<P> Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe or Africa . The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between North America and Western Europe . Centuries after the dwindling of sporadic Viking trade with Markland, a regular and lasting transatlantic trade route was established in 1566 with the Spanish West Indies fleets, following the Voyages of Christopher Columbus . </P> <P> Prior to the 19th century, transatlantic crossings were undertaken in sailing ships, and the journeys were time consuming and often perilous . The first trade route across the Atlantic was inaugurated by Spain a few decades after the European Discovery of America, with the establishment of the West Indies fleets in 1566, a convoy system which regularly linked its territories in the Americas with Spain for over two centuries . Portugal created a similar maritime route between its ports in Brazil and the Portuguese mainland . Other colonial powers followed, such as Britain, France and the Netherlands, as they colonized the New World . </P>

How long does it take for a sailboat to cross the atlantic