July 5, 2024 — Today, the Salty Dawg Sailing Associatiion’s president Bob Osborn made the announcement and said, “The rally will have starting locations in St. Martin in the Caribbean and Hampton, Virginia, with a rendezvous in Bermuda. The fleet will make final preparations and festivities in Bermuda prior to starting for the Azores on June 1, weather permitting. The passage across the Atlantic should take between 14 and 20 days. For many members, this passage across the Atlantic to the Azores and then onto Europe has been on their bucket list for a long time.”
KEY RALLY DATES
Starts from Hampton and St. Martin for Bermuda: May 18, 2025
Start from Bermuda for Horta: June 1, 2014
Arrive Horta: June 10 to 15.
(Note: The St. Martin start will coincide with the start of the SDSA’s annual Homeward Bound Rally.)
The Azores Rally in 2025 will be limited to the first 25 boats that pay the rally fee and pass a general vetting by the SDSA rally management team. The rally fee has been set at $550 per boat, there is no separate crew fee. All skippers are expected to have verifiable prior blue water sailing experience.
AZORES RALLY SERVICES AND BENEFITS
- Mentoring and pre-passage support from the SDSA team
- Twenty-four-hour SDSA shoreside and emergency support during the rally
- Daily weather forecasting and routing by Chris Parker at Marine Weather Center
- Emergency medical support by George Washington Maritime Medical Services
REGISTRATION AND CANCELLATION POLICIES
Registration for the Azores Rally:
Registration opens on July 1, 2024
Cancellations and refunds:
From July through December 31, 2024: 50%
From January 1 through March 31, 2025: 25%
After March 31, 2024: 0%
Once the Azores Rally fleet has been filled, the SDSA will maintain a waiting list in the event of cancellations.
Free Zoom Webinar July 9, 2024 at 5 pm ET.
For details and to sign up for the Azores Rally 2025 log onto: https://sdsa.memberclicks.net/azores-rally
To become a member of the SDSA log onto: https://www.saltydawgsailing.org/about-membership
To contact the SDSA, email: info@saltydawgsailing.org
The Salty Dawg Sailing Association is a Rhode Island-registered 501 c3 non-profit, educational organization dedicated to fostering seamanship, offshore passage-making and camaraderie among cruisers everywhere through its rallies, webinars and in-person events.