US to UK route-help

[youboy]

Can anybody give me any personal advice on a course from the US to UK.
I would like a fast passage so think the great circle rather than via the Azores would be better from the east coast.

Ice & fog aside are there any other hazards to concider?, how busy are the shipping routes on the GCR?

any advice would be most welcome.

 

[WayneS]

I thought that you were sailing back from Turkey this summer. Not via the US I trust.

 

[Lynette]

Most yachts try to keep in the Gulf Stream, at about 40 deg N, which naturally leads to the Azores as a convenient stopover. That latitude is best for a steady W wind in the early summer.

Further north the depressions go through, so the risk of gales and contrary winds is higher. If you do the great circle route, around Newfoundland is an area with very high risk of fog and possibly even icebergs in June. However the high latitudes are safer in July-September because hurricanes rarely go that far north.

 

[alant]

Depends where in US you start from.
Read Jimmy Cornell's "World cruising Routes" page 150 -153.
Also ask your Insurance Company if they will cover you at latitudes higher than 40 North. Most get very nervous & will not give cover.

 

[Guest]

I sailed from Westport Mass to Portsmouth England in July 2000. we sailed the GCR which took us up the coast of Nova Scotia. We stoped at Halifax to cure an engine fault and again at St Johns New Foundland. We encontered plenty of mist, visability was always better than 1/2 mile. When we got to St Johns we got Ice reports, which showed slight chance of ice bergs. However while we were in St johns we talked to some of the locals and they said that they were used to icebergs and sailed amongst them all the time. The advice was just be careful. We never did see any. During the 1700 miles from St Johns to Crookhaven (Ireland) (16 days) we only saw 3 ships and one of those was a survey ship which was trailing a 7 mile long sensor so it makes sence to talk to every ship you see. Another 1 of the 3 was a fishing boat just off Ireland . The winds indicated from the route planning chart were West or S'west, but we got mostly Southerly. We did have two spells when we were down to double reefed main and reefed stay'sl. My boat is a an Ebbtide 33 cutter rigged. So the moral is you wont always get what is promised. We had a wonderful trip and I would recomend it to any one. PS the Whales and Dolfins were fantastic.