Last night over three hundred ARC+ crews were joined by ARC early arrivals for a combined Farewell to ARC+ and Welcome to ARC fiesta, laid on by the Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas – the city government of our host port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Welcomed to the beat of the samba band, the party was quickly in full swing as carnival dancers sporting amazing head-gear made their way through the crowds. Crews were addressed by ARC director Andrew Bishop and hosts from the city council, each welcoming participants and wishing them well on their voyage. Each year, the Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas recognize a special participant and supporter of the ARC and present an award in recognition of their contribution of the rally.
Christoph von Reibnitz sailed in the first ARC as a fresh faced sixteen year old on board the German yacht Roter Baron in 1986 and has since sailed in a dozen ARC’s with Peter von Seestermühe, including taking his young son Jarl across in 2006. The 1936 Henry Gruber designed yacht, often voted the Most Beautiful yacht in the ARC, came into Christoph’s ownership in 1991. She had previously crossed the Atlantic 20 times, sailed around Cape Horn and took part in the Whitbread Race 1973-1974 around the world. Christoph’s ethos as a skipper keenly focuses on seamanship and traditional ocean sailing and his crew were delighted to accept the award on his behalf.
Juan Carlos Rodriguez, owner of local chandlery Rolnautic, has also supported the ARC from the outset. He and his staff work tirelessly to ensure all the boats are suitably equipped for the crossing and helping to solve last minute problems. His efforts have contributed to hundreds of ARC boats enjoying a more comfortable sail to Saint Lucia.
As departure day looms for ARC+ participants, ARC arrivals are taking a keen interest in their preparations, gathering tips for their own arrangements before the start in just over a fortnight’s time. The community that’s developed between the fleets is apparent from the buzz down on the docks, with crews only too happy to support their fellow ralliers with advice and share their own experiences of the best places around the city to source items for the crossing.
This morning ARC+ Skippers completed rally check-out and made their way to the Skippers Briefing at the Real Club Nautico nearby. ARC weather guru Chris Tibbs described the weather for Leg 1 with light winds forecast for tomorrows start providing a relatively gentle introduction for the fleets first day at sea.Crews can then look forward classic tradewinds filling in over the coming days as the boats progress south, increasing as they approach the Cape Verdes for the stopover.