The 9th edition of the Azores and Back race got underway from Pendennis Point, Falmouth, at 1300 this Saturday 2 June. Fifty boats set off on the first leg, heading for Ponta Delgado in the Azores, 1,220 miles away.

Open to single and double handed crews the yachts usually take seven to ten days to complete each leg and have a week or so to relax and restock for the return passage. For all the latest information, see www.azab.co.uk , and don’t miss Yachting Monthly’s coverage of the event in our August issue, on sale Thursday 12 July.

Photo: Graham Snook