Together, this makes Cape Town a natural Christmas break point before continuing north. This also ties in with most round the world cruises and rally schedules, as we need to be away from the Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season, which starts in November. With St Helena, Brazil and the islands of Fernando de Noronha on the way it is a pleasant passage and as the South Atlantic is hurricane free it makes an easy transition from the southern hemisphere summer to northern winter. This is best done near the north-east corner of Brazil where the light winds zone is generally quite narrow and the currents are also favourable making for fast passages. It usually sees trade winds all the way except for when passing through the ITCZ. The route from Cape Town to the Caribbean is relatively straightforward, although it is long. It is also why there can be significant gains and losses coming back up the Atlantic after Cape Horn as racing yachts try to minimise the distance sailed while keeping in the strongest and most favourable wind – not an easy job. This is why round the world racing yachts and record attempts, cross into the southern hemisphere close to Brazil, then get south of the high pressure before heading east. In general, the ITCZ is narrower on the western side of the Atlantic and wider on the east with a fairly large triangle of more variable wind close to the African coast. My partner Weitze van der Laan and I nod.… “It’s still a long way to get home,” Carina Hammarlund muses.
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