Atlantic circuit timing

[CPD]

Preferably with first hand experience, what is the recommended timing to complete a circuit (UK start) within a year, or as short as possible. What did you do ??

 

[CrossedThreads]

I’m very interested in the responses for this question, especially those who have done it.

The below link gives a real example too.
Sailing route from Europe to the Caribbean — Sailing Anne-Mon

 

[Roberto]

Did it twice: left Atlantic France early june; july to sept cruising Galicia to Canaries (through Madeira once), oct-nov NW africa (Cape Verde once, not my kind of place), december crossed to Brazil (once through Fernando de Noronha), from there I planned to be in Martinique for start of return transat first half of May, jun-july cruising Azores, early Aug departure from Azores to Brittany. One might cross to the Caribbean in december and spend the winter there.
Climate-wise, the points I would follow: leave UK not later than early september; crossing december/january, return transat during May, leave Azores not later than beginning of August. Of course, "climate is what you expect, weather is what you get", so actual dates could well be adjusted differently depending upon actual conditions

 

[jdc]

Roberto gives very good advice, but it is possible to start a bit later off you have to. We started on Halloween, much later than planned but my companion had some medical complications. We had an easy crossing to Coruña. Thence to Madeira, the Canaries for xmas, Cape Verde (which we loved) for 'Carnaval', aka Shrove Tuesday' and then on to Brazil.

But our circuit took nearly 2 years, albeit laying the boat up in Brazil for some months, then returned via French Guiana, Suriname and the Windward islands (Grenada for xmas), leaving Sint Maarten in early May, and home by mid June via the Azores. I don't advise following what we did last time! Spain was too rushed, and I had too much business to attend to (I had to fly back to the UK from Madeira, Tenerife, Rio and from Grenada for family matters or business) and my companion had to attend some medical appointments in the UK also. This all made it a bit too stressy and expensive to be ideal.

 

[dansaskip]

Only done the outward bit as I stayed in the Caribbean but I planned to leave by 1st Aug although it was a few days later. N Wales across Biscay to N Spain coast hopping down through Spain and Portugal, The Spanish rias are well worth a visit . Morocco then Canaries by November , late December Cape Verde Islands which I did enjoy lifted Dec to cross Atlantic arriving in Martinique mid January. That gives you plenty of time to enjoy the Caribbean before you need to leave in May for passage to Azores and then home. The snag nowadays with the timing these days is the wretched 90 day limit. I spent 96 days in EU on my way- not possible now so that is a consideration to take into account when planing.

 

[Mister E]

Does anyone go from the UK to Canada or North USA directly?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Does anyone go from the UK to Canada or North USA directly?

Not unless they have to for some pressing reason. A quick Look at the routing charts for the N Atlantic will show you why sailing S until the butter melts is such an easy and obvious solution to crossing the Atlantic.

 

[Mister E]

Not unless they have to for some pressing reason. A quick Look at the routing charts for the N Atlantic will show you why sailing S until the butter melts is such an easy and obvious solution to crossing the Atlantic.

It is a genuine question as at times the wind direction on the pressure charts looks reasonable.
Having never sailed the oceans I have no idea.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

It is a genuine question as at times the wind direction on the pressure charts looks reasonable.
Having never sailed the oceans I have no idea.

You would have to go quite a bit north via Iceland and Greenland and across to Newfoundland an interesting experience no doubt but it would be much easier the other way as JM points out. Also it would only be viable in the summer months and likely to be uphill (wind)

 

[Roberto]

It is a genuine question as at times the wind direction on the pressure charts looks reasonable.
Having never sailed the oceans I have no idea.

It's the crossing of the Ostar race, have a look here under "Race" for a brief description of the various possible routes
Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race - Wikipedia
And here to have an idea of what might happen, even during summer; except for tropical hurricanes season, one would not risk meeting such conditions during the typical Canaries Caribbean crossing
Surviving the OSTAR's perfect storm – the full story of the racers rescued in Force 11 summer gale - Yachting World

 

[john_morris_uk]

You would have to go quite a bit north via Iceland and Greenland and across to Newfoundland an interesting experience no doubt but it would be much easier the other way as JM points out. Also it would only be viable in the summer months and likely to be uphill (wind)

Indeed. And the West to East passage is normally during the summer months. Routing yourself so that you don’t go so far N you get caught up in any depressions but far enough N to try and pick up favourable winds. Many (most?) people sail back to Europe via the Azores.

