<BGSOUND src="//www.oocities.org/sychinook2/Mission_Impossible.mid" LOOP=INFINITE>

SY Chinook ARC Europe Home Chinook Beneteau 432 America Caribbean Sea ARC Europe 2001 Florida Florida - Bermuda Bermuda - Azores Azores Azores - Portugal Lagos, Portugal Mediterranean Sea Germany

The Atlantic May 2001 Regatta over the Atlantic with the ARC Europe 2001 of the World Cruising Club: Florida  - Bermuda  -  Azores  -  Portugal

The crew of Korund, a Comfortina 35 from Germany on the dockside in St. Georges Harbour, Bermuda.

Eternity of Hamble, a Bowman 42, skippered by Pat Jackson, making preparations before the leg to the Azores in St. Georges Harbour, Bermuda.

Chinook, a Beneteau 432 with  the youngest "crew" in the ARC Europe 2001 on the Atlantic.

Chequered Past decided at the last minute to change destination to Ireland instead of Lagos.

Misty Lady, a Gozzard 44 skippered by David Gough reaching along in the 10 knots of breeze before the start of ARC Europe in St. Augustine.

Cest Ci Bon, a Peterson 46 skippered by Charlie Butts from the USA hoisting her mainsail on the dock in Camachee Cove , St. Augustine.

Mike van Barneveld and the crew on Bravelender reluctantly starting the final leg of their trip back to the Netherlands, having been away for over one year.

George Geudeker's beautiful 'Julia Catherina', a Puffin 42.

