries.

The Atlantic Canada Cruise (ACC) was an expedition-type club cruise. There were three overnight passages. The last passage (284 nautical miles) had two back-to-back overnights. Matinicus to Shelburne, N.S., St. Pierre to Sydney and Halifax to our various homeports. These passages made possible a detailed exploration of the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia, the Bras d’Or Lakes, the southern coast of Newfoundland including many of its magnificent fjords, several of the islands along Newfoundland’s southern coast including Burgeo and Ramea, and the French islands of Miquelon-St. Pierre.

Days off the boats were spent exploring these harbors and hiking in some really spectacular places. We were greeted warmly and with much curiosity everywhere—though many places were without a population or road access.

One fellow in Rose Blanche, eager to show us his way of life, took a few of us jigging for cod. The catch fed the entire group. These were fish you hook as soon as you drop the hook. So, we got equipped. In the fjords, birds perched high in the surrounding cliffs were answering my son’s cellphone bird-identification app. It was acoustically as impressive as listening to a concert in Carnegie Hall. And very remote. Our hiking teams, often exploring simultaneously different ridges, took handheld radios as help could only come from the anchored boats. Much of this was captured by Homer, which was our squadron’s only drone after the loss of its sister drone.

Nature was front and center. A small group of pilot whales repeatedly crossed within feet of our bows in 5- to 6-foot swells en route from Piccaire (Pink Bottom) to Brunette Island, Newfoundland. This was a different behavior than what I have seen crossing Georges Bank where larger groups of whales have flanked Avocet on both sides as if in a convoy. This was purposeful and playful activity by very large mammals. To finish that day at anchor at Brunette Island (en route to Fortune, Newfoundland), locals came over in their skiff, chatted it up, asked where we were from and gave us a bag of their freshly harvested scallops. They were the best scallops I have ever eaten. Caribou were grazing unperturbed on a hill in front of us at this spot. No roads. No bridges. No light pollution. Virtually no people. A few fishing huts. Elsewhere others in our group were given jars of moose meat and moose sausage. A delicious and unexpected appetizer for the group. Tasted like flank steak. Coming off the sea we were not quite tourists nor were we mere transients. The relationship was one of mutual interest and respect; we shared the sea. They were as curious about us as we were of them.

The composition of participants was another somewhat unique feature. For only five boats, there was an extraordinary number and mix of people of various ages, occupations and familial relation. By one estimate, 50 folks sailed various parts of the trip. Nine married couples. Three sets of brothers. Two sets of brother-sister pairs. A son. Cousins. Uncles. High school buddies. College buddies. New BWSC members. Old sailing friends. New relationships were made and old relationships were nourished. The different types of sailing permitted (and sometimes required) different sets of crew along the route. The number of participants coupled with the remoteness of many of our crew points in Newfoundland and parts of Nova Scotia added complexity to our crew changes and fresh faces to different legs. There was also continuity in the group. For three of our original four boats, many who crewed in 2024 returned to crew in 2025. One returning non-member crew sailed on two different boats.

The trip was organizationally unique. We were graciously given a pass by local Customs authorities in advance in regard to the statutory importation tax in Canada and departure requirements when overwintering. Canadian Customs officials have wide discretion. We also scheduled a departure from Canada and into France (St. Pierre) so as to re-new the one-year limitation period for Canada on re-entry. As it turned out, Customs would have granted us more than a year to clear out had we needed it. We were apparently deemed to be trustworthy guests.

The trip required a broader set of seamanship skills than our Club’s typical two-week cruises. These skills applied mostly to mechanical issues. One boat’s windlass fell through the deck and had to be re-bolted. Another boat’s windlass had electrical corrosion issues. An AIS transmit function required electrical work to get functioning.

The AIS transmit is an important safety capability when traveling at night and/or in the fog and especially in a group of boats. It is also handy when port authorities are trying to locate and manage your approach in no visibility conditions such as what we had going toward Port aux Basques. With lots of other traffic, there is not a lot of time for the traffic control officers to be plotting your exact position by digesting lengthy lat/long numbers given verbally over the radio.

