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Should We Have Left? Sailing from Brest, France to Falmouth, England - Part 3 | DrakeParagon Sailing
March 7, 2026 · 19 min · 4K views · Brest Harbor
What this video covers
Paragon, a Westsail 42, departs Brest, France bound for Falmouth, England in 30-knot headwinds, motoring straight into the eye of the wind for roughly 12 nautical miles before reaching a waypoint where the crew can bear off to starboard.▶ 8:15 The first hours are brutal: hobby-horsing into steep chop at 3–4 knots, the bowsprit taking occasional heavy slams, and Drake running the engine harder than normal while already behind schedule.▶ 3:54 Monique is below managing seasickness. At the turn, the boat comes onto a close-hauled port tack with the staysail out, speed jumping to 6.7 knots.▶ 11:04 The passage then enters a narrow, rock-flanked tidal chute with strong current and highly variable depths — the kind of channel the pilot books warn about — where Paragon hits 9–10 knots under staysail alone with 1.5–1.6 knots of current assist.▶ 15:15 AIS and radar are used continuously to track CPA on multiple large ships.▶ 11:36 Drake races to clear land before the 22:31 sunset, shuts down the engine once safely offshore, and deploys the full jib on a beam reach at 5+ knots.▶ 16:50 The CPT autopilot handles steering through the chute.▶ 14:31 Timing the tidal current through a narrow coastal chute can recover hours lost to a slow, wind-against-engine slog at the start of a passage.
Boats in this video
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