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A squall you say? 🧐
A squall you say? 🧐
On our last Atlantic passage, we had one particularly strong squall. A clip of this went largely unremarked on the YouTube channel. But for some reason on Facebook it opened a load of questions. So here's some detail which answers most of what gets asked. I'll refine this page as I get requests to clarify something, so it's a work in progress. I hope it's useful.
⬅️ By the way, if you want to enjoy it widescreen and in context, it kicks off at the 16-minute mark in this YouTube video.
What's is the context?
What's is the context?
This is in the last week of a particularly squally passage from the Canary Islands to St Lucia in the Caribbean in January 2026. For the most part, the weather has been predictable but a little boisterous. The wind has been somewhere around 20 knots from the east, for most of the passage, and all forecasts show it remaining the same.
Gusts are in the mid-20 knot range.
The tiring part of the weather has been the squalls. We're getting something like 5 squalls every 24 hours. That's an average, so sometimes it's one an hour, and sometimes we get a day off. The wind speeds in the squalls pick up to 30+ knots, usually accompanied by a wind shift and rain. They last somewhere between half an hour and an hour. Following each squall there's sometimes a big drop in the wind, to around 10 knots. Then it takes an hour or so to build back up and reassert the general 20 knots from the east pattern forecast.
We can see some of the rainier squalls on radar, but we don't have the power to run the radar constantly. We turn it on during the night, for a few minutes every hour, to get a general idea of what rain might be coming.
What sail do we have up?
What sail do we have up?
We're down to the third (final) reef in the main, and the boom is out and tied back with a preventer. We have two headsails - the yankee and the staysail. The yankee is a high cut sail, considerably smaller than a genoa. It is out on the pole. This is our 'accelerator': we furl it in as squalls approach, and then wind it back out again when the wind drops. We have half our small staysail up, but sheeted in hard to the centreline - it's just up to reduce the rolling of the boat.
We don't drop the main for the squalls.
What course are we steering?
What course are we steering?
We're steering by the wind, using our wind vane steering (in this case a Hydrovane). We like to keep the wind off the quarter, at around 150° to 160° true. 180° T would take us straight to our destination, but it's just as fast for us to go in the wrong direction. Having a little wind on the beam puts the boat on a slight heel which reduces rolling, and also reduces the risk of an accidental gybe.
Why is this squall different?
Why is this squall different?
In almost every respect it's the same buildup. R is down below trying to sleep, and I'm on watch. I can see the squall approaching and I reduce the yankee as usual. This one though builds up rapidly above 40 knots and comes with a dramatic wind shift which catches us on the beam and heels the boat over. The wind in the clip looks worse that 40 knots, but I'm pretty sure I only saw something like 43 knots peak on the instruments (that's a Force 9 Strong Gale if you're more comfortable with Beaufort).
What are you doing about it?
What are you doing about it?
I've released the staysail sheet to take the wind out of that. I've also released the main - that was still slightly sheeted in a fraction to keep the mainsail from being hard against the shrouds, so there was some wiggle room there. The preventer is no longer taught, but worth the risk. And then I wait for the boat to come around downwind again. When it does the apparent wind drops dramatically and we're back in control. Coming round takes an awfully long time though - a couple of minutes. Ironically, the beam wind has unhelpfully reduced the boat speed. Downwind again we are running at about 8-9 knots through the water. I sheet the main back off the shrouds slightly and I stare at the weather.
Why aren't you at the helm?
Why aren't you at the helm?
I'm in the companionway with the washboards in, and I can reach the tiller. The tiller is 'locked' by the tiller extension and I've wound it over to bring the boat around more quickly. I straighten it back up shortly after this clip, when the boat has come round.
We'd have come round quicker if I'd removed the boards and moved into the cockpit, as the tiller extension limits the tiller travel somewhat. It is a good reminder though to make sure your washboards are tied to the boat!
Why have you got the camera out?
Why have you got the camera out?
I've temporarily run out of things to do and the view is quite astonishing. I can hear R below picking things up from the cabin floor but I think it's best I stay up. Camera's right there by my hand so...
Why aren't you reefing?
Why aren't you reefing?
We've almost run out of things we can practically reef. There is still a fraction of yankee to go. But it's not sheeted in - it's still out on the pole. There is also the now-loose half-staysail which should come in. But our real issue is getting the boat round and reducing the apparent wind.
We're not dropping the main. We would need to get the wind off it first by turning more upwind, and we've chosen to turn back downwind. If we had turned upwind, we'd then prefer to heave to, and we'd need the main up for that anyway.
There was one suggestion to run bare poles. I can't see us stripping the sails down for every squall.
Why don't you heave to or run downwind ?
Why don't you heave to or run downwind ?
Turning to run downwind was our cleanest solution for this squall. If it had turned into a long slog, heaving to would be a good idea.
Given a forecast of continuous high winds in advance, that would be a good option. It'd be good to be prepared in advance for that. Pole in maybe, preventer off, turn upwind in advance.
Why haven't you taken down the bimini?
Why haven't you taken down the bimini?
We don't have a bimini. Those are our solar panels. They're plastic foldable panels and are removable. We've kept them up continuously as solar has been pretty poor on this passage and we need all we can get. They've been fine for all the previous squalls but they look very sketchy here and I think they add a lot to our windage in this beam wind.
Given a forecast of high winds, we take them in. I'm not going to attempt that during this squall. We leave them out for subsequent squalls on this passage.
Why don't you put the crew on the starboard rail?
Why don't you put the crew on the starboard rail?
To be fair, only one person asked this, but I like it because can imagine R's reaction if I'd suggested it. Practically, having me or R on the side decks affects us only by a degree or so. We are lightweights and the boat is heavy.
Does your wind-vane steering suck?
Does your wind-vane steering suck?
We have a Hydrovane. Other equipment is available that I don't have experience of. There's enough discussion our there about the pros and cons and I don't I have value to add to that discussion. Like anchors.
But this is true: the boat needs to be balanced, sailwise, before wind-vane steering is optimal. In this squall the balance is way off.
Are you scared?
Are you scared?
Rather alarmed. Eyebrows raised. Lots of tutting.
(we're British)
What would you do differently next time?
What would you do differently next time?
I should have reacted more quickly to the wind shift coming onto the beam. I lost valuable time standing there with my mouth open wondering what was happening. (I've had similar nonplussed moments when a windshift takes the main aback.)
Why is your flag out?
Why is your flag out?
I didn't know this would trouble people, but it does. There's good arguments for bringing the flag in when offshore. There's just no-one to see it. The flapping annoys people. Your flag wears out faster.
I like it though. It's bright and it cheers me up every day. And I'm the skipper.
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