NEWS-TICKER FROM THE RALLYE ARC EUROPE 2001: ================================================= SY Chinook: [1 nm = 1,852 km] Florida - Bermuda (1000 nm, 8 days, May 13 - May 21) Bermuda - Azores (1800 nm, 15 days, May 23 - June 8) Azores Faial - Sao Miguel (100 nm, 1 day, July 7 - July 8) Sao Miguel - Lagos (900 nm, 7 days, July 18 - July 24) 18 May 01 The St. Georges Dinghy and Sports Club is swelling in size at the moment with the arrival of 13 yachts from the ARC Europe Fleet throughout the course of Thursday. With another 8 yachts expected today it should be a great weekend for the fleet in Bermuda and a superb chance for the yachts from the 2 legs to meet. Dom the skipper of Cherry Ripe has confirmed they are pushing the boat hard to ensure a Saturday arrival in St. Georges, in time for the Dark and Stormy party at the Yacht Club. Stopping to repair their rudder stock shortly after the start, possibly costing them a 2nd Saturday night at sea is something that none of the crew are keen on ! The fleet has reported an enjoyable crossing from both Antigua and St. Augustine with favourable winds, if on occasion too strong. So far no reports have arrived of yachts requiring any repairs in Bermuda, leaving the crews time to relax and prepare for the long leg to the Azores starting on 23 May. A full report from the yachts with details of their adventures on both legs to Bermuda will be posted shortly , along with confirmation of new arrivals at www.worldcruising.net ================================================= 19 May 01 With two thirds of the ARC Europe now in Bermuda , in time for a weekend of relaxing and catching up with friends and making new, with the joining of the two fleets , tales of the fleets experiences have been filtering their way back to Cowes. It seems as though both the Antigua and St Augustine fleets have experienced a wind range of weather patterns , producing both a feast and famine of wind, as the fronts passed through. Although both legs are tactically a rumb line course, Atlantic weather patterns are always going to produce some interesting sailing, with preparation for the approaching weather the key. The St Augustine starters , still experiencing the swell from the storms off Florida 2 weeks ago , were faced with regularly changing weather and winds of 25 knots , gusting higher. Iona, a Camper & Nicholson 36 skippered by John and Christie Staats were unfortunately caught in a particularly strong weather pattern , which blew out some of their battens and even managed to damage their wind generator , which they just managed to save before it washed overboard , but only after their auxiliary engine decided to fail, helping to compound their problems. Fortunately for Iona the fronts were passing through quickly, leaving the fleet becalmed at times and Chrissie later was able to experience the pleasures that come with an ocean passage. She recalls '' While on watch one evening, after dark but with the remnants of a moon still in the sky, a pod of dolphins cavorted about Iona in the bow wave, jumping and playing with the boat. At the same time the phosphorescence in the water has been interesting to see. During the passing of one of the fronts that hit the fleet, the water was especially disturbed and the bow wave thrown up just glowed with its own light.Even before the moon rise when it was pitch black, the phosphorescence illuminated the tops of the waves and Iona seemed to be sailing in her own little lit-up sphere. '' On board Rhianon an Oyster 46 skippered by Colin Evans 12 hours sailing was lost having sailed through a fishing net which caught up on the propeller. By nightfall the crew took to the dinghy with a bag of tools and eventually they managed to free the prop. Colin has kept the net and said that it is so huge he will be putting it up on the wall at home. No need for fishing nets onboard C'est si Bon , skippered by Charles Butts from the USA , the crew managed to land a massive 30lb Tuna , but only after landing and then loosing a ' really big Dolphin fish' ! More news and photos from the dockside should be available soon as the rest of the fleet arrives in Bermuda, ready to be greeted by those already there and in time for some of the weekends events lined up at the St Georges Dinghy and Sports Club. ================================================= 21 May 01 Chinook, a Beneteau 43 sailed by Alan & Carmen Cetin now remains at sea, the rest of ARC Europe Fleet having arrived in time for a relaxing weekend in the sunshine, enjoying the safe haven of the St Georges Dinghy and Sports Club. Despite the strong winds experienced by the fleet at times, the majority of the fleet didn't suffer any damage and have been able to relax and recuperate before the start on Wednesday, as well as meet with competitors from the other start. Saturday evening was spent at the St. Georges Yacht Club where a 'Dark Stormy Party was held, sponsored by the famous local distillers of Goslings Rum, a firm favorite with sailors around the world. With the sun setting after a fantastic day by the water, the ARC Europe Fleet were treated to some great local hospitality in the best possible setting. On Sunday the prizegiving for the 2 legs to Bermuda wa hosted again by the Sports and Dinghy Club with prizes for both legs , for places 1 to 3 based on the World Cruising Club , Cruiser Rating Handicap. Kim the Farr 50 Pilothouse skippered by Willem & Erica