Update from yesterday, received today.
13.40
Tacked. Wind very light, maybe 6 knots. 32C inside, hot and sweaty.
Caught an almaco jack, also called long finned yellow tail,
this afternoon. Lots of them swimming
around the sargassum. Filleted and fried
in olive oil for supper. Delicious and
no bones.
Slow sailing, even did a 360.
Day 2
Tuesday 21st April
0915
Distance sailed in 24 hours: 81 nm
Uneventful night. Slept in 20 minute intervals using the cooking timer. Wind slowly eased off to 10 - 12 knots. Sea still very choppy and lots of slamming. This morning the sea was down a bit and took a reef out. Doing 3.5 to 4 knots close hauled. Lots of sargassum weed around and can't use the stabiliser fins. Have to clear weed off the rudder using the boat hook. All is good on board but weather outlook not so good. I'll stay south of 20 degrees till it improves.
Leaving the Carribean, heading for home.
Monday 20thApril
Departed Marigot Bay, Saint Martin, at 09.15
Sunny, Wind E 15 to 20 knots
Weighed anchor under sail as the outboard engine was already stowed away under the starboard quarter berth. I sailed under jib only to the western tip of Anguilla while I secured stuff in the lockers and shelves to stop them rattling around. Chain and anchor ropes drying out before stowing under the starboard bunk. I have loaded the starboard side more as I will be on a starboard tack for some time. Sailing between 3 and 4 knots.
11.30 Rounded Anguilla and heading for Prickly Pear Cays. 3 reefs and jib, close hauled, doing 3 knots.
Sailed through the gap between the cays and avoided the coral heads which are more or less the same as I remember from nearly 40 years ago.
19th April 2026
Hi from hot and sunny Saint Martin,
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| In the lagoon at Saint Martin |
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| 16 November, 7 Setkas preparing to leave Portimao, Portugal |
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| In Santa Cruz, Tenerife. Most comfortable and coolest position on the boat, lying on the floor with feet out the hatch. |
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| Between Tenerife and Cabo Verde |
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| Martinique |
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| Kayaking to the laundry |
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| Port Royale, Saint Martin |
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| Once upon a time, nearly 40 years ago, Lagoon Cruises was here. Now just mangroves. |
The first leg is completed
3rd December
The first bunch of 4 young competitive sailors left Portimao on Sunday 16th November, Ian waited till Monday 17th and the last 3 left 24 hours after Ian. They all took roughly a week to get to Tenerife but there was another huge storm system which stretched all the way from the African coast to Madeira. For Ian it started on the Thursday evening, by morning he dropped all sails and trailed warps to steady the boat. The wind was from behind so he was still drifting in the right direction. Finally, on Saturday morning the wind dropped enough for him to start putting up a bit of sail. It was still blowing hard and at one point he recorded a boat speed of 11 knots, which is ridiculously fast for a nutshell like that. Then on Sunday afternoon he was becalmed. He drifted over the line at 2am on Monday. Not wanting to enter an unknown commercial harbour in the dark, he intended to drift around till daybreak but no sooner had he crossed the line than the wind came up and he roared up and down the coast much faster than he wanted, dodging ships. Now he's in a marina with the other contestants, swapping stories. Most of them sustained damage of one kind or another except Ian. One of the guys had to fly back to work, another has gone home to see his family and one has had to fly home for medical treatment. The next leg starts on 10th December.
The race officially began on Sunday 16th November from Portimao marina. It was supposed to start on the 11th from Sagres but a huge ferocious storm was approaching so the 3 boats in Sagres headed for Portimao marina to wait it out with the other 5 Setkas. 4 of the most hardy contestants elected to start on Sunday 16th but Ian felt it was still a bit marginal and waited till Monday morning while another 3 started on Tuesday.
Ancymon and Pixel leaving Portimao on Sunday
Gale force conditions were forecast to develop between the coast of Africa and Maderia and by Thursday evening conditions started to deteriorate. For 24 hours between Friday and Saturday Ian ran under bare poles towing 80m long warps with 3m of chain attached to steady the boat. It was very rough so Ian slept on the floor wedged between the bunks to stop himself being thrown around the cabin. All was well, he remained in good spirits and was thankful that he downloaded a lot of movies onto his tablet.
With no internet access on board Ian's only way of sending updates was by Garmin Inreach which is very restricted so no pictures.
The first boat to cross the finish line in Tenerife this morning was Ancymon, 6 days 18 hours after crossing the start line, followed a few hours later by Falka and Pixel. Asia G is due in tonight and Ian hopes to arrive Monday night.
Update before the official start
10th November
Ian returned to Lisbon a week ago to do some last minute chores, one of which was to replace the rigging on Nuts. He was not happy with the quality of the stainless which he bought here on the island (316 ss is unavailable) and it had started to rust already. He bought new 316 rigging from a riggers shop but had to fly home before he could complete the job.
When he arrived at Belem marina, 2 other Setkas had joined Nuts and he was delighted to meet up with Bart, a Pole living in the UK, and Erdal from North Macedonia. They had a great deal to talk about, ideas to exchange, anecdotes to recount, and so on.
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| Ian, Erdal and Bart |
Once again the Yate Clube de Lisboa made them very welcome and held a dinner in their honour so they had the opportunity to meet the club members. They each gave a short speech relating their sailing adventure thus far. They even made a promo video which they posted on Facebook.
On Saturday 9th the three boats, Nuts, Pixel and Ancymon, headed out of the marina and down the Tagus River to the open sea. Some club members accompanied them on their own boats. They headed well off shore into deep water beyond the Continental shelf in order to avoid the orca whales. That added a lot of extra miles to their route but better spend a few more hours at sea than encounter an inquisitive killer whale.
They arrived at Sagres after dark on Sunday night. Facilities are very limited there and they found the mooring uncomfortable and not secure enough in a big blow..... which is on its way. The weather forecast is for a huge storm to move into Southern Europe in the next day or 2. Not only will it be packing a punch of Southerly wind and waves, but it is also very extensive and will last for days.
All the contestants have agreed to postpone the start, scheduled for 11th, until they can get a break in the weather, and right now that is undecided. Not wanting to see out the storm in Sagres, all 3 boats left this morning and headed for Portimao, some 20 miles to the East, to join the 5 other Setkas taking part in the Challenge.