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Unforgettable Santa Marta



They say all good things must come to an end and finally it is time for the World ARC fleet to leave Santa Marta with plenty of fond memories to take onwards with them. In preparation for departure, the skippers briefing took place yesterday afternoon at the Santa Marta club which was then followed a couple of hours later by the prize giving dinner.

The participants were greeted by a local band and 6 traditional Colombian dancers who kept them entertained for the first part of the evening. They changed their outfits depending on the style of the dance and even got the fleet involved in their last dance.

 

The prize giving was presented by the event manager Stefano Palumbo, where he started off giving the prizes for the World ARC fun competition; ETA competition and guessing how many participants crossed the line in St Lucia. Sailing Yacht Spirit of Catherine won the ETA competition being 6 minutes out of his actual time of arrival. S/Y Madrigal guessed the exact amount of participants crossing the line in St Lucia which was 126.

                                 

In the Multihull Division S/Y Cayuse (Outremer 51) placed third followed by S/Y Smoke and Roses (Leopard 47) who placed second with S/Y Spirit of Catherine (Lagoon 42) claiming first for the catamarans on corrected time.

       

In the Cruising Division class B, first place was awarded to S/Y Bijou (Sweden Yachts 42) with a corrected time of 4 days 13 hours 42 minutes and 32 seconds. In second place was the Hylas 54, Amara. Finally in third place was the Swiss flagged yacht Aranui (X-Yachts Xc 45).

    

In the Cruising Division Class A, third place was awarded to the Austrian boat Adrienne (Gibsea 51). S/Y Christine (Sweden Yachts 45) placed second with a corrected time of 5 days 2 hours 55 minutes and 49 seconds. The winner of Class A was the American flagged Hylas 56, Alora.

After the prizes were given out John from S/Y Madrigal went on stage and had the fleet bid for three items he had found around Santa Marta, the money would then go to charity. After intense bidding from the participants, a hand made bag was sold for 150 US$, a toilet plunger and rubber gloves sold for 10US$ and a bottle of whiskey for 70 US$.

Today at 1200 local Santa Marta time, Lunatix was the first of the World ARC fleet to cross the line and head towards the San Blas Islands. This marks the start of Leg 2 for World ARC 2018, part of the yellow team will be awaiting the fleet at Porvenir the next couple of days.

          

Marina Santa Marta have been wonderful hosts of the first stopover for the World ARC 2018 fleet with many participants vowing to return. Kevin and Jane on Libeccio summed up their impressions, "We have had a great time in Santa Marta - the whole experience was honestly a very pleasant surprise. Friends of ours who have visited Colombia in the past few years have raved about its beauty, the culture and the friendliness of its people. While we have only spent a few days in one city, both of us are looking forward to visiting Colombia again. Our trips to the coastline and up into the rainforest to visit a coffee plantation highlighted just how diverse the geography is. Santa Marta itself was bustling and while there is a lot of improvements needed and being made, we felt welcome and safe where ever we walked. There is a central square a few blocks off of the water front that had a maze of streets filled with restaurants and street bands. Such a great place to go for dinner and then walk around after.

The video below summarises World ARC's time in Colombia; until next year....


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