When i came on for my early watch (sunrise watch) the lights of the islands were very clear on the horizon on this dark Caribbean night. The nights weather had included a lot of squalls,and we were not rid of those yet. In the hours approaching the finish line the crew was getting dock lines(1.25" diameter and 15-25'long) and the inflatable dock fenders ready. Altair jibed one last time in the channel between Martinique and St. Lucia. With the wind direction change and positive current
we had over-stood the finish. Now sailing at hotter angles with the wind acceleration typical of this channel, Altair was heeled over and overpowered under spinnaker. Spinnaker doused and genoa at 2 reefs with a full main Altair was cranking towards the (small and barely lit) nearly invisible finish line. The crews faces now began to feel the rain squall to begin pelting them. Radio contact from
the race committee helped us identify the small lights that would clue us into the buoy with white strobe and anchored sailboat with yellow strobe on the other side of the line. Out from the dark sideways rain came the ARC cameraman Tim Wright in his small inflatable. You can see his work at his site Tim Wright Photography . He was tethered into the little boat and leaning back on his harness attached at the bow. With one hand he was controlling the tiller outboard and the other hand snapping photos with his powerfully-flashed dslr. I screamed at him through the wind and the rain as we crossed the finish "HOW ARE THE SHOTS COMING OUT?" He yelled back "it looks like a snowstorm, but its looking severe!" so that comment made me laugh and happy (my middle name is Snow) that photos of our finish look so harsh and fast!
Altair's finish time was 03:48:32 local time in St. Lucia which is UTC (-4) and was announced to us by the committee on the radio after we crossed.
The boats elapsed time was 10 days 17 hours 48 minutes and 32 seconds; she sailed
2,410 nautical miles, a bit more than the rhumb line distance of 2,125 nautical miles. This difference in mileage is due to the amount that we had to jibe downwind during the race. With the wind direction blowing at exactly the direction we wanted to sail, we could not sail directly downwind! This may seem illogical to those who have not experienced the awesome feelings of sailing. I won't go into the details of the physics of sailing but sails work like airplane wings creating lift, so the angle of sail to wind are of utmost importance.
Altair made her way to the dock assigned at Rodney Bay Marina on the Northwest end of St. Lucia. At the dock awaiting our arrival were some farmiliar faces from the ARC rally. Also a rep from the St. Lucia tourism and a local steel drum artist. The welcomed, clapped, asked us how it had all been and handed out our welcoming rum punch cocktails. ARC photo gallery
The drummer played his steel drum along to 4 pop songs and we took photos and had our photos taken. Our welcome party and entourage bid us goodnight and Altair crew retired to the pilothouse for a bottle or two of champagne, some video selfies, and a quick go-round of each crews
favorite moments of the passage. I related the incredible sailing we experienced on Thanksgiving Day as my favorite part. To be fair it was pretty difficult to choose just one moment that stood above all else during the voyage.
we had over-stood the finish. Now sailing at hotter angles with the wind acceleration typical of this channel, Altair was heeled over and overpowered under spinnaker. Spinnaker doused and genoa at 2 reefs with a full main Altair was cranking towards the (small and barely lit) nearly invisible finish line. The crews faces now began to feel the rain squall to begin pelting them. Radio contact from
the race committee helped us identify the small lights that would clue us into the buoy with white strobe and anchored sailboat with yellow strobe on the other side of the line. Out from the dark sideways rain came the ARC cameraman Tim Wright in his small inflatable. You can see his work at his site Tim Wright Photography . He was tethered into the little boat and leaning back on his harness attached at the bow. With one hand he was controlling the tiller outboard and the other hand snapping photos with his powerfully-flashed dslr. I screamed at him through the wind and the rain as we crossed the finish "HOW ARE THE SHOTS COMING OUT?" He yelled back "it looks like a snowstorm, but its looking severe!" so that comment made me laugh and happy (my middle name is Snow) that photos of our finish look so harsh and fast!
2,410 nautical miles, a bit more than the rhumb line distance of 2,125 nautical miles. This difference in mileage is due to the amount that we had to jibe downwind during the race. With the wind direction blowing at exactly the direction we wanted to sail, we could not sail directly downwind! This may seem illogical to those who have not experienced the awesome feelings of sailing. I won't go into the details of the physics of sailing but sails work like airplane wings creating lift, so the angle of sail to wind are of utmost importance.
favorite moments of the passage. I related the incredible sailing we experienced on Thanksgiving Day as my favorite part. To be fair it was pretty difficult to choose just one moment that stood above all else during the voyage.
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