27th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers - Cruising Boats Start

The 27th ARC cruising boats are now en route to Saint Lucia © WCC / www.Jamesmitchell.eu

The 27th ARC cruising boats are now en route to Saint Lucia © WCC / www.Jamesmitchell.eu

The 27th ARC cruising boats are now en route to Saint Lucia © WCC / www.Jamesmitchell.eu

226 boats now en route to Saint Lucia

After two extra nights in Las Palmas, ARC 2012 cruising boats finally set sail to join the racing division boats already at sea en route to Saint Lucia. A total of 226 boats and 1269 people are now participating in the 27th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.

For the first time since the ARC began in 1986, the boats started within the port of Las Palmas, manoeuvring in an area just outside the marina before crossing a line formed by the harbour breakwaters.

Las Palmas Port is one of the busiest in Europe, and the Port Authority worked hard to ensure that the ARC boats could start safely without disrupting the commercial operation.

The Start

The port start was a great success, with boats in close proximity before the start guns sounded. The commercial traffic added to the sense of occasion, with several sounding their horns.

A brisk 15-20 knot north easterly wind sped the fleet clear of the city and they were soon heading south away from Gran Canaria. Most boats will continue to sail south until they are within the established tradewinds, when they will turn west towards Saint Lucia.

First of the 17 multihulls across the line at 1045 was the Simpson family's Catana 431 Intrepid Bear (GBR) with Harry (5), Milly (7) and Thea (9) onboard. The larger cruising boats started with the multihulls, and in this division Oyster 655 Sotto Vento (GBR) lead Oyster 82 Raven (GBR).

The largest ARC division, the cruising boats, started at 1100. There are 155 boats in this division, including family boats sailing with children. First boat to cross the line was Italian XP-44 Ariennta 4.2 (ITA), with Hanse 531 Savarna (NZL) and the Karlsson-Smythe family's Jeanneau Just Nuts! (IRL) following close behind.

Cruising boats Vendetta (SUI) and Amoress 2 (SWE) were a bit too keen to get underway and crossed the line before the start sounded, but with 2700 NM to go, most boats were more relaxed.

A full list of ARC 2012 boats is available online at www.worldcruising.com/arc. All boats are fitted with Yellowbrick trackers, and can be followed online at www.worldcruising.com/arc/fleetviewer

First Delay Since 1989

ARC organisers, World Cruising Club, took the decision to delay the cruising boat start from Sunday to Tuesday to allow a frontal system to pass through. News of the postponement was met by spontaneous applause from participants, and there have been highly favourable comments about the handling of what has been only the second delayed start in ARC history.

Managing Director Andrew Bishop said: "As a cruising sailor myself, I would not have enjoyed the predicted conditions for my first night at sea, so we made the sensible decision to delay the start for the cruising boats until the low passed through."

Crews used their extra hours in Las Palmas to relax and enjoy the city, do last minute laundry and re-check their preparations.

Atlantic Crossing

The fastest raceboats are expected to make landfall after 12 days, but with favourable winds, Capricorno's (ITA) ARC crossing record of 11 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes set in 2006 may yet be beaten.

The majority of boats will take 18-21 days to make the 2700 nautical mile Atlantic crossing, arriving in Rodney Bay Marina in time for the prize giving on 21 December.