THE ATLANTIC RALLY FOR CRUISERS
The occasion is absolutely wonderful, thanks to the evening organized by the nice Yacht Club Milano, in its fine hall in P.za Baiamonti, 4 (www.yachtclubmilano.com): the presentation of the 22nd Atlantic Rally for Cruisers – ARC – with the great presence of Mr. Clifford Dammers, member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, based in Cowes, and his marvellous reportage of photos and videos.
This middle-aged famous English laywer, in fact, most recently participated in the ARC, an important cruise in the Atlantic Ocean, from Las Palmas – Canarian Island to Santa Lucia – Carribian Islands.
Mr. Dammers learned to sail both dinghies and keel boats in France in 1971 and then purchased this boat named “Dawn Strider” in 1989. From that moment onwards he began sailing regularly and competed in the four “Fastnet Races”.
It’s a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to interview this gentleman and these are his answers on this 22nd Atlantic Rally for Cruisers:
“This was the first time for you in an ocean ?”
“Yes, it was the first time and it has been in the Atlantic Ocean. Normally I sail from the England’s coast to France’s one, to the Channel Islands, once up to the Seychelles and sometimes also in the Mediterranean. Next trip will be from St. Lucia north to the British Virgin Islands”.
“How many days in the ocean ? And how was the weather like?”
“ 19 days in total, thanks to the good wind all time. Yes, we’ve been very lucky as the wind was favourable and so easier to sail, even if it became dangerous sometime because it created very large waves, beating on the shelf in the deep water. To tell the truth the weather has been very good at the beginning, sunny, hot, but then the things changed and a storm even developed in a hurricane !”
“Why did you decide to take part to this itinerary?”
“I seriously thought for it for a long time and, after seven years, together with other three friends of mine, two men and a woman, we all decided to partecipate. It took one year to prepare the boat as it was more difficult and very different from the others: this is a 11,5 meters long boat and it’s name is “Dawn Strider”. It has been a great challenge, but also a romantic experience: during the nights all those stars, so many and so near, no pollution at all …. Simply unforgettable!”
“How did you feel in the middle of the ocean and of the hurricane ?”
“Very small, the ocean is so big, the boat is so little and that up and down, that rolling side by side... I have never been frightened, as we knew each other very well. Of course in front of those enormous waves it could be very difficult to rescue someone, even if we had on board a new instrument able to find a person falled down in the water.”
“Which animals did you meet in the sea and in the air?”
“A lot of turtles, different fish, one 1,5 meter long barracuda, some white marlin, one marlin of over 2 meters, birds, seagulls and of course many dolphins, always very close to the boat but not in the middle of the ocean. I was forgetting: a lot of incredible flying fish of every size, from one to two hands long, and they were often landing on our boat too…”
Thanks to the very clear video showed it’s incredible how it really seems to be on board and active part of this 22nd Atlantic Rally for Cruisers: from the sunny starting of these 220 boats all together to the hurricane and the high waves …what an emotion !
(by Loredana Grandi)
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