Cruisers, racers and multihulls begin their Atlantic adventure
With today’s start of the 39th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, there are 234 yachts crossing the ocean from Gran Canaria to the Caribbean with the ARC and ARC+ rallies.
At 12:30 local time today, Sunday 24 November, a record-breaking 45 multihulls were the first boats to cross the start line of ARC 2024. They were followed by the 11-strong IRC racing fleet at 12:45 and then at 13:00 the 83 cruising yachts.
The multihull division had a slow start in a flukey south easterly breeze, with Mark and Penny Belcher’s Two Hoots crossing first. This made Benji the sea dog first of the seven sailing pets in the fleet to start the 2,700NM adventure. Two Hoots was followed by Kenneth Frantz’s Fountain Pajot Elba 45 My Cherie Amour (USA) and the Neel 47 trimaran Ferdinand (FRA) of Francesco Rongoni.
Jean Philippe Blanpain’s Vismara 62 Leaps & Bounds 2 (MLT) was first of the IRC racing division to cross the line, followed closely by three-times ARC racing division winner Jean Pierre Dick with his Swan 76 La Loévie (MLT), then the JV 43 Red 2 (CHE) owned and skippered by Mathias Mueller von Blumencron. Johannes Schwarz’s Volvo 70 Ocean Breeze (AUT) was fourth to cross the line.
By 13:00 local time the wind had increased to 10-12 knots and started to back, giving the cruising division a comfortable white sail start. As the gun was fired on Spanish naval patrol ship Relámpago, there was a close pin-end start between Bengt Lyckåsen’s Dufour 45e Performance Mormor Alice (SWE), Amedeo Gambino’s Alubat JPearl (FRA), Patrick Mulligan’s Rustler 42 Sini and the Grand Soleil 50 Juniper (GBR) owned by John Boughton.
There was a Finnish tussle at the committee boat end of the line between ARC regulars Another Brick (FIN), the Beneteau First 44.7 owned by Markus Renlund, and Sebastian Gylling’s Swan 51 Eira (FIN) with Nigel Lewis’ Jeanneau Yacht 55 Musketeer of Cowes (GBR) in close pursuit. After the ARC, Musketeer will be one of seven ARC yachts to be joining the World ARC circumnavigation starting in January.
Proof that the ARC is at heart a cruising rally was provided by Johanna Schalander, co-owner of Arcona 400 Greta (SWE), who baked and served fruit pies during the start sequence.
ARC weather-guru Chris Tibbs explained that the light southerlies would veer through Sunday. “The sailor’s choice will be the classic route towards Cape Verde, with initially less wind on the rhum line to Saint Lucia” said Chris Tibbs. World Cruising Club managing director Paul Tetlow added: “The ARC is a marathon, not a sprint. Use the lighter conditions to settle into your routine and enjoy the experience.”
The majority of the fleet are now heading south, hunting the stronger wind. Follow them on the YB Races app and on worldcruising.com.
After two weeks of Canarian hospitality and support, the majority of the 820 ARC sailors will be at sea for up to 21 days. The racing yachts and some of the sportier cruisers will have a shorter time in their sights. The ARC record of 8 days and six hours set in 2016 by Rambler 88 (USA) still stands.
Like all sailing, wind, waves and how the crews choose to sail their boats will determine their arrival date into Saint Lucia. Irrespective of performance, every boat will be greeted in IGY Rodney Bay Marina with a warm Lucian welcome, the congratulations of the yellow shirt team and fellow sailors, and a spicy rum punch.
ARC 2024 Information
- ARC = Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
- The route is:
- 24 November: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia (2,800NM), 18-21 days
- 21 December: final prize giving in Saint Lucia.
- 140 boats are registered for the rally. 95 monohulls, 43 catamarans and 2 trimarans.
- The smallest boat is Hallberg-Rassy 352 Lucia (DEU) and the largest is Southern Wind 105 Farr No Rush (MLT)
- The most popular brand is Beneteau with 13 boats, followed by Fountaine Pajot and Swan with 8 boats, then Lagoon and Outremer with 7 boats each. 12 boats were launched in 2024 and 16 in 2023.
- 820 crew from 42 nations are sailing, ranging in age from 3 to 83 years. 15 children under 16 are sailing on 8 boats.
- ARC is a cruising rally. Boats take part in the fun competition with handicaps based on hull and sail dimensions. Boats in the fun competition can use their motors.
- ARC is the only World Cruising Club rally with an IRC racing division. Boats in this division can’t use their engine for propulsion. 11 yachts are racing.
- The ARC course record of 8 days, 6hr 29min 15 sec was set by George David’s Rambler 88 (USA) in 2016.
- ARC has run every year since 1986, including through Covid. 2024 is the 39th edition of the rally.
- ARC 2024 is sponsored by the Tourist Board of Gran Canaria and the Tourism Authority of Sant Lucia, and supported by the Port Authority of Las Palmas, the City Hall of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and IGY Rodney Bay Marina.
- ARC 2025 starts on 23 November 2025.
@worldcruising
Interested in seeing more Cruising News?