Three engines had oil changes, which, in turn, unveiled a potentially serious issue relating to the exhaust system and decomposing air filter in one of our boats. A toilet pump in one of our boats required a call for tech support and an on the spot rebuild. In Burgeo, a boat’s anchor got stuck on a submerged pipe. To jimmy it free, a secondary trip line was secured and then winched from another boat’s primary. One boat developed engine starting issues relating to fuel intake. This was addressed eventually at Baddeck Marine as was another boat’s complete repower. There was also a transmission issue that was addressed on the fly.

Baddeck Marine is a wonderful place to winter over if you do the decommissioning work yourself. The yard forgot to winterize Avocet’s fresh water system. All plumbing fixtures, hoses and filters were replaced at the yard’s expense and without discussion. They are honest, friendly and hard working folks. Every yard makes mistakes. Not every yard covers the costs of those mistakes. Their rates were extremely reasonable. The town of Baddeck is on the Cabot Trail and is therefore a great place to spend the time necessary when hauling or launching.

The greatest perceived challenges turned out to be largely overblown. Anchoring was not a problem though heavy ground tackle was necessary. One boat upgraded their gear for 2025. Another boat passed on a few anchorages. Rafting up, splitting up, and/or tying stern to shore resolved matters in the few places that were tight. In Pink Bottom, three boats rafted up with a stern line and the other two boats moved on to alternate anchorages. More boats could have easily joined this trip.

Katabatic winds and fouled anchor rodes, referenced by Paul Trammell in his book, Sailing to Newfoundland: A Solo Exploration of the South Coast Fjords (2023), were never a problem—however Mr. Trammell, a newcomer to sailing, deserves all the credit for undertaking such a remote trip solo. Brave man. And without a windlass! He used an InReach device for tracking when he hiked.

Our group did have to hold position an extra night at anchor in Yankee Cove, Nova Scotia, in 2024 as we were in an extended small gale. In Francois, Newfoundland we tied to a dock for the night in winds which a local told me were gusting 60 to 65 knots. The wind was greater than I have previously experienced. This local fellow correctly advised before the wind hit that it would be pushed from the North to the Northwest by the cliffs—and he was correct.

Along the fjord coastline and in front of all the cliffs, this was a dangerous lee shore very close alongside and on our rhumb line heading east. On the most egregious day, only Truant (with my son aboard) took the conservative action and gained significant sea room. It would have been difficult to impossible to sail out of trouble had there been engine failure. Anchoring was not an option as water depth close to shore was too deep. This was an instance where sailing in a group actually added a measure of hope if not real safety since we had Going Merry and her 60-horsepower engine in close proximity for a tow.

There were similarities between the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland trips. Both areas are thinly populated and are stunning in physical beauty. Both summers had extraordinarily good weather: sun, little fog and almost no rain. There was so little rain in 2025 that Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, was under a no-campfire ban. At Liscombe Lodge in Nova Scotia folks were not permitted on the hiking trails. Warm air (cool nights) and warm water (in places). Bugs were not as bad as predicted. Provisioning was a snap. Canadians freely drove us around or lent their cars and trucks.

Differences between our Nova Scotia and Newfoundland trips were not immediately apparent in advance. We sailed Nova Scotia over 70% of the time. This sailing to motoring ratio was reversed in Newfoundland because of short, steep and confused swell in the Cabot Strait and along the southern coast. The Labrador Current, the Gulf Stream Current, the Atlantic Ocean Current and enormous fetch coming up against the cliffy fjord sections of Newfoundland created convergence, blocking, gap and funneling effects. Truly a bad combo. Leaving mid-August for Nova Scotia from Maine proved to be correct for better wind and less fog. Sailing west to east along the southern coast of Newfoundland (from Port aux Basques and Squid Hole to the Lampidoes Passage) was critical. Waves, wind and current were all against us if going the other way.

