ARC+ 2023 prizegiving celebrates achievements in Grenada
by World Cruising Club 8 Dec 2023 20:30 UTC
ARC 2023 fleet in Port Louis Marine, Grenada © GTA / Travis Ranger
Bringing to a close the 11th edition of World Cruising Club's ARC+ cruising rally, over 400 participants celebrated their transatlantic achievement at a spectacular prize-giving ceremony held at Prickly Bay Marina, Grenada.
With a record-breaking entry of 95 boats and crews from 24 different countries around the globe, it was fitting that the Hon. Minister, Lennox Andrews, Minister for Economic Development, Planning, Tourism & Creative applauded the ARC+ sailors on their accomplishment: "I extend a warm welcome to you all. We celebrate your remarkable achievements, your resilience and passion for sailing the oceans. Thank you for gracing our shores and confirming our tri-island state as a premier destination for adventure and sports sailing," confirming the importance of the event to Grenada and its people.
Paul Tetlow, Managing Director of World Cruising Club thanked the Hon. Minister on behalf of ARC+ participants: "The reception we have received here in Grenada has been second to none, and we already have fond feelings for our landfall island in the Caribbean."
He continued, "I would like to thank those who are an important part of ARC+ in Grenada, we know events like this don't happen without a lot of hard work. Nikoyan Roberts, Nautical Development Manager and Marketing Manager of the Grenada Tourism Authority, who with Chinel Sandy has been responsible for the GTA input into the planning. Zara Tremlett, General Manager of Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, who with her team have gone out of their way to make us all feel at home and have welcomed all the boats into Grenada. The student volunteers of TAM Community College who welcomed everyone as they arrived, and finally, I'd like to thank 'you' - the wonderful participants of ARC+ and your friends and families."
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. As the saying goes, 'two boats going in the same direction is a race', and a third of the boats sailed every one of the 2,270 nautical miles, declaring no motoring hours.
Line honours for first finishers with no motoring were awarded to Andrea Nevi and the crew of Nessun Dorma (ITA) with an elapsed time of 11d 18h, 01m 49s and to Norbert and Francoise Paproki who sailed Outremer 55-2 XIII Treize (FRA) to multihull line honours in 12d 02h 14m 01s.
Taking ratings and motoring penalties into account, prizes were awarded to the first three in each class. Winners in Division1 for cruisers were Class A, Nessun Dorma (ITA) Italia Yachts 15.98; Class B, Imi Makani (CAN) X-Yachts X4.6; Class C, Sassicaia (DNK) Luffe 48; Class D, Cupid (GBR) Bowman 40. "That is an amazing validation, winning this prize. We loved it. It was awesome. It's been the hardest endurance event I've ever done in my life," said the crew of Canadian yacht Imi Makani on their class win.
In the largest-ever multihull fleet, the class winners were in Class A Outremer 51 Maracujar (FRA) and in Class B, Manaia (DEU) a Lagoon 421. "It's unbelievable, with just the two of us on our boat. We never imagined that we could be the winners, with our small Lagoon catamaran," said Stephen and Silva from Manaia.
A full list of sailing results is available here.
ARC+ Awards
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers is about more than sailing; the spirit of the rally is demonstrated by the ways in which crews come together to help each other ashore and at sea. Rally participants nominated Aequitas (GBR), Northern Light II (GBR) and Aratui (NZL) for offering support to Hilma (SWE) when the boat was dismasted. Hilma was able to motor safely back to Cape Verde. Lost Abbey (CYM) was recognised for the moral support offered to Aegle (GBR) when the latter suffered a damaged gooseneck and had to motor for 215 hours.
Nominated by fellow participants, the 'Spirit of the ARC+ Rally' was awarded to the Griffiths family on Rapier 550 Blue Wonder (GBR). World Cruising Club's Paul Tetlow introduced the award: "Despite having a busy time looking after their young children, Ryan and Audrey have shown time for others, shared advice and knowledge and enthusiastically participated in shoreside events. As a family, they have demonstrated the spirit of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers - safer and more enjoyable long-distance cruising in the great company of others."
Receiving the award, Audrey Griffith said: "I feel like it's not deserved, but it's so amazing, thank you. We certainly didn't expect this. I reckon that's the best prize of all. We will do it again, 100% it is the best event ever, it's so good. Thank you so much."
A range of additional awards recognised people and boats. The closest finish was won by Vivace (NDL) and Enja (AUT) who finished just 3 minutes 4 seconds apart on 2 December. Most beautiful yacht was awarded to Rustler 44 Galatea of Aune (GBR). "She's gorgeous; a classic and she's a pretty boat, we just love it. We bought her after lockdown in 2020 and after sailing around the UK, we thought let's go across the Atlantic with ARC+" explained Andrew Norton of his yacht.
Blue Pearl (GBR) and Nuvem Magica (FRA) were recognised for running the SSB net and WhatsApp at sea, social glue that maintains the fleet camaraderie. The best boat log submitted to the ARC+ website was won by Aqualuna (GBR), best blog photos by Blue Wonder (GBR) and best social media by Pinnacle (JJY).
There were prizes for the eight double handed crews and six family crews (two adults sailing with children), and certificates for each of the 44 children.
Prizes were handed out by The Honourable Minister Lennox Andrews; Nikoyan Roberts, Nautical Development Manager and Marketing Manager of Grenada Tourism Authority; Zara Tremlett, General Manager of Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina; and Paul Tetlow, World Cruising Club Managing Director.
The Rally
91 yachts finished the rally before the prize-giving, with the last arrival, Bavaria 37 Pikea (SWE) making landfall on the morning of the ceremony after 19 days from Cape Verde. Alskada (GBR) is still at sea following a delayed departure from Cape Verde and is due to finish on 15 December, they will still receive the traditional ARC+ dockside welcome and basket of Grenadian goodies when on arrival in Port Louis Marina. Two yachts diverted to other Caribbean islands, and Hilma (SWE) returned to Cape Verde after dismasting.
ARC+ 2024
The next edition of the rally will set sail from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 10 November. Numbers are limited by capacity in the host marinas, and the rally is almost fully booked. More information available here.