Recourt took 1st place on corrected time for the Antigua leg , whilst Misty Lady a Gozzard 44 sailed by David Gough took 1st place on the USA leg from St Augustine. The fleet will now be busy preparing for the start on the Wednesday gathering provisions and preparing their yachts for the long leg of 1800 miles to Horta on the Island of Fail in the Azores. Results for the ARC Europe Legs 1A & 1B Leg 1A Class A (corrected time) 1) KIM 8 days 3hrs15 mins 21secs 2) Dragonfly 8 days 17 hrs 23 mins 52 secs 3) Boundless 8 days 22hrs 58 mins 51 secs. Class B (corrected time) Persistence 8 days 11 06 07 Eternity 8 days 20 19 35 Zigzag 9 days 06 17 04 Leg 1B (from USA) 1) Misty Lady 8 days 11 37 09 2) C'est Si Bon 8 days 22 56 37 ================================================= 23 May 01 Wednesday 23 May saw the start of the Yachting World ARC Europe 2001 in St Georges Harbour, Bermuda. With blazing sunshine and 15 knot winds from westsouthwest, the Yachting World ARC Europe 2001 start was able to take place within scenic St.George's harbour allowing well-wishers and intrigued tourists to cheer the fleet on as they headed out into the Atlantic for Horta on the Island of Fail in the Azores Kim was first over the line a Farr 50 Pilot House skippered by Willem and Erica Recourt from the Netherlands, followed very closely by Cherry Ripe and Whimsical of Wight a Malo 45 from the UK skippered by Max Hubbard & Ian Williams who joined the Rally in Bermuda. All three yachts had crossed the line within 35 seconds of it being open. Sailing through the St. Georges Cut the majority of the fleet opted not to hoist spinnakers but with the westerly winds from the right angle Eternity of Hamble soon hoisted hers, and enjoyed an early lead, providing a spectacle for those gathered onshore as other yachts in the rally followed suit and hoisted theirs. This year the ARC Europe fleet leaving Bermuda consisted of 24 yachts, Gitana having departed early due to crew timetables and Sergio Riboloni from Popel having a new roller furling installed at the boat yard. Kim took to the start but returned as planned to the St. George's Dinghy and Sports Club to receive generator parts that were to arrive from abroad today, following the fleet out as soon as possible. With the fleet having enjoined 4 to 5 days in Bermuda meeting other yachts from the starts of the previous legs , the rally VHF channel was soon filled with inter boat talk about the successful start and the 1800nm passage ahead of them to the Azores. The fleet will be communicating every day on the long range radio, listening to the ARC Europe Weather report emailed out to the net controller and collating the positions of the fleet, not only for their own safety but also so that friends families and supporters can follow the progress of the fleet on the position reporting website www.worldcruising.net ================================================= 27 May 01 The fleet have been experiencing a lack of wind for the past few days with only 11-18 knots of breeze from the East, making for slow progress. Dom the skipper of Cherie Ripe a Rival 38 reports, ''Still bobbing around in the north Atlantic with the wind firmly in the east progress about as fast as a Bermudan chicken chaser.Been swimming round the boat to keep ourselves amused !'' On board Julia Catherina a Puffin 42 from the Netherlands, George Geudeker the skipper was celebrating his 60th Birthday yesterday and sends his greeting to all his friends and family back in Holland. With the light winds many yachts have taken up some fishing and Joanne & Paul Bergquist from Chequered Past reported landing a 8lb Tuna, whilst on Misty Lady a Gozzard 44, David Gough from the USA reported catching a seagull in their rigging. Many yachts have reported seeing large pods of Dolphins and Dreamcathcer II also spotted 2 sperm whales at 9.00am. ================================================= 30 May 01 It's been celebrations and toasts's all round the ARC Europe Fleet over the past few days. Arthur Mathison onboard ZigZag started it all rolling with his birthday and champagne all round for the crew. Onboard Misty Lady Lem Highsmith was celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary, shortly followed by the skipper, David Gough's 55th Birthday celebrations, whilst onboard Sirius, Becky and George Dunn were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. Finally, onboard Boundless Bobby and Kim were celebrating completing their master degree. Fortunately for the fleet the weather has been in favour of celebrations, with fair sailing conditions and reasonably warm. Unfortunately this has hampered progress a little and from yesterdays positions, the entire fleet still has over 1100 miles of sailing to Horta. Gitana will be arriving earlier in the Azores, but departed 2 days earlier and is also 26 metres ! ================================================= 07 June 01 Party Atmosphere As First Yachts Arrive in Horta Shortly after midnight on 6 June Bravelender skippered by Mike Barneveld a Jeanneau 45.2 crossed the finish line off Horta on the Portuguese Island of Faial, after 1800 nautical miles sailing. Ecstatic having beaten their friendly rivals to line honours, the crew enthused about the challenges that the passage had thrown at them. Ranging from being becalmed out of Bermuda, to 45 knot squalls, being deluged by rain surrounded by huge lightening storms, to sitting in the