Entering and exiting Dingwall, Nova Scotia, was uneventful at high tide for Avocet. She draws 8 feet. Exiting Ingonish, Nova Scotia, was not so good. A narrow channel blocked by a lobster buoy in the middle offered a 50-50 choice—she bumped the bottom but got kudos for taking one for the team following astern. Another advantage to sailing in a group.

In two of the Newfoundland fjords (Hare Bay and Facheux Bay), fish farms combined with unrelated, very long, singular, and haphazardly placed floating lines made navigation sufficiently difficult to require assistance from the boats tending these farms. At night or in fog, these areas would be arguably non-navigable. Our group relayed this information to those behind. We closed quarters and filed through in a single row.

Our group of four boats sailed as a group in Nova Scotia in 2024. Our group of five boats in 2025 sailed as a group in Newfoundland. On the return from St. Pierre, France (8 nautical miles southwest of Newfoundland), decisions had to be made sailing against prevailing southwesterly winds and the group split. One group headed to Sydney two days ahead of schedule to catch favorable conditions on that overnight passage. One boat in the other group had a schedule to meet in Sydney; and, joined by another boat, departed St. Pierre on schedule but two days after the first group. This second group subsequently departed Sydney three days after the first group. One boat hauled for the winter in Baddeck. Another boat chose an accelerated route and schedule home. In Halifax, where three boats were joined, captains read the weather differently, as they did in St. Pierre, and made departure decisions accordingly.

It is essential in sailing passages that weather windows are paramount and that each captain makes his or her own departure choices. Crew meetings in both St. Pierre and Halifax were structured to ensure that this protocol was followed. This is not what happens in organized ocean races where a race committee makes the starting gun decision for the fleet. Although it is true that our group saw different things in terms of the forecasting, it is equally true to note that this was essentially a near coastal return where safe harbors are relatively close at hand. For this reason, a weather router, like Chris Parker, was not used though he did speak for us in a 2023 seminar on the trip.

For the Blue Water Sailing Club’s “CCC” (the Caribbean Challenge Cruise 2026-2027), the stakes are higher sailing Newport to Bermuda in November. Using Chris Parker will be helpful to everyone regardless of experience levels.

Although our captains could have called in their own weather router, they relied on their own resources, heard from all other captains and learned from the experience. Weather models do not always agree with each other. Without hands-on experience doing the weather routing part and sailing a few overnight passages, one has a disadvantage relying solely on another person’s opinions and advice.

What did I learn as trip leader? It is more fun to sail in a group.

If I were to do the trip again with the same northerly winds some of us enjoyed sailing south from St. Pierre, I would sail straight to Louisbourg and skip Sydney. Sailing home in prevailing southwesterly winds requires one to be opportunistic whenever there is a northerly component. Chris Parker, prior to this trip, put it starkly. It is easier to sail from Newfoundland to Bermuda than it is to sail Newfoundland to New England.

Louisbourg gets you farther south and is more direct than going through the Bras d’Or Lakes and St. Peter’s Canal. Sydney has about an 8-mile slog up the harbor which is long, out of the way; and it comes after an overnight passage. Baddeck is not a port of entry. Sailing to Louisbourg does mean that your crew skips the Bras d’Or Lakes, but our group of boats sailed the lakes in 2024 going to Newfoundland. The lakes are a thing of beauty—not to be missed. As awesome in their solitary splendor as the fjords in Newfoundland.

On the return along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, Avocet adopted several strategies. Sail early before the southwesterlies pick up, go short and stop early, and make more stops. Sail the rivers and inland bays on a beam reach like Country Harbor, Tor Bay (Webber Cove) and the beautiful and navigationally entertaining inner passages like Dover Island Passage. No rush.

The key to my kind of sailing is to find a way to do it all in cool, new places with the right mix of gunkholing, offshore passages and local exploration and to do it slowly, often with significant breaks in the action, with the right crew, friends and family. This trip has now introduced me to club cruising and it has elevated the experience. Those who join are like-minded folks who are excited about going. Hopefully, they have chosen the parts of the trip they will like. It is more rewarding to share it than it is to go solo.