 

[steve yates]

Does anyone go from the UK to Canada or North USA directly?

The newport jester challengers do it every 4 years.

 

[franksingleton]

-Did it twice: left Atlantic France early june; july to sept cruising Galicia to Canaries (through Madeira once), oct-nov NW africa (Cape Verde once, not my kind of place), december crossed to Brazil (once through Fernando de Noronha), from there I planned to be in Martinique for start of return transat first half of May, jun-july cruising Azores, early Aug departure from Azores to Brittany. One might cross to the Caribbean in december and spend the winter there.
Climate-wise, the points I would follow: leave UK not later than early september; crossing december/january, return transat during May, leave Azores not later than beginning of August. Of course, "climate is what you expect, weather is what you get", so actual dates could well be adjusted differently depending upon actual conditions

As ever, Roberto gives good advice based on experience. I have said several times that booking Christmas dinner in the Caribbean is not a good planning consideration. November is in the NOAA Atlantic hurricanes season. Since 2o20 there have been some 8 tropical storms in December and only 2 in January. Basically, the later the better.
In the sane period there have been 11 tropical s terms in the second half of May and only 2 in the first half of May. Draw your own conclusions!
Re am we also that global warming is increasing the chances that a storm will become stronger although not, paradoxically, that there will be more storms overall.
It is always dangerous to gentries about nurricanes. Alberto was abnormally strong for the time of year but was the latest named storm since 2014.

". You would have to go quite a bit north via Iceland and Greenland and across to Newfoundland an interesting experience no doubt but it would be much easier the other way as JM points out. Also it would only be viable in the summer months and likely to be uphill (wind)

Longer sgo than I care to remember, the Met office Weather routers were asked to advise for a 10 kt ship carrying race h-Rees to N America from the UK. Our advice was to put the horse boxes on the starboard side, wait until it looked likely that there would be power pressure in Mid-Atlantic, then go just south of Ice,and and Greenland.

 

[samthefound]

Here's one example of a complete circuit: Mistakes we made sailing 9000 miles around the Atlantic
There's a year lost in the middle in the Azores, but in principle that round trip could have been all "done" between August and June.

 

[dunedin]

The newport jester challengers do it every 4 years.

And a sizeable chunk of the fleet often don't make it across - generally get at least one serious bashing each time.

 

[westward]

Preferably with first hand experience, what is the recommended timing to complete a circuit (UK start) within a year, or as short as possible. What did you do ??

Roberto says pretty much everything you need to know. I have done it twice. The first time I started from Spain in September and started back from Antigua in mid May the next year. The second time there was a circuit of the world in between but the transat timings were exactly the same. I would also strongly suggest getting Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes for its down to earth approach. It tells you where to go and when.

 

[franksingleton]

Roberto says pretty much everything you need to know. I have done it twice. The first time I started from Spain in September and started back from Antigua in mid May the next year. The second time there was a circuit of the world in between but the transat timings were exactly the same. I would also strongly suggest getting Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes for its down to earth approach. It tells you where to go and when.

But remember that statistics tell you what can happen, not what will happen. Because you had two, apparently identical years, it does not mean that a third year will be similar. This year, Alberto was later than any first named storm for about 10 years. Betyl was abnormally strong, Cat 5 - “June, too soon?” With warmer seas, the potential for severe storms is increasing although numbers may not change too much. Back to 1924, there is no other Cat 5 in June and only one in July.
There is little advice any better than that from Jimmy Cornell and the experience reported by other, experienced sailors. Keep an eye on the various hurricane pages, eg List of off-season Atlantic hurricanes - Wikipedia, Atlantic hurricane season - Wikipedia. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Keep an eye on NHC forecasts and warnings. Watch GRIBs, ECMEF especially.