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ARC Europe fleet divides on Leg 3



It is always a shame when the ARC Europe fleet starts to divide up in the Azores.  After having 38 boats cross from Bermuda to Horta this is where for different reasons and commitments the rally yachts head in different directions for Leg 3.  We now have 5 boats at sea heading north towards the UK and beyond, 'Euphoria' having made it in to Plymouth this morning.  We have 'Sophie' that has chosen to sail to Madeira, 'Free Spirit' already in Gibraltar and a few that have chosen to spend even longer in the beautiful islands of the Azores - can't really blame them for that!  We are very pleased to have just over half of the fleet, 21 boats, making their way to Lagos and they are starting to get some good sailing in after a couple of days motoring after the start.

 

  

The Portuguese Trades are the northerly winds that tend to blow down the coast and this combined with the southerly current is the reason why the boats have aimed 5-10' higher than the rhumb line in the first few days so they will hopefully get a better angle on the wind coming towards Cape St Vincent.  At the Cape, or 'Fin du Monde' (end of the world) as it used to be known, there is a busy Traffic Seperation Scheme (TSS) that will have to be negotiated.  The slides below from the skippers briefing show how busy it can be with tankers and cargo vessels aswell as fishing boats.  Once past the TSS crews in the past have really enjoyed the sailing along the southern coast of Portugal towards the finish line off Lagos, with seas often calmer but wind still strong.

  

The blogs continue to come in from the boats at sea, it certainly compliments the tracker and gives friends and family ashore an insight into what life is like at sea.  Gretchen is enjoying a bumpy sail on 'Agua Dulce', often getting airborne while reading in the saloon, 'Dala' are enjoying some quality family time together and onboard Jambo apparently "Tom's tackle is working", it has to be the quote of the day from Jambo's log received a short while ago! 

Fishing is often seen as a bit of a black art on these crossings with boats trolling to see if they can pick up some extra fresh food as a break from the norm of boat food.  Different tactics are adopted, different lures used and we shall see who wins the fishing competition in Lagos - photographic evidence is required.  To date there hasn't been too many fish landed, and in fact we have probably had more boats foul their prop than catch a fish! Here we see Widago's flying fish that recently landed on deck.


 



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