About the Author: John Slingerland sails out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine on his Oyster 41, Avocet. A graduate of Middlebury College and a retired lawyer, he is presently Commodore of the Blue Water Sailing Club. John has recently completed a four-year circumnavigation of the North Atlantic Ocean and Western Mediterranean Sea. He has since led Blue Water Sailing Club members to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Click here for information on joining the Blue Water Sailing Club or participating in its upcoming sailing adventure to the Caribbean. The Caribbean Challenge Cruise leaves Newport, Rhode Island, in November 2026 and returns from Grenada, via Sint Maarten and Bermuda, in April 2027. Review the short form itinerary and register for the trip here.

The post 5 Boats, 2,200 Miles: An Epic Atlantic Expedition Unveiled appeared first on Cruising World.

Cruising World Editor at Large Tim Murphy had a project pop up for his Passport 40 Billy Pilgrim, so he knew just where to go for supplies. Before getting started, Tim stopped at West Marine to pick up all of the gear he needed to install a new set of solar panels on his sailboat:

• Solar Panels
• Electronic Controller(s)
• Cable (Duplex conductor, sized per ABYC)
• Wire Terminals (preferably heat-shrink)
• In-Line Fuse Holders (2 per panel)
• Fuses
• Cable Ties
• Cable Loom

With the help of the pros at West Marine and Navtronics, Tim and the crew successfully installed new solar panels and is ready for his next journey aboard Billy Pilgrim.

Got a project? Need some supplies? Stop by your local West Marine or visit www.westmarine.com before getting started.

The post How to Install Solar Panels on Your Sailboat appeared first on Cruising World.

Hmm, what to pack for an offshore adventure—now that’s always a tricky question. Depending on the weather and expected time at sea, you can sketch out what you think you’ll need, but sailing trips often take unexpected twists and turns, so you’ll also want to be ready for whatever Neptune might have in store. With that in mind, here are 15 essentials I’d toss into my sea bag and YETI cooler.

1. Frozen Food

I’d pack my YETI Bimini Pink Hopper M30 soft-side cooler or the new M20 Backpack Cooler with an aluminum baking pan of lasagna and a gallon-size plastic bag of chili, both frozen. The first night at sea, the crew will be getting used to the endless motion, so simple sandwiches will suffice. On days two and three, we’ll be ready for a real meal, and by then, the frozen entrees will be thawing out. But in the meantime, they will have done double-duty as ice packs, helping to prolong the life span of fresh fruits and vegetables. After day three, we’ll be bored and ready to cook meals from scratch.

2. PFD and Tether

I’m definitely bringing my inflatable life jacket, two spare inflation cylinders, and my safety tether. At night or anytime circumstances get dicey, I like to have my PFD on, and if I’m on deck, I want to be tethered to something solid. I bring my own gear because it’s comfortable, I know how it works, and I’ve checked to make sure the PFD’s armed and ready to go.

3. Multicolor Headlamp and Small LED Flashlight

From sunset to sunrise, I always carry a flashlight in my pocket, and the headlight frees up my hands. Plus, at night on deck, its red light won’t interfere with night vision.

4. A Couple of Good Books

You can sleep for only so many hours between watches!

5. Swim Goggles

You never know when you might need to go over the side, and they could come in handy on watch during a whiteout rain squall.

6. Multitool

You never know when it might come in handy.

7. Flask of Mt. Gay Rum and YETI Rambler

See reasoning for the multitool. The drinkware company launched a new line of tumblers, mugs and bottles in Offshore Blue and Bimini Pink for use as compact containers while out on the water or simply to keep you hydrated while doing what you love.

8. Personal EPIRB and AIS Beacons

I mount these on my PFD. I’m not planning to go overboard, but if I do, I’m hoping someone will come find me—the AIS because the boat I fell off will probably be the closest, and the EPIRB in case they don’t turn back to get me.

9. Old Bay Seasoning

A tin of Old Bay can make the worst cook’s grub taste good, and if we catch a fish, well, bon appétit.

