The first boats have arrived in Bermuda at the St. George’s Dinghy Club! Mimosa and Mariposa came in around 11:00 local time and are now off either enjoying lovely Bermuda or preparing their boats for the next passage to the Azores.
The rest of the fleet is close behind with several boats arriving from the BVI tomorrow (the 12th), and the majority arriving on the 13th. Although we had great wind for the start of the rally, the past two days have been changing from light to variable. As the yacht Hejira said, "the wind has been capricious and we have been ‘on the cusp’ of sailing/motoring for most of the day. With the wind increasing on the edge of the squalls, we even reefed at one stage and tracking other AIS signals, it is clear that other yachts are having the same dilemma and using their engines on occasion.” One of the ARC Europe boats starting from the US, Blue Mist (Pearson Vanguard 32), was delayed due to an SSB installation and has decided to head straight from Portsmouth, VA to the Azores. They are also the smallest boat in the fleet! As for us yellowshirts… Our office is ready and so are we to make all of our ARC Europe/ARC USA fleet’s time in Bermuda a blast!