Four more boats arrived into Rodney Bay Marina overnight on 7 December. The procession began with the arrival of Solar Blue, who crossed the line just before midnight in the fading light of the half-moon. A few hours later they were followed by Adela, and both enjoyed their rum punch on the docks.
At 0400, both Idea of London - the 3rd ARC boat, and one of the biggest, at 78' - and ARC+ boat Jen, the smallest ARC+ boat at 28', were in striking distance of the finish line. Though Jen was ahead for most of the night, Idea of London quickly gained ground, sailing at almost 10 knots for most of the early morning, to Jen's 5 knots. Just before Pigeon Island, Idea of London finally overtook the little Jen, crossing the line just 19 minutes ahead. But you've got to give them credit - little Jen all the way from Sweden is one of 7 double-handed yachts in the ARC+ fleet, and they did the double-handers proud by nearly holding off the 11-person crew of the racing yacht from the ARC.
"It's so nice to be here!" said Mogens and Dunja of Jen. "And this rum punch is a nice breakfast to start the day!"
They were greeted on the dock by several of the other Swedish crews, including the folks from Corona Aq and Balance, so it was a very Scandinavian morning in St Lucia.
"We'll be there guides here," the group enthusiastically offered.
Meanwhile, Idea of London took their sails down and remained waiting in Rodney Bay for their rum punch on arrival. Sunlight was just starting to peer over the hills to the east, while the last of the stars shone from behind puffy fair weather clouds as they tidied up, waiting for the tide to rise. Idea, with a draught of 4.2 meters, needed all the water they could get to enter Rodney Bay marina, but the boat made it onto I-Dock on high water without a problem.
On the program tonight is the first ARC+ Welcome Cocktail at the Bread Basket in Rodney Bay, sponsored by the Saint Lucia Tourist Board. Welcome to all ARC+ yachts!