10. Paper Charts, Dividers and Parallel Rules

I find route planning a lot easier on a paper chart; you don’t need to zoom in and out or scroll endlessly to see what’s ahead. Plus, when I pull out the nav gear, it gives the millennials aboard something to laugh at.

11. Sweatpants

Even in warm places, night watches can be cold. And sweatpants are comfortable.

12. Cap and Shades

I’m definitely packing an extra ball cap and pair of sunglasses. Both are easily lost, and missed dearly when gone.

13. Pure-Castile Peppermint Soap

It works just fine with salt water and is biodegradable.

14. iPhone

Gotta have my smartphone, loaded nav apps and music, of course.

15. Waterproof Point-and-Shoot Camera

When I go anywhere on the water, I bring along my waterproof point-and-shoot camera with Wi-Fi. You can put it in a pocket and swim ashore; it will slide under things like an engine to take photos of stuff you can’t see or reach; and you can take photos of your mates when they fall asleep on watch.

The post 15 Charter Essentials for Any Sailing Trip appeared first on Cruising World.

The late Ted Hood, one of sailing’s most accomplished practitioners, mainstreamed roller-furling mainsails. He acknowledged that a sail being wound into one of his Stowaway Masts had to be cut flatter, devoid of horizontal battens, and lack a big roach. But despite these performance-sapping attributes, he saw the upside it would offer shorthanded sailors: The system demonstrated that performance is also linked to having the right amount of sail area set. And over time, making the mainsail behave like a zoom lens has proved to be as appealing to sailors as the latter has been to photographers. 

Initially, a few innovators attempted to retrofit older rigs with external, behind-the-mast roller-furling systems. In essence, these units were akin to a roller-furling headstay stretched between a beefed-up masthead fitting and the gooseneck. Unfortunately, as the tension between the masthead and gooseneck increased, the spar tended to bow and the luff of the mainsail curved to leeward. This made reefing and furling difficult, and placed excess stress on the spar itself.

Seldén and Schaefer solved the problem by adding evenly spaced track connections that linked the mainsail furler to the mast track. Today, Facnor also offers a refined version of this concept for those interested in converting a standard spar into one that hosts a roller-furling mainsail.

Meanwhile, spar-makers soon recognized that a specially extruded, open-trailing-edge spar could house a furled mainsail. A central mandrel, or furling rod with a luff-tape slot, rotates and retracts or releases the mainsail from within the mast. The design requires a way to support and tension the luff rod and a bearing system to handle rotation under load. The geometry of the sail slot and cavity is vital, as is the cut and construction of the mainsail. 

Hood’s sailmaking ­background and yacht-design ­business put him at the head of the fleet, and Stowaway Masts, with their mechanical, electric or hydraulic roller reefing systems, showed up on vessels from 35 to 100-plus feet.

The furling concept might seem fairly simple, but the devil is in the details. Hood, Seldén and many others eventually worked out most of the kinks, including maintaining proper furling-rod tension. But even so, care needs to be taken when furling and outhauling the mainsail, and that’s especially true when an electric or hydraulic winch does the pulling. The big danger lies in overloading the outhaul due to a hockle, or kink, in the furling line. Too hard a pull by a power winch can wedge the partially furled sail in the exit slot, or damage the drive system or the sail itself. Units with narrower exit slots avoid this “herniated” mainsail condition but add increased chafe concerns. Hood’s furling designs have continued to evolve and are now being produced by Formula Spars.

Just as monohulls and multihulls have their advocates, there’s plenty of partisanship when it comes to in-mast or in-boom furling systems, the latter being another option for those seeking ease of sailhandling. Both approaches succeed at sail-area reduction, and both act as a “force multiplier”—allowing a shorthanded crew to cope with a much larger mainsail. But there are also a few not-so-subtle differences between the two. 

