ARC Europe
Leg 2 of ARC Europe sets sail from Bermuda today
Sailing aboard the yacht, NYCTEA, Oscar seems to be asking “Are we there yet?”Leg 2 of ARC Europe sets sail from Bermuda today, with Portugal as their final destination. The yachts left the BVI on May 4 after a week of preparation at Nanny Cay, in a joint start with the Atlantic Cup.
Read MoreARC Europe & Atlantic Cup 2013 is Under Way!
The ARC Europe start off Nanny CayThirty yachts hailing from twelve different nations headed off from Nanny Cay on Saturday on the start of the ARC Europe and Atlantic Cup Cruising Rallies. The 2013 editions of each event marks the first occasion in which both fleets took the same starting line, and will compete together in two classes en route to Bermuda. Both events included a week of festivities in Nanny Cay, including the Farewell Supper at Peg Leg’s on the beach Thursday night and the final Skipper’s Briefing in Genaker’s Café yesterday. After a final check-out with the Rally Office in the morning, the fleet headed to sea.
Read MoreARC Europe Safety Day
Yesterday the World Cruising Club (WCC) team held a morning of safety demonstrations for the ARC Europe & Atlantic Cup fleet gathering at Nanny Cay. A safety flare demonstration was conducted on the breakwater to enable any crew that had not experienced the use of flares or seen them ignited before to get some hands on experience with these safety devices.
Read MoreARC Europe back in town and preparing from Weekend departure
The ARC Europe team from left: Kieran Higgs, Lyall Burgess, Andy Schell, Mia Karlsson At 0900 on Monday morning, the ARC Europe team from World Cruising Club raised their flag on the breakwater and opened the doors to the rally office, located upstairs next to the Marina office.
Read MoreARC Europe heads off
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Light winds dominated the start for ARC Europe here early Saturday afternoon. However, it still made for an impressive sight as 24 ARC Europe boats sailed passed the committee vessel, heading West down the Sir Francis Drake Channel before heading North for the 850NM passage to Bermuda.
The fleet really got into the spirit of the rally as they all sailed across the line, with many attempting to fill their cruising chutes whilst not being deterred by the prevailing light winds. Chiscos was the first to hoist their pink parasailor. M.R Stefanik, Purrr-fect and Pinta also followed up from behind, flying their colourful chutes.
Read MoreFarewells and Atlantic Cup departure
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The Atlantic Cup start off Nanny Cay – click to enlargeAfter checking out with the rally office from 0800 yesterday, the Atlantic Cup participants made some last minute preparations before heading out to the start line just outside the Nanny Cay marina entrance. The Atlantic Cup, a sister event to ARC Europe, is for sailors returning to the East coast of the US via Bermuda.
ARC Europe Safety Day
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Liferaft training in the Nanny Cay poolThe World Cruising Club team held a “safety day” for the ARC Europe fleet gathering at Nanny Cay Marina on Tuesday. Andrew Bishop executed an excellent safety management seminar upstairs at Peg Legs with the majority of the skippers in attendance, providing his personal experiences of problems at sea to include fires, grounding, demasting, man overboard, and some serious injuries. After this long list, Andrew was sure that no crew would ever want to sail with him after that, but the truth is simply that he has had a lot of experience at sea over the years and has sailed under a wide variety of conditions.
ARC Europe gearing up for departure
World Cruising Club’s ARC Europe 2012 will depart Nanny Cay Saturday, May 5, and 35 yachts are currently signed up. There is a good mixture of yachts that have sailed on World Cruising Club events in the past, including several that just completed ARC 2011, and new participants joining for the first time. It is a great opportunity to meet and sail in company with an international mix of sailors on the 3,650NM passage across the North Atlantic to Europe.
Twenty-five yachts will again be starting from Nanny Cay and there is also a start on the same day from Hampton, VA, in the US with five yachts set to depart from there. All yachts will be heading to the first rally destination port, St. George’s in Bermuda.
Read MoreMed Spirit Takes Line Honours in ARC 2011
Although both boats clocked impressive speeds of 25 knots and covered over 300 miles per day, they were unable to beat the ARC crossing record set by Rinaldo del Bono in Capricorno in 2006 with a crossing time of 11 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 30 seconds. Lighter winds on the final approaches combined with a blown spinnaker on Rayon Vert and problems onboard Med Spirit put paid to their record hopes.
Read MoreVaquita on course to smash ARC 2011 record
The ARC 2011, now in its 25th year, departed from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 20 November and set sail for Rodney Bay Marina in Saint Lucia, a distance of some 2,700 nautical miles. Many of the yachts will return in the ARC Europe, which will leave Nanny Cay on 5 May next year.
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