The 2024 ARC Atlantic sailing season is underway! 94 yachts in the ARC+ fleet departed Las Palmas de Gran Canaria today on the 850NM voyage south to Cape Verde, the first stage of their Atlantic crossing, before heading west to the spice island of Grenada.
The blue skies and warm winds that delighted the sailors during their stay in Las Palmas created ideal conditions for the cruiser rally start. The fleet enjoyed a south easterly 10 knot breeze with a slow swell, giving the fleet a gentle beat south with all boats crossing the line on starboard.
First to start, at 12:45, were the 27 multihulls - a record number for ARC+. Erik Larsson’s 2024 Outremer 52 Appa (USA) was first to cross the line, followed by Outremer 49 Oxane (FRA), Outremer 55 Sizzle (GBR) then Excess 11 At C (NLD). These boats are all crewed by friends and family, including children. Sizzle (GBR) has the rally’s youngest crew member, 8-month-old Charlotte and At C (NLD) is crewed by the Coumans family – Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and three children aged under 8. They have also been joined by Archie, the ARC+ mascot for the crossing!
With 850NM to go to Cape Verde, it’s a marathon not a sprint, but the 67-strong cruising division for monohulls were keen to start, leaving some boats over the line at the start. In position to cross clear after the 13:00 starting gun fired from the Aduanas cutter Sacre was Carol Wu’s Hallberg-Rassy 340 Aria Legra (GBR) - the smallest boat in the fleet! Sailing double handed, Carol's crew onboard is a veteran RORC racer Peter Hopps, with over 20 transatlantic races under his deck shoes. Alongside them was Andrew Heppel’s Oyster 595 Carina (GBR), Moody 46 Blue Goose (GBR) and Southerly 47 Isabel (GBR).
ARC weather guru Chris Tibbs is forecasting a light southeasterly breeze for Sunday, which will back and increase as the boats head south from Las Palmas. By the time the fleet has cleared the Canary Islands, the northeast trades should be blowing at 15-20 knots, providing ideal conditions for the passage to Mindelo on São Vicente, Cape Verde.
The first of the fleet are expected to make landfall on Thursday, with most of the fleet arriving in Mindelo Marina on Friday. After time ashore to explore the islands of São Vicente and Santo Antão, the yachts set off across the Atlantic to their final destination, Port Louis Marina in St George’s, Grenada on 22 November. A 2150nm voyage that is expected to take 12 to 16 days for the average cruiser.
The 94 yachts in this year’s ARC+ fleet include 27 multihulls, a rally record. Reflecting the cruising aspirations of the rally, all main production builders are represented, including 11 boats from Jeanneau, 7 Lagoon catamarans and five each from Amel, Beneteau and Hallberg-Rassy. Solaris 75RS Luminous 3 (GBR) is one the 22 boats launched in the past 12 months, and at 22.6m is the largest on the entry list. After the rally, John McDonall’s beautiful electric blue boat will be continuing around the world with the World ARC 2025-26 event.
You can keep up to date with the ARC+ fleets progress on their Atlantic Adventure on the YB Races app and via worldcruising.com