The training ship ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ crosses the Atlantic Ocean in full sail.

The ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’, currently conducting her 91st training cruise for Spanish Navy midshipmen, has just concluded the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in full sail. It was the seventh time the ship completed such a feat, the sixth sailing westwards.

The 90-year old brig-schooner left Tenerife on January 21st at 1700 hours with her fore and aft rigs and proceeded to sail the next 25 days’ runs only in full sail, never using the engine. In that period, the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ sailed 3,092 nautical miles in 7 legs until she reached the port of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

The ship endeavored to navigate between parallels 17 and 21 north in order to take advantage of the intense and continuous trade winds and the very few days of calm sea in that area.

For the necessary training of crew and midshipmen alike, the ‘all hands on deck’ manoeuver was ordered on 15 occasions, full rigging three times, and on January 30th -the longest day’s run sailing 223 nautical miles- a top speed of 14 knots was reached with an average cruising speed of 9.29 knots.

The feat was celebrated with a final all hands on deck upon arriving at Anegada, the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, with the boatswains whistling their pipes for different bugle calls.

The commanding officer, Captain Ignacio Paz García congratulated the ship’s company and midshipmen, underlining that all people on board, as a team, are important and necessary.