Advocates of in-boom furling call the ability to have a deeper-draft, horizontal-batten-equipped, roach-sporting mainsail an important value-added feature. This means that when comparing equal sail areas, the in-boom option will outperform the in-mast alternative. The boom-­furling mainsail comes closer to matching the performance of a conventionally hoisted mainsail. Another big plus is that if the boom-furler function fails, you can still lower the mainsail conventionally.

As with most good things, there are also a couple of downsides that need to be recognized. The first is the size and weight of the boom, which is typically at least double or more the diameter and weight of a conventional boom. The weight issue raises some tactical and safety concerns. The heavier boom will more actively respond in light air and a rolling seaway, creating trimming issues. It also presents a greater risk to the crew during an unanticipated jibe, so more attention needs to be paid to the preventer or the boom brake. 

Ultimately, there’s a vulnerability to the short portion of track that leads the sail’s luff from the mast to the boom mandrel. The angle that the boom makes with the mast is very important, as is following the manufacturer’s furling guidelines. A heavy-duty mechanical or hydraulic boom vang will help ensure that the correct angle is maintained while reefing. 

Ted Hood was correct: Furling is the future. But a few of us still cling to the simplicity, sail-shaping advantage, and lessened chafe found in conventional slab reefing.

Ralph Naranjo is a circumnavigator, technical writer, former Vanderstar Chair at the US Naval Academy, and author of The Art of Seamanship, among other books.

Mainsail Furler Manufacturers

• Axxon Composites
• CDI
• Facnor
• Hood Yacht Systems
• Leisure Furl
• Hall Spars
• Rondal
• Schaefer Marine
• Seldén
• Sparcraft
• Southern Spars
• US Spars
• Z Spars

The post Mainsail Furlers Lighten the Load appeared first on Cruising World.

Long before Cruising World magazine, before production fiberglass boats or even square-rigged tall ships, there were a variety of different canoe designs sailing the trade-wind-kissed waters of the Pacific Ocean. Widely recognized as one of the first bluewater fleets in the history of the world, the multihull canoes of the Pacific covered vast expanses of water as pioneering voyagers and nomadic islanders settled everything from volcanic island chains to tiny, geographically disparate coral atolls. Of these many different canoe designs that sailed the Pacific, few were as grand as the mighty Fijian drua.

The drua were revered throughout the Pacific for their ­incredible size and performance, along with their huge ­cargo-carrying ability. The largest of them were more than 120 feet long and capable of carrying up to 200 warriors to ­windward, at speeds of 15 knots.

Around the world, the boats of our ancestors have been replaced by modern craft with engines and composite ­construction. The boats of Fiji are no different, and the introduction of the combustion engine signaled the death of the drua. Drua were originally built in the Lau group of islands in eastern Fiji—islands revered for their legendary boatbuilders and high-quality timber. The drua left the islands one by one and disappeared over the years. While there are records of when each drua left the Lau group, there’s not a single record of a drua returning to those islands in modern times.

Meet i Vola Sigavou, which translates to “the new rising star.” A drua built using fiberglass and modern building methods, i Vola Sigavou is a reproduction of the lines of Ratu Finau, the last known drua built in the traditional sense back in 1913. Launched in 2016, the 40-foot i Vola Sigavou is based in western Fiji and is part of a nonprofit organization called the Drua Experience. The drua takes tourists and locals sailing as part of an effort to ­revitalize drua sailing culture and traditional navigation.

RELATED: Canoe Kids in the Solomon Islands

“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no tourists in Fiji, and we are not expecting any tourists in the foreseeable future,” said i Vola Sigavou skipper Setareki Corvus Ledua, in August 2020. “We thought to ourselves, this could be the perfect time to go out to the Lau group and do more research and collect all of the evidence that still exists.” The ambitious voyage saw the drua sail around most of the main island of Viti Levu before crossing eastward toward the Lau group. The voyage was dubbed na lesu tale voyage, which translates to “the homecoming,” and it marked the first time in modern history that a drua sailed into its ancestral home of the Lau group.

