Timing an Atlantic crossing

Professional meteorologist and sailor Chris Tibbs shares his knowledge of how to choose the best time to sail 'across the pond'

- Chris Tibbs

The Atlantic circuit has often been seen as a year-long adventure, crossing the Atlantic in late November or December to the Caribbean, with a return to Europe starting in May.

There are good reasons for this timetable, the overriding one being the hurricane season. This runs from the beginning of June through to the end of November. Hurricanes can happen outside of the 'official season, but they are rare-although there can be named storms in May. By departing towards the end of November, with the bulk of the crossing in December, we maximise the Caribbean season, often coming back to Europe in May.

Interestingly, for the actual crossing from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean, statistics show that the wind tends to become stronger as we get into January and February-so there may be some truth in the Christmas trade winds that we hear about starting to blow around Christmas and lasting well into the following months.

When departing the Canaries the prevailing wind direction is from north through to east-north-east. These are the trade winds found on the eastern side of the semi-permanent high pressure which we know as the Azores high. The wind blows from this direction for 55-65% of the time with little variation from November to March. However, averages do not tell us everything and we do get a number of days when the Canaries are affected by low pressure passing close to the north.

Winter winds

This is important for a pleasurable passage; few people enjoy headwinds when supposedly on a downwind passage. Near the Canaries, the wind is between south and west for around 10% of the time in December and higher at 14% in January. That is not a huge difference and the variability between years makes it hard to make firm predictions.