World ARC 2010/11 formally came to a close last night with a prizegiving dinner at the Royal Saint Lucian hotel in Rodney Bay. Rally crews and their guests sat down to a wonderful dinner before crews were called up in turn to receive gifts and prizes to mark their tremendous achievements during World ARC.

The World ARC crews marked the end of their adventure yesterday with a spectacular Parade of Sail along the coast of Saint Lucia. It was a fitting end of sail and celebration to acknowledge the huge achievement of these yacht’s crews in sailing around the world over the last 15 months.

Over the last few days the World ARC yachts have been gathering for a final rendezvous at the delightful Marigot Bay Marina, Saint Lucia, to enjoy a packed social programme ashore and to prepare for the Parade of Sail to Rodney Bay on Saturday, which marks the end of World ARC 2010/11. For the last few weeks the boats have been enjoying a free cruising period visiting wonderful (if not windy and rainy) anchorages in the Windward Islands but they are now benefiting from being alongside in the marina.

Yesterday the World ARC crews went on a coach tour of stunning sights and strong smells & flavours around the handsome island of Grenada. It was absolutely fantastic to see how Grenadians live, their history and their industries, as well as see such a friendly people waving and smiling all the way around on the tour.

The docks at Port Louis Marina were buzzing this morning as the World ARC crews prepared to cheer in the last four boats to arrive in Grenada, at the end of the last competitive leg of the World ARC Rally. The crews armed themselves with World ARC flags, horns and hooters to load up into dinghies and wait for the new arrivals crossing the finishing line. It was a special group of yachts too; three of them had slowed down to shepherd the fourth – the catamaran Basia which was dismasted off the coast of Brazil - all the way to Grenada.

The first 24 hours of World ARC yacht arrivals has seen 4 yachts tying up in the well appointed Port Louis Marina, in Saint Georges, Grenada. The first boat to cross the finish line, after almost exactly 11 days at sea, was the Shipman Seaway 63 Grand Filou. And later in the day, the Sundeer 60 Crazy Horse arrived followed during the night and the next day by A Lady and Lady Lisa. And the next 12 hours will be even busier with the arrival of Ocean Jasper, Chessie, Lady Ev VI , Thor VI, and Tzigane.

Marta Wnorowska in Canada sent us a lovely message about following the World ARC Blogs.  It just goes to show that many people are following the event in spirit, and we're always keen to know what 'living the dream' is really like.

The Port Louis marina in Saint Georges harbour, Grenada, will be the home of the World ARC fleet as they complete the last competitive leg of their circumnavigation from Recife in Brazil. The first yacht will arrive on Monday morning, but with a course distance of over 2000 nautical miles, some of the boats will arrive closer to next weekend too.

It has not been an easy passage as the boats have passed north through the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) ...

At approximately 0840 UTC this morning World ARC yacht Basia, crewed by the Neumann family -  Michael, Basia and their adult daughter Anna - was in collision with a large merchant vessel off the coast north of Brazil. Although shaken by the incident, all three were almost physically unharmed although the 44ft catamaran lost its rigging when the mast was pulled down. There was also a puncture to one of the hulls and the boat was taking on water. The skipper, Michael, issued a MADAY distress on his radio, as flooding and sinking were a possibility.

The World ARC fleet restarted from Recife, Brazil this morning, at 0900 local time, on the last competitive leg of their circumnavigation. This next leg, from Recife to Grenada, will see the boats cross back into the northern hemisphere and eventually revisit Caribbean waters. And for many of the crews, this will bring them one step closer to returning to the starting port of the Rally in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia.

It was an early start for almost all of the fleet in order to leave the Cabanga Yacht Club near high water and on a rising tide ...

The World ARC crews got into the party spirit yesterday with a group tour to the Carnival in the nearby city of Olinda. The fleet met up in their colourful T shirts to take the coaches to Recife’s neighbouring city. Whilst it was an unusual sight for a Sunday morning around the Cabanaga Yacht Club, where the World ARC yachts are berthed, it was just typical attire for joining in with Carnival.

