Arriving at Povoa de Varzim

In the early evening yesterday the ARC Portugal fleet steadily arrived at Clube Naval Povoense at Povoa deVarzim. On their way here they experienced “All types of weather except snow!” and also spotted some dolphins joining them periodically along the 50nm passage from Bayona. As they arrived, the marina staff did an excellent job assisting with taking lines and once alongside yachts got dressed overall with their colourful code flags.

Once all the arrivals were settled, a minibus arrived to take them through town to the “Sailor man and Friends” restaurant where the Clube Naval Povoense first started in 1907. They all enjoyed dinner and compared stories from the passage, and were warmly welcomed by Paulo Neves, the Marina President and Carlos Fortes who joined them for the meal. With the Portugal playing in the European Championships, the restaurant was also busy with local supporters watching the game, adding to the atmosphere.

After “um pingo” (expresso coffee with a spot of milk) the participants went upstairs where the prize giving for the leg was presented by Andrew Bishop and Paulo Neves. Andrew and SWade on “Dashzani” won the Smiley Miley competition guessing just 4km away from the total driving distance of the ARC Portugal Rally Control Team from Bayona to Povoa. The ETA competition was extremely tight between two boats, down to only seconds between the closest guesses - “Saving Grace II” predicted 45mins and 46 seconds off their arrival time, whereas the “With Dignity” were 45mins and 37 seconds away and claimed the prize. “With Dignity” also came first overall for Leg 2 from Bayona to Povoa de Varzim.

 

Today, Wednesday, the participants had a chance to lie in, but the programme continues this afternoon with a tour to the ancient town of Guimaraes, which is the birthplace of Portugal and its first king, Alfonso. After a guided tour of Guimaraes the participants will also get a little tour of Povoa de Varzim itself, to return to the marina for around 1900 and have free evening to relax before Leg 3 gets underway to Duoro Marina, Porto tomorrow.