Yesterday’s arrival of Arriba, Beneteau First 40 who departed
late from Las Palmas due to rigging issues, completed the fleet in Mindelo totalling
61 boats in the marina. They received a warm welcome with a large group of
participants cheering, sounding fog horns and celebrating with champagne as
they moored in a windy Mindelo.
During their visit, the stopover
programme has provided the chance for crews to explore more of what the Cape
Verde has to offer. Tours of São Vicente (the home for the fleet), and the
beautiful island of Santo Antão has made for a more fulfilling stopover for
many. Supported by a crew supper in the old fish market of Mindelo, friendships
and the rally atmosphere of ARC Plus grows daily which made for an enjoyable prize
giving function last night for Leg 1 - Las Palmas to Mindelo.
Held in the cultural centre of
Mindelo close to the marina, participants were lured from their yachts by the
sound of traditional drums and dancing making for an energetic start to the
evening. An impressive performance by the Danish crew of Havhunden Lagoon 330, saw them take first prize in the
multihull division. Split into 3 classes, Cookelu
Meu Tayana 37 took first prize in Class C, whilst the Canadian crew of Distant Shores II Southerly 49 came on
top for Class B. Competitive since the beginning, first place for Class A was
divided by only 35 minutes on corrected time seeing the Shipman 63 Bepa conceding second however winning line
honours for their impressive start in Las Palmas. Winning first prize for Class
A and coming first overall was the X-612 Nix
who performed well throughout the passage to Mindelo.
The prize giving was followed by
a traditional dinner provided by the SOS Charity that ARC Plus supports every
year in Mindelo. More music and dancing followed entertaining all for the
remainder of the evening.
Today a skippers briefing will
inform crews about Leg 2 of ARC Plus providing information about the start,
route, weather and their final destination of Saint Lucia where they will make
landfall in a couple of weeks.