centre of a storm completely becalmed for three hours. Sergio Riboloni was next to cross the finish line with his Spanish crew aboard his Jeanneau Sun Magic 44 Popel, shortly followed at 1.45am by Andrew Gerrard and his crew on Ocean Drive. With the arrival of Sirius, the first USA finisher at 2.15am the dock in Horta quickly became an unofficial arrivals party with beers and stories of the crossing unfolding. Everyone was still awake at 3.30am to welcome the next arrivals, Willem and Erica Recourt on Kim. Yesterday (Wednesday 6 June) was a beautiful sunny morning in Horta, which saw Rhiannon and Whimsical of Wight arriving between 8.00 and 9.00am, having crept in on the rapidly falling southerly winds. Soon the pontoon was once more in full swing with the Yachting World ARC Europe fleet beginning to congregate together. Throughout the day the talk was of the excitement and enjoyment the crossing had bought with conditions which ranged from one extreme to the other, but which provided the type of sailing that the crews will always remember. Persistence a Baltic 43 skippered by Dianne Rousseau and Will Wendell sailed right into Horta harbour at just after 12.30. Following an electrical failure three days previously when they were struck by lighting and lost all electrical systems, the crew had sailed the boat without the aid of their autopilot, and were pleased to be ashore. The crew of Gitana, another rally yacht, kindly went out to tow Persistence alongside the fuelling pontoon with their powerful rib. Finally Wednesday saw two surprise arrivals. The smallest yacht in the fleet Korund, a Comfortina 35 skippered by Klaus Zander, who had taken a much more northerly passage at 39N than the rest of the fleet. Then Eternity of Hamble skippered by Pat Jackson, who sailed the whole passage logging zero engine hours, and crossing the finish line with the spinnaker flying to cheers from the ARC Europe fleet as she passed the length of the outer breakwater. A further fifteen yachts are still at sea and expected to arrive at Horta during the next few days. Once the fleet has arrived, the yachts will spend ten days cruising the Azorean Islands, before restarting from Ponta Delgada on 23 June. And lastly, a special message from Willem on Kim: Andrea "Gale" Reich, chief hand-steering helmswoman aboard S/V Persistence, celebrated her 54th birthday today [Wednesday] with her crack tactician husband, Tom McCarthy, after having brought Persistence across the finish line on her first transatlantic race! Well done, Andrea! ================================================= 11 June 01 - Results for Leg 2, Bermuda to Azores No. Boat Name Type Cl Fin Date Finish Time Engine Hours Elapsed Days HMS TCF Corrected Time Pos O/A Pos Cl 36 Korund Comfortina 35 B 6/06 13:30:00 h 7.00 13 20:30:00 h 0.886 12/12:42:23 1 1 31 Eternity of Hamble Bowman 42 B 6/06 19:46:14 h 0.00 14 2:46:14 h 0.950 13/09:54:15 2 2 42 Persistence Baltic 43 A 6/06 13:11:10 h 30.00 13 20:11:10 h 0.957 14/10:36:44 3 1 26 Chequered Past Laurent Giles B 7/06 20:09:40 h 43.10 15 3:09:40 h 0.857 14/12:09:57 4 3 24 Cest Si Bon Petersen 46 A 7/06 2:53:00 h 24.20 14 9:53:00 h 0.956 14/17:47:59 5 2 48 Wind on Loch Fyne Aphrodite 42 B 7/06 8:19:33 h 70.50 14 15:19:33 h 0.851 14/23:08:59 6 4 47 Whimsical Malo 45 A 6/06 8:49:54 h 34.35 13 15:49:54 h 1.000 15/02:10:54 7 3 23 Bravelender Jeanneau 45.2 A 5/06 23:45:20 h 28.05 13 6:45:20 h 1.053 15/05:07:01 8 4 35 Kim Farr 50 A 6/06 3:50:14 h 35.55 13 10:50:14 h 1.067 15/22:21:24 9 5 30 Dreamcatcher 2 Moody 40 B 6/06 23:30:30 h 78.05 14 6:30:30 h 0.917 16/01:30:39 10 5 38 Mahalo Wauquiez Centurion 40 B 8/06 10:34:41 h 65.16 15 17:34:41 h 0.882 16/06:29:42 11 6 43 Popel Jeanneau Sun Magic 44 A 6/06 0:46:12 h 96.45 13 7:46:12 h 0.971 16/20:14:31 12 6 22 Boundless Stevens 47 A 7/06 6:00:00 h 70.00 14 13:00:00 h 0.972 16/23:16:05 13 7 45 Sirius Hylas 54 A 6/06 2:07:00 h 94.10 13 9:07:00 h 0.982 16/23:44:34 14 8 49 Zigzag Starlight 39 A 8/06 8:22:00 h 48.00 15 15:22:00 h 0.963 16/23:49:01 15 9 29 Dovekie Wooden ketch B 8/06 18:18:00 h 58.00 16 1:18:00 h 0.943 17/10:01:55 16 7 32 Forever in Blue Jeans Hallberg Rassy 42 A 7/06 11:44:30 h 66.00 14 18:44:30 h 0.996 17/11:03:31 17 10 40 Ocean Drive Oyster 45 A 6/06 1:35:56 h 123.20 13 8:35:56 h 1.023 18/22:00:00 18 11 39 Misty Lady Gozzard 44 A 8/06 0:50:00 h 94.50 15 7:50:00 h 0.991 19/02:10:20 19 12 34 Julia Catherina Puffin 42 B 8/06 4:53:00 h 136.15 15 11:53:00 h 0.910 19/06:22:23 20 8 44 Rhiannon Oyster 46 A 6/06 8:12:51 h 143.20 13 15:12:51 h 0.986 19/07:52:27 21 13 28 Chinook Beneteau B 8/06 14:00:00 h 148.00 15 21:00:00 h 0.952 20/23:36:29 22 9 21 Blue Jacket Crealock 34 B 11/06 13:00:00 h 18 20:00:00 h 0.853 Late Arrv 27 Cherry Ripe Rival 38 B 9/06 12:45:00 h 16 19:45:00 h 0.863 Late Arrv 33 Iona Camper & Nicholson 35 B 9/06 16:00:00 h 16 23:00:00 h 0.847 Late Arrv ================================================= 12 June 01 - Prize Giving in Horta The Yachting World ARC Europe fleet continued to arrive in Horta Fial over Friday, Saturday and Sunday with high spirits throughout. The fleet had continued to speak on the SSB Radio with the finishers encouraging the fleet along and plenty of well wishers greeting the likes of Dovekie, Chinook and Cherry Ripe on the dockside, sounding horns as they tied up. Sunday evening saw the prizegiving for Leg 2 of the rally from Bermuda, kindly hosted by the Regional de Tourismo and held at the