The yellow shirts welcomed World ARC participants yesterday at Rodney Bay, with a hoist of the flag above the office. With 24 boats already arrived in the marina, they are busily signing up the yachts for check in and safety checks whilst making preparations for the week’s activities ahead.
There is an air of anticipation and excitement as our participants settle into Rodney Bay, many of whom have been making preparations for the World ARC for a number of years, and cannot wait for the adventure to start.
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World ARC is a 15 month round the world sailing rally for boat owners and their crews. It departs Saint Lucia in January and returns there in April in the following year.
This year we have a particularly high number of double handed boats. The majority of boats and crews are from the UK (13) and USA (7), with boats also from Germany (2), Australia (2), Italy (2) and others from Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Sweden.
Last night saw the opening WCC Welcome Drinks at Sea Salt Restaurant. Crew from 19 boats arrived to share a first few sundowner drinks together. With excitement in the air and a microphone passed around the group, participants learn each other’s names, about their lives, story of the boat’s names and reasons for doing the World ARC – following a welcoming yellow shirt introduction.
Paolo on Ariel, summed up the mood amongst the participants – saying they are all “happy to join this family and [he] hope[s] they spend many hours together to drink beer and wine together. This is the journey of a lifetime!” Dottie from Amari added how unique it is to be amongst a group of souls who “love the same things (we) love. We all have an amazing adventure ahead of us!” Giorgio on Jan added that they were “looking forward to learning from the other participants”.
It was great to see everyone making introductions to each other and heading off for dinner together afterwards. It is certainly gearing up to be another great World ARC here at Rodney Bay!
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