And so it is that ARC Europe 2015 has had to come to an end here in Marina de Lagos.
After 6 weeks together sailing across the North Atlantic the final
prizegiving is held at the Waypoint restaurant. After welcome drinks
were served on the poolside terrace crews were invited inside to a great
3 course dinner. With a slideshow of photos from throughout the rally
playing on TV screens it was as if a football match was being watched
with cheers from different sides of the room as crew photos were
spotted.
With everyone well fed and watered it was time to begin the Prizegiving and Lyall, welcomed everyone saying that it’s
always hard to draw a line under ARC Europe when after 6 weeks sailing together it feels like everyone
has really bonded and many friendships have been made. So the idea of starting a leg 4 start to Gibraltar was receieved with great applause!
The final prizegiving also gives an opportunity to look back at all of the boats that have been a part of ARC Europe. With some choosing to stay longer in the Azores and others sailing north towards the UK slides and updates were projected onto the wall and "telegrams" from Free Spirit, Sophie & Widago read out by Andrew Bishop. Those that were present were invited up to receive their memento plaque and received great applause from everyone.
With some fun prizes being thrown in the mix, for best blog from sea,
best fish, best Torrero (bull fighter) the biggest cheer went to the
winners of the Spirit of the ARC Award - Bikini.
Results for leg 3a are available to see on the results page.