ARC Europe’s time in Horta came to its grand finale yesterday at the Azorina Centre as the prizes were awarded for the 2nd leg of multistage Atlantic Crossing. The Azorina Centre was a great setting to host the awards, showcasing the Faial's Natural Park and was previously nominated for European Museum of the Year. It was here that President of the Azorina Center, Andreia Porteiro, together with the President of Clube Naval De Horta Mr Jose Decq Mota, and Claudia Alvernaz from the Azores Tourism Authority welcomed the crews from ARC Europe 2019 and presented the prizes.
Each crew was given a plaque engraved with individual yacht names as a memento for their Atlantic crossing and landfall in Horta. Prizes were also presented for third, second and first place positions for the Cruising Division Classes A and B as well as the Multihull division.
First place yachts received beautiful wooden hand-crafted yacht trophies – Oceanis in Class A, Supertaff in Class B and Attitude in the Multihull Division. 2nd and 3rd places received local produce of wines and cheeses, as did the crew of Duale sailing in the Open Division.
A fantastic buffet of local food was prepared and enjoyed by everyone who attended along with plenty of great local wine.
Before the prize giving, crews were treated to an afternoon tour of the island. The tour around Faial headed first to the east coast where the other islands from the central group of Azores can be seen. After the tour stopped at the volcano caldera that has a diameter of 2km. Over half the participants went along and all reported it to be a great half day out in such surroundings that they never expected to see.
After a fantastic Prize Giving to finish off a great stopover in Horta, the fleet will set sail again from at first light and head South-East to Terceira for a short but diverse programme on the next island as their Azores cruise continues.
Crews conquered Pico!