The ARC 2021 fleet are welcomed to St Lucia
by World Cruising Club 5 Dec 2021 08:04 UTC
5 December 2021
ARC 2021 © ARC Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
After the excitement of both 12 Nacira 69 and Guyader Saveol's arrival yesterday, there was a flurry of activity on the finish line early this morning, Saturday 4 December, when ARC experienced boats, The Kid for Ville de Nice and Banzi crossed the line at local times, 07:01 and 07:42 respectively. Soon after their arrival the 5th boat to finish was Drifter Cube all completing the crossing in 13 days.
The Rally this year has seen the faster boats in the fleet take different routes. Both 12 Nacira 69 and Guyader Saveol decided at the last minute to go south which proved in the end to be the wiser track seeing these two boats cross the finish line some 24-hours earlier than their rivals. Naturally we see the faster boats start to arrive first however the main fleet are not far behind the leaders with the main bulk of the boats starting to arrival from Monday onwards.
At the arrivals start to increase, IGY Rodney Bay Marina is full of excitement and all the locals are keen to welcome the participants to their beautiful island. Hosted by World Cruising Partners; IGY Marina, Saint Lucia Tourist Authority and Events Company of Saint Lucia officially welcomed 12 Nacira 69 at a Line Honours Event located in the Marina where they congratulated the crew of 9 on their great achievement in crossing the Atlantic in just 11 days.
Sean Devaux, General Manager of IGY Rodney Bay Marina, presented each crew member with gifts and heartfelt speeches were delivered by the Chairman of the Saint Lucia Tourist Authority and the Honourable Dr Ernest Hilaire, Minister of Tourism.
With over 900 crew expected to arrive into the Marina over the coming week it will certainly create a buzzing atmosphere on the docks and spirits will be high as crews celebrate their momentous achievements of sailing the Atlantic. The trusty yellow shirts are on standby to catch their lines through the day and night and deliver the much awaited and well deserved ice cold rum punch!