The final gathering of the 12th edition of the ARC+ transatlantic cruising rally took place last night in Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada. 434 sailors from 26 nations came together to acknowledge their shared experience and achievement of crossing the Atlantic Ocean under sail.
The diverse fleet of 91 boats ranging from just under 11m to almost 22m experienced the wonder of life at sea. For many the 11 to 16 days at sea was longest passage they had ever made, and the fruition of many years of planning and preparation. Their transatlantic crossing began in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, via Mindelo, Cape Verde, and concluded some 3,000NM later, on the beautiful spice island of Grenada in the Caribbean.
The ARC+ is a floating community, and every boat arriving in Port Louis Marina was met at the dock by the rally ‘yellow shirt’ team, the marina team, and student volunteers of TAMCC Community College with representatives from Grenada Tourism Authority bearing much anticipated ice-cold rum punch and basket of local produce.
At the final gathering in Grenada last night, Paul Tetlow, managing director of World Cruising Club said “We would like to recognise the huge achievement that all our participants have made in completing the Atlantic crossing with ARC+. On behalf of World Cruising Club and the participants of ARC+, I would like to thank the Port Louis Marina team lead by Zara Tremlett, for all the hard work which she and her team have put in - at all hours - to assure you of a warm welcome on arrival and a very comfortable stay here in Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada.
“We also give thanks to Grenada Tourism Authority and all our sponsors, for their assistance in providing such an enjoyable programme here in Grenada.
“Lastly, I would like to thank you, the wonderful participants of ARC+ for joining the event. The energy and enthusiasm you have provided has made this such a special experience. In the weeks and months to come we look back on this experience with a smile on our faces about the friendships made and experiences we have shared.”
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| Paul Tetlow - Zara Tremlett - Carol Gorvett - Chinel Sandy | |
Sailing results
Although the ARC+ is a rally for cruising boats and there is no racing class, many of the participants were keen to make the most of their boats’ capabilities. Ten per cent of the boats declared zero motoring hours, sailing every one of the 2,270 nautical miles from Cape Verdes to Grenada.
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| Salto | Yggdrasil | Piment Rouge |
First arrival in Grenada & multihulls
Henrik and Anne Vestnes and their three children, Sara (9), Vetle (6) and Birk (2), plus crew members Ola and Pernilla was the first boat to make landfall in Grenada after 11d 7h 17m 10s; sailing almost 2,450 nautical miles from Mindelo, Cape Verde. Their Outremer 52 Salto, bettered last year’s line honours boat by 11 hours. Salto were awarded an ARC+ Salver, bottle of Clarke’s Court Black Gold rum, a Yeti Bottle from Island Water World, and a voucher from Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina for docking.
Of the first five arrivals, four were Outremer catamarans, highlighting the continued popularity and growth of multihulls in the rally, which this year numbered 27 in total.
Baptiste Peix, Alexandra Marlier, sailing with their two young children on the French Outremer 49 Oxane were surprised to win the Outremer Plaque for the Outremer on corrected time, saying they were delighted with the friendships their children had made with others within the fleet, as well as the camaraderie and support given by the Yellow Shirts.
In the Multihull fleet, class winners were: Class A: Piment Rouge (FRA) Catana Ocean Class 50, and in Class B: Yggdrasil (NOR) Nautitech 40 Open.
Pierre De Saint-Vincent owner of Piment Rouge was taking part in ARC+ for the third time, with the same crew. He was pleased with their result and happy with his new live-aboard Catana.
“We had good conditions and good winds this year. We only used 2-3 hours of engine, at the beginning, and had a beautiful crossing. We have met a lot of great people and had fun with them, so will look forward to seeing them in other countries as we sail on. The ARC+ is very good for the safety and assistance. It’s a good organisation. For us, it’s all about the sailing, fun and music!” he laughed.
Sailed all the way across
Line honours for the first boat to finish with no motoring hours was awarded to the Norwegian Born to Run, an X-Yachts Xp44, skippered by one of the youngest skippers (24 years) in the fleet, Peder Stiansen, who completed the second leg in 11d 21h 32m 16s.
Peder, Carl Corneliussen, their girlfriends and two others from Norway are all 26 and under, and joined the ARC+ to explore new waters, to take part in all the social events and meet fellow sailors.
“It’s been memorable. We are delighted to have done so well in the rally as we have been talking about doing this for almost four years. The time was right now as we were all in studies or work, so we are glad we just did it. We’ve enjoyed Grenada and the rally, and now we will explore the Caribbean and sail up to the East Coast of the US, and back to Norway to complete our 11-month sabbatical,” said Carl.
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| Born to Run | Isabel | Luminous 3 |
Monohull results
John McDonnell, owner of the largest boat in the rally, the Solaris 74 Luminous 3 (GBR), was the fourth boat and first monohull to finish in Grenada, taking 11d 19h 38m 26s. This was the first time they had joined the rally, and first time to Grenada. On arrival, he said:
“It was fantastic. It was barefoot, t-shirt sailing and absolutely marvellous. We were going fast and that’s why I bought this boat, to do the ARC+ and the World ARC in 2025. I wanted to do it fast, and Luminous does that! I’ve been dreaming about doing this for 30 years and so have most of the other guys, so it’s great.”
Taking ratings and motoring penalties into account, prizes were awarded to the first three in each class. Winners in Division 1 for Cruisers were: Class A: Born to Run (NOR) X -Yachts Xp 44; Class B: Isabel (GBR) Southerly 47; Class C: Morgan’s Moon (ITA) Hallberg-Rassy 43, and Class D: Frenesi (SWE) Nauticat 43.
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| Morgan's Moon | Aria Legra | Frenesi |
A full list of sailing results is available here.
ARC+ special awards
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers is about more than sailing; special awards are also presented and include fleet-nominated prizes such as the 'most beautiful boat'. The clear winner was Andrew Atkinson’s Harman 60 Scotch Mist (JEY).
The Spirit of ARC+ Award was presented to Steve and Sophie
Bax of their home-built Bruce Roberts 532 Santosa (GBR) who had a dream
to sail in the ARC, and took thirteen years to complete make the dream come
true.
Ken Schwabenton on his Lagoon 400 S2 Myrto (USA) who
tirelessly relayed messages to shore on behalf of non-ARC boat Aria.
Crossing the Atlantic is an impressive feat at any age, but the 37 children on the ARC+ rally have achieved it very early on in their lives! They were wooden medals, confirming they had sailed 3,000NM. A special thanks went to Lauren, Rebecca and Michela on the Dutch Excess 11 AtC for looking after Archie the ARC+ teddy bear and helping him with his first crossing.
For the best boat logs and photos at sea, the Amel Santorin Frances Louise V (GBR) received a prize for their wonderful written logs, and James Kenning and crew on the British-flagged Regina 43 Arkyla for their photo logs.
Keeping the rally’s social media fans amused through their fantastic social media posts were Carmen and Ori, with their 2 -year-old son Leo on Forquilla (ESP) who won this category, with a free haul and launch at Clarke’s Court Boatyard & Marina. Other worthy recipients were: At C (NLD) who won a pressure wash at Clarke’s Court Boat Yard & Marina, Kaia II of Vancouver (CAN), a week ashore at Clarke’s Court Boat Yard & Marina, Wahoo (GBR), a BBQ from Island Water World and Imi Ola (GBR), a Yeti Cooler from Budget Marine.