Recognition for sailing, seamanship and spirit of the rally

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 prizegiving 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.