Chris and Erica Murray’s Marsaudon ORC50, launched in July 2023, crossed the finish line off Quarantine Point, Grenada, on Wednesday 29 November at 08:06:41 (local time), completing the final leg of their Atlantic adventure.
Owner/Skipper Chris Murray was very happy with the performance of their new Marsaudon ORC50 and was full of praise for the ARC+ rally on arrival:
“We had just a fantastic time. It was champagne sailing in this final leg. It was either very light winds or 15-17 knots downwind all the way, with surfing waves. We had a couple of squalls, but no big deal, and it was perfect, especially with the full moon on the last few nights.”
After the traditional ARC+ dockside welcome, the crew were greeted dockside by ARC+ yellowshirts, the Grenada Tourism Authority, Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, and the T .A. Marryshow Community College tourism & hospitality students.
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Erica Murray said they were happy to be back in Grenada: “We’ve been into Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina before in a different boat, about five years ago and it’s good to be back. We liked it here a lot. We are ready for the Victory Bar!”
Chris and Erica, along with their teenagers Carys and Phoebe, were joined for the crossing by the Sperry family, Tim and Nikki, and their three teenagers Maisy, Sam and Finn: “We are friends who live in the same town and we met when we were living on our separate boats down here in the Caribbean. I think we always thought about doing the ARC, but it wasn’t until we decided to build this boat in France last year that we needed a way to get it back over this side of the Atlantic Ocean, so here we are in the ARC+.”
Sailing a new build across the Atlantic
Having been splashed by the yard in France, in July, the family spent the whole summer working alongside the boat builders to get Mongoose ready for the Atlantic crossing. Chris did a lot of work there, going out, testing and tweaking the various systems on board, and getting to know the boat with the yard staff. Erica explained: “I think that was key, the builders were excellent, and we had no snags. If you are thinking of sailing a brand-new boat like ours in a rally, I would suggest putting the time in to do all the shakedown work ahead of time.”
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The weather conditions for the first leg from Las Palmas to Mindelo were "boisterous", so Mongoose was sailed rather conservatively on that leg. Chris said: “This last leg was fun though.”
Erica continued “…there were times where Chris would ride waves and we’d get the speed up and have some fun, but other than that we didn’t push the boat.”
Future plans
Now their transatlantic adventures are complete, their plans are to stay in the Caribbean this winter, keeping the boat in St John, USVI. They will then take Mongoose home, up to New England, USA. The children will be returning to the States on Sunday to head back to school -the school were good and let the Rally be an excused absence. Erica said: “it’s time; they’ve got to go back. Then we will come back down in few weeks, and with the rest of the family and Chris’ parents we will start making our way up the islands. It should be great. We love Grenada though!”
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Crew:
Chris, Erica, Carys and Pheobe Murray
Tim and Nikki, Maisy, Sam, Finn Sperry