Hi Don,

Barbados is probably more like it, that's where that J-44 abandoned about 8 years ago fetched up, and they were sailing a more northerly route from the Canaries, if memory serves... Hell, with that sail he left up, he may wind up being able to claim his boat beat a J-44 across the Atlantic... (grin)

The call whether to scuttle or not is certainly a tough one, I don't even want to think about having to do that, myself... A real sailor's sailor, like Skip Allan, will definitely do what he did to his beloved WILDFLOWER on his return to CA after winning the Singlehanded Transpac several years ago... On the other hand, if I'd been placed in the same situation as Ray Leonard being forced by the CG to abandon his Westsail during The Perfect Storm, I'd probably let her be like he did... Turned out to be the right call, in the end...

Still, leaving a boat adrift on a tradewind passage route, even though late in the season, is a bit difficult to justify... I guess the Scuttle Plan largely depends upon whether the ARC mob has already passed you by, or not, eh? (grin)

best regards,

Jon