All Aboard (December): Epic Scenes & Self-Reliant Sailors

Season’s greetings, sailing sorts! A warm welcome back to a distinctly wintry edition of the All Aboard roundup. Every month – wind, snow, rain or shine – we ship top quality sailing accessories and parts to sailors the world over. At the same time, we like to keep pace with everyone’s adventures, sharing inspiration, advice and some good old fashioned gossip. This month: Watch some incredible footage of the Vendee Globe captured by French Navy helicopters, cruise from sunny Madeira to Lanzarote for the winter and ponder precisely what makes sailing such a great sport for nurturing self-reliance. Vendee Globe Frontrunners Plough Through the Ocean Waves If you love sailing for the thrill, the adventure, the wild waves and the unpredictability of nature, you’ll love this footage captured by the French Navy of the Vendee Globe’s frontrunners. Out in the middle of the ocean, thousands of miles from land, these racers are taking on the ocean waves at full speed and it looks absolutely epic.This blog fromGreat Circle Sails explores the footage in more detail and gives some extra back story if these scenes have fired up your imagination! Madeira to Lanzarote with The Velvet Lady For those of you who prefer your sailing a little more sedate and escapist,The Velvet Lady’s blog is a great spot to launch your sunny sailing daydreams . In their latest post, the crew of The Velvet Lady made great time sailing from Madeira to Lanzarote where she will stay for the winter. If you’d like some shots of sunny skies, gorgeous sunsets and blue seas to kick your next sailing holiday plan-making into action, this is a great blog to follow. Is Sailing the Ultimate Self-Reliant Sport? We lovethis thoughtful post fromGill, written by sailor and journalist Andy Rice. In his blog, Rice shares his thoughts on what makes sailing such a great sport for teaching self-reliance. From the complexity of the tasks that ensure a successful voyage and the logistics of arranging it all in the first place, to the incredibly varied conditions sailors may face out on the water and the preparations required to handle every eventuality, this is a pursuit which trains people to be organised and incredibly self-sufficient. Or so Andy argues! Do you agree? Did you become more self-reliant after taking up sailing? Are you a leisurely cruiser like The Velvet Lady or an adventure-driven sort like the Vendee Globe competitors? Have your say below.