The two-month journey from September to November 2020 saw the drua and its crew of six Fijians sail more than 500 nautical miles around much of the country. Beginning in Fiji’s touristy western division, the crew sailed i Vola Sigavou north and east over the top of Viti Levu, and then waited for proper weather before sailing across the Koro Sea and crossing to the remote Lau group. With more than a dozen stops along the way, the drua’s ultimate destination was Fulaga Island, the captain’s native home and the beating heart of drua culture.

The voyage was part of the Drua Experience’s larger goal of establishing a traditional navigation and canoe-building school in Fiji to reconnect youth with traditional sailing culture, navigation and the ocean itself. The voyage was conceived as a way to revitalize ancient customs and traditions while collecting knowledge from living elders before that knowledge dies out forever.

The post Ancient Fijian Culture Brought to Forefront with Sailing Drua appeared first on Cruising World.

Sailing Hall of Fame, The America’s Cup Hall of Fame and a broad collection of sailing-related exhibits, which collectively will be called The Sailing Museum.

According to a release issued Friday: The Sailing Museum will feature more than 11,000 square feet of interactive exhibits, displays chronicling the history of the sport, and galleries honoring inductees into the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the America’s Cup Hall of Fame. The Sailing Museum experience has been developed by Healy Kohler Design, a recognized leader in interactive museum and sports hall of fame design. The museum is scheduled to open in Spring 2022.

“Our new home will be a feast for the senses, harnessing technology to bring the excitement of sailing to life and honoring our sport’s heroes in exciting and innovative ways,” said Gus Carlson, president of the National Sailing Hall of Fame. “Our goal is to create a special place that engages everyone, from our sport’s faithful to casual sailors to newcomers who are curious about what happens when wind and water meet. We are confident The Sailing Museum will be a unique venue to showcase our sport and the accomplishments of its heroes.”

The heart of The Sailing Museum will be galleries for the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, honoring the achievements and commitment to excellence of those men and women who have contributed to the sport of sailing at the highest levels. Like Hall of Famers from across the sports world, these sailing stars undergo a rigorous and competitive nomination and selection process to earn this honor.

“I am lucky indeed to be a member of both the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the America’s Cup Hall of Fame,” said Tom Whidden, CEO, North Technology Group. “What an honor it will be to sit alongside so many accomplished people, who have achieved so much in our sport, presented in this incredible new facility in Newport. For anyone, of any age, who loves to sail, The Sailing Museum will be a must visit.”

In addition to the Halls of Fame, The Sailing Museum will feature a mix of high- and low-tech interactive exhibits with built-in “stealth learning” components that share the principles of sailing and provide seasoned sailors with opportunities to test their skills and knowledge. The museum will include the only on-site Virtual Regatta experience in the country and connect visitors with an interest in trying sailing to providers locally and around the country. A corresponding educational program will be offered for visiting groups with school-aged children.

“Our goal is to create an educational experience for school-aged children that is complementary to what is currently being taught on the dock or in the classroom,” said Heather Ruhsam, executive director of The Sailing Museum. “The Sailing Museum will be able to offer a hands-on and high-tech platform to illustrate some of the more challenging concepts, or those that are weather dependent. REACH is implemented at 400+ sailing centers and events across the US, and as the nation’s sailing museum it makes sense to align our educational programming with that of US Sailing.”

“We are thrilled with the innovative approach the National Sailing Hall of Fame has taken in creating the vision for The Sailing Museum,” said Jack Gierhart, CEO of US Sailing. “The National Sailing Hall of Fame plays an invaluable role in recognizing leaders in the sport who have shaped sailing through the years, and now they are providing an opportunity for people to not only experience this history first hand, but also to connect with sailing personally and get involved. We are excited to support this initiative and play a part in introducing more people to sailing.”

Experience a sneak peek of The Sailing Museum through the rendered virtual tour.

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Longtime Cruising World contributors Carolyn and Cap’n Fatty Goodlander talk about their current circumnavigation, sailboats and their life at sea with editors Herb McCormick and Mark Pillsbury. This is the latest episode of Cocktails with Cruising World, a webinar series featuring sailors, writers and friends.

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