Saga47swan Sailing · video

What this video covers

A Swan 47 S&S departs Kinsale Yacht Club, Ireland, on a 1,400-nautical-mile passage to the Azores, qualifying as a Yachtmaster Ocean passage under skipper Daniel navigating by celestial navigation alone.0:27 The route runs southwest past Fastnet Rock lighthouse, squeezed between the Azores High and a high off Ireland's west coast, producing light and variable winds for most of the 10-day crossing.0:48 Daniel's primary technique is the sun-run-sun daily running fix; overcast skies from day four onward block sextant sights and force the crew to wait for breaks in cloud cover.2:18 On day eight the sky clears at twilight, and the crew heaves-to so Daniel can shoot a multi-star fix — Vega among them — from a stable platform, producing a reliable position that places them roughly two days from landfall.2:49 A 30-plus-knot southwest weather warning from the Azorean coast prompts a precautionary staysail reef before arrival.4:49 The boat makes landfall at Graciosa, a small island with a fishing harbor, then sails to Horta, where the marina is three boats deep and the anchorage packed with Caribbean-return yachts ahead of the ARC Europe fleet.5:49 Heaving-to for star sights is the practical solution when overcast skies prevent daytime sun sights on a celestial-navigation passage.3:02

Boats in this video

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