The 2024 ARC Atlantic sailing season is underway. The initial fleet of 94 yachts departed Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday (November 11th) on the 850NM voyage to Cape Verde, the first stage of their Atlantic crossing to the spice island of Grenada.
The blue skies and warm winds that delighted the sailors during their stay in Las Palmas created ideal conditions for the cruiser rally start. Ten knots from the southeast with a slow swell delivered a gentle beat with all boats crossing the line on starboard.
The 27 multihulls started at 12:45, with Erik Larsson’s Outremer 52 Appa (USA) first to cross the line, followed by Baptise Peix’s Outremer 49 Oxane (FRA), Simon Cook’s Outremer 55 Sizzle (GBR) then Excess 11 At C (NLD). These boats are all crewed by friends and family, including young children. Sizzle (GBR) has the rally’s youngest crew, 8-month-old Charlotte, and At C (NLD) is crewed by the Coumans family – Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and three children under eight.
With 850NM to go to Cape Verde, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but the 67-strong cruising division for monohulls was keen to the line, leaving some boats over at the start. As the 13:00 starting gun fired from the Aduanas patrol boat Sacre, Carol Wu’s Hallberg-Rassy 340 Aria Legra (GBR) crewed by veteran racer Peter Hopps was in pole position to cross clear, along with Andrew Heppel’s Oyster 595 Carina (GBR), Moody 46 Blue Goose (GBR) and Southerly 47 Isabel (GBR).
The forecast from ARC weather guru Chris Tibbs is for Sunday’s light southeasterly to back and increase as the boats track south from Las Palmas. By the time the fleet has cleared the Canary Islands, the northeast trades should be blowing at a steady 15-20 knots with few squalls, ideal conditions for the passage to Mindelo on S. Vicente, Cape Verde.
The first yachts are expected to make landfall on Thursday, with most of the fleet arriving in Mindelo Marina on Friday and Saturday. After time ashore to explore the islands of São Vicente and Santo Antão, the yachts will start again to their final destination of Port Louis Marina in St George’s, Grenada on 22 November, a voyage that is expected to take 12 to 16 days for the average cruiser.
The 94 yachts in this year’s ARC+ fleet include 27 multihulls, a rally record. All main production builders are represented, including 11 boats from Jeanneau, 7 Lagoon catamarans and five each from Amel, Beneteau and Hallberg-Rassy. Solaris 75RS Luminous 3 (GBR) is one of the 22 boats launched in the last year, and at 22.6m is the largest entry. After the rally, John McDonall’s electric blue boat will be continuing around the world with the World ARC 2025-26 event.
The smallest boat is Carol Wu’s Hallberg-Rassy 340 Aria Legra (GBR). Carol is also one of three female skippers and one of five boats sailing with only two people onboard.
ARC+ is the first of two fleets that will cross the Atlantic this year. On 24 November 142 yachts sailing direct to Saint Lucia will depart on the 39th edition of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC).
