The inaugural ARC+ event got off to a very ‘positive’ start today when the event Check-In desks opened at 9 o’clock this morning. One of the first crews to complete their registration for the event was Per & Gitte Joergensen from the Danish X-442 yacht ‘Mathilde’. The yacht has been in Las Palmas for a while and so they were very keen to Check In for ARC+ . Like the participants of the other 30 yachts to check in today, they walked away with their event number banner, for the side of their yacht, their crew passes providing entry to the many seminars and social events and more information about the Rally and finally to make them feel at home in Las Palmas.
The ARC+ crews have a busy, week-long programme of activities to look forward to which start this evening with a Welcome Party at the El Atico Bar in the Sottovento Centre in Muelle Deportivo, Las Palmas. During the following days there are seminars taking place covering Communications, Downwind Sailing, Rigging and How to Manage Emergencies at Sea. There’s also a trip to the mountains of Gran Canaria to plant trees in the ARC Forest environmental project and, back in the port, demonstrations on safety equipment including flare and liferaft deployment.
The ARC+ safety team members have already been busy, beginning to check that all boats have the required equipment on board, whilst the ARC shop has had a huge numbers of visitors to collect complimentary seminar and party tickets and answer any questions about the programme or local services.
There’s fun in the evenings too with a party to go to every night. The highlights of the evening social programme are expected to be the Crew Supper (for all ARC+ crews) on Monday night, the Fantasy themed costume party on the Wednesday night and the Farewell Party on Friday night. In fact, after such a busy week, the crews will need to quickly slip into their routine at sea to have a good rest before all the fun starts again in the Cape Verde islands.
The ARC+ programme continues until the start of Leg 1 of ARC+ on Sunday 10 November.