The World ARC crews had a great morning today as they visited the city of Recife for the annual parade of the Galo da Madrugada. This annual parade, translated as the morning rooster parade, is the first real event of the Carnival programme in city and is definitely the biggest. In 1994, the parade was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest block of carnival in the world, with 1.5 million revellers. The streets along the four kilometre route of the parade were buzzing with music, dance and excitement as the decorated trucks with sound systems and the live bands pumped out their entertainment.

Most of the World ARC crews took the opportunity to explore the cities of Recife and Olinda during a local tour of the area yesterday. The first stop of the tour was Point Zero – a landmark from which distances in the country are measured. The square is also the focal point for several of the celebrations during the Recife carnival. As the tour party visited, a huge stage was under construction to present nightly concerts of locally themed music. The tour then walked through Jew Street and visited the museum of the carnival dolls, which will be paraded through the town during the festivities.

The World ARC fleet got together last night for a Welcome Party at the Cabanga Yacht Club in Recife. As the crews came ashore, they were met by an eight piece Frevo band and men in ceremonial costumes. Both are typical symbols of the region and indeed a fore-taste of the Carnival experience to come. Later the crews enjoyed some local dancing and some great food too during an evening supported by the Club and the local tourist organisation, EMPETUR.

Today, it was a busy afternoon of arrivals at the Cabanga Yacht Club in Recife as the World ARC fleet gathered together for the start of their programme in their second stopover in Brazil. The Cabanga Yacht Club is located between the old and new parts of Recife and is a secure and safe place from which to explore the surrounding area. Following today’s arrivals, there are now eight boats in the yacht club basin with a further four expected on tomorrow’s tide.

The World ARC fleet got together last night for the first time in their new home at the Terminal Nautico, in the city of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. The Welcome Party, supported by SUDESB, (the state entity which operates the Terminal Nautico Marina), Bahia Tursa (the state tourism organisation) and FENAB (the state sailing federation), began with welcome drinks of Caipirinhas and finger food, before the crews were formally welcomed by Professor Ney Santos, representing SUDESB.

The pontoon at the Terminal Náutico was even busier this weekend as 9 boats of the fleet arrived in Salvador during Saturday and Sunday. Those members of the fleet who had arrived some days earlier were there to take their lines and welcome them in. It was great to welcome these most recent arrivals, which brought the total number of boats berthed in the marina to 17. As all the arrivals before, the crews were welcomed at the dock by a refreshing Caipirinha and Baiana ladies, distributing tourist information.

The first yacht from the World ARC fleet arrived in Termial Nautico on Salvador’s waterfront today having completed a long 3,700 nautical mile passage across the South Atlantic from South Africa. The honour of first arrival was bestowed on the largest yacht in the fleet, the 76 foot Swan ‘Wild Tigris’, skippered by Sean McCarter. Sean and his four crew; owner Casey, Heidi, Stu and Sofia were welcomed to Brazil by Baiana ladies, in traditional dress, offering refreshingly cold caipirinha.

The preparations in Salvador are complete and Rally Control eagerly awaits the arrival of the first boats in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. The Terminal Náutico (SUDESB) and Bahia Tursa have worked together to ensure that all the boats receive a fantastic welcome after many days at sea. Although all of the boats made a scheduled stop at the mid Atlantic island of St Helena, it will be well over 3 weeks since they all left South Africa and therefore likely that they’re eager to arrive and start exploring Brazil.

The World ARC fleet restarted from Bali at midday today, to make the 1110 nautical mile passage to their next landfall on Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The boats which started today join the four World ARC boats already at sea and all are expected to make landfall in Cocos Islands at the beginning of next week. The conditions at the start were good and most of the fleet crossed the line under full sail providing an great spectacle to mark the end of a very enjoyable time in Bali