Hotel Estralagem de Santa Cruz. Almost the entire fleet attended and, with everyone dressed up, the prize giving had a real feel of importance. As well as prizes for 1st,2nd 3rd the Regional de Tourismo very kindly provided beautiful plaques for each yacht, welcoming them to the Azores. Following the Class prizes, the fun awards were presented with prizes for all the competitions run by the fleet over the SSB. Michael Barneveld from Bravelender presented Mahalo with an award for the longest distance sailed in 24 hours, 186 miles. Forever in Blue Jeans who had run a daily quiz presented 1st prize to Ocean Drive, and Tony Cox from Dreamcatcher 2 presented the fishing prizes, including one for a seagull, caught by Misty Lady. Afterwards some great food and drink was enjoyed and partying on unitll late into the evening. Yesterday [Monday 11th] 60 of the skippers and crews joined the ferry trip to the neighboring island of Pico, where as well as enjoying the landscape of this volcanic island, visits were enjoyed to the wine co-operate, the whale watching museum and local cheese factory. Today, Tuesday the fleet depart for a trip around Faial by coach, before departing on the cruise to Grasciosa, St Jorge, Sao Miquel and Santa Maria. Journey's End as ARC Europe Fleet Arrives at Marina de Lagos It was an exciting arrival for the first ARC Europe yachts as they reached their journey's end - Marina de Lagos on the Algarve coast of Portugal. All of the six yachts heading East on the final leg of the rally were from North America and making their first landfall on the European mainland. Since leaving Ponta Delgada, on the main Azorean Island of Sao Miguel, the wind had been a little light for most of the crossing, although from a favourable direction. However the engine hours on this leg were going to be high as a result. First to arrive at Marina de Lagos was the Stevens 47, Boundless at 0200 on the morning of the 29 June. Happy with their crossing they celebrated with a little Champagne before going to bed for a well earned rest. That afternoon co-skipper Faith Schwenker was once again on the SSB radio as duty net controller, collecting the positions of the other yachts still out at sea. This information, together with their distance to run and expected arrival times helps the Rally Control Team organise things for the arrivals. Next in were Diane and Will on Persistence, who arrived at approximately 1800 to be greeted by Richard [aka Rally Control] and the crew of Boundless. After checking in with the Marina, Persistence were allocated a berth and quickly settled in. There were still four yachts out at sea at this stage and the crews from both Persistence and Boundless were anxious to greet each of them as they arrived, even though it meant that they were to a have a very restless night. As each of the yachts arrived they were berthed on the waiting pontoon until the Marina bridge, which controls the traffic to and from the Marina, was opened at 0800. There was a party on each yacht as they arrived and Champagne was drunk by all. By 0730 all the yachts were in safely with no problems to report except the lack of wind. There was some talk about the level of shipping encountered in the Shipping lanes of Cape St.Vincent but it did not cause any problems to the yachts. ================================================= Sunday 01 July Rudy Schwenker from Boundless has his birthday today and Kathy Taylor from Gitana also has her birthday tomorrow. A pot luck party, where each boat brings a home cooked meal, has been arranged on Gitana tonight in order to celebrate both occasions. The remaining yachts took the northern leg from Ponta Delgada to Plymouth. Although with different itineraries, some have opted to make landfall in Ireland. Zigzag, Doveki, Chequered Past, and Dreamcatcher II, are on route to Ireland and expected over the next few days. Eternity of Hamble, and Julia Catherina are going to Falmouth. Sirius and Bravelender have now arrived at Mayflower Marina, Plymouth with Forever in Blue Jeans expected to arrive today [Monday], and Misty Lady late tomorrow. Crews from each new arrival waited to greet the remaining yachts as they reached Marina de Lagos throughout the night. Not much sleep was had, but a lively night for everyone. =================================================

The ARC Europe Fairytale Written by Joanne Berquist, s/y Chequered Past (using all our boatnames) There once lived on the lovely isle of 'Iona' a fair young maiden named 'Julia Catherina'. She was a 'Whimsical' lass who dreamed endlessly of an 'Ocean Drive', so that she could feel the 'Wind on Loch Fyne'. It was her 'Persistence' and 'Sirius' nature that caused this 'Misty Lady' to 'Zig Zag' her way through terrible 'Chinooks' to the Pacific Isle of 'Mahalo'. Once there she became 'Cherry Ripe' to fall hopelessly in love with a 'Bravelender' named 'Kim', a man of 'Boundless' energy, who was 'Forever in Blue Jeans', but alas donned a 'Blue Jacket' just for the sport of it! But sadly this 'Dreamcatcher' one day mysteriously vanished for all 'Eternity'. His foresaken lady, to whom he whispered 'Dovekie' in private moments, spent the rest of her days wistfully hearing reports of his wanderings to such strange and faraway places as 'Rhiannon', 'Popel', 'Korund' and 'Gitana'. He surely had a very 'Chequered Past'! Of his aimless life in the sun, he was heard to justify "Non, non, 'C'est si Bon,".