atlantic crossing

Newfoundland, Canada - It has been a slog for the boats sailing in the 2008 Transat Quebec Saint Malo, and a miserable one at that. With the trimaran Crêpes Whaou being the first boat to clear Newfoundland, the speeds are beginning to pick up, and the sprint across the Atlantic has begun.

Quebec, Canada - Two days into the Quebec Saint-Malo Transat, and the boats have yet to clear the St. Lawrence river estuary. This is the only crewed West-to-East non-stop trans-Atlantic yacht race, and it starts with 400 miles of tricky, foggy, often light-air river sailing around rocks and sandbars before reaching the Atlantic. At the lead of the pack is Franck-Yves Escoffier's bright red, yellow and orange tri Crêpes Whaou!

Thomas Coville and his maxi-trimaran Sodeb'O have now covered more than 1,140 miles on the Atlantic at an average speed of 23.3 knots! At this pace, Coville's current lead over Francis Joyon’s sailing record from Ambrose Light in the U.S. to Lizard Point in the U.K. stands at 326 miles (603 km). But the going hasn't been easy. A thick fog is sitting off Newfoundland, and the would-be record-breaker can't even see his bows. Thomas spent last night dodging fishing boats and growlers (submerged chunks of ice) from two huge icebergs in the vicinity.

Grand Banks, Atlantic Ocean - With the second-to-last leg of the Clipper Round the World Race on its third day, the crews are anything but happy about the weather. Typical Grand Banks fog has been augmented by little-to-no wind, and the teams are bobbing around, hoping a low will form to kick things up. In the meantime, it'll continue to be slow going in pea soup for the boats. Weather reports are predicting possible relief later today.