ARC+ and ARC: As Bluewater Miles Slip By, Life Goes On

By Elaine Lembo

A teething ring, a bridal veil, and Barbie — outfitted in pink, no less — were as much a part of the November 2023 ARC+ and ARC transatlantic rallies from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean as the people who stowed them for the ride.

Chasing mostly moderate trade winds, the 1,353 individuals and their totems expressed nautical choices, whether ARC+ (425) vs. ARC (928), monohull vs. multihull, Starlink vs. SSB, racer vs. cruiser, kids aboard vs. adult-only, pre-prepared frozen meals vs. unrefrigerated one-pot wonders, parasailors vs. spinnakers without windows or wings.

By the end of the two respective landfalls — a record-breaking 92 boats in ARC+ to Port Louis, Grenada, 152 boats in the ARC to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia — amid joyful round the clock greetings by the World Cruising Club’s “yellow shirt” team and marina managers, parties thrown by tourism authorities, fish fries, barbecues, seminars for adults, fun stuff for kids, vast differences melted like butter in the tropical heat.

During dockside visits to Grenada and St. Lucia, it quickly became apparent that whether the fleet came in aboard one hull or two, recorded their passage via clicks or cursive, what united all rally goers was the single prodigious feat of sailing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

“We all have this thing we love,” said Evelina Mrosk of Athena, a 50-foot Contest sloop that completed the ARC, “boats and sailing. The mix is interesting, and it’s interesting to hear how they all prepared. It’s also special because you get this feeling for every crew as they enter the harbor. I’m so glad this is my first passage because it’s a big affirmation that this is right for us.”

The two popular annual rallies are key components of a continuous program of international sailing odysseys organized by World Cruising Club of Cowes in the United Kingdom. Its origins reach back to the first ARC in 1986. ARC+, a two-leg passage, came along in 2013 and until 2020 sailed via Cape Verde to Saint Lucia.

The 2023 rally marked the third year that ARC+, which started November 5, 2023, finished in Grenada, after a stop 850 miles in at Marina Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde. Another record-shattering year, with 95 entries (one dismasted and returned to Cape Verde, one diverted to Barbados, and another to Martinique), far eclipsing the 44-yacht field of a decade ago. Crews hailed from 24 countries. Other notable statistics from ARC+ 2023 include entry by 26 multihulls, a 30 percent increase from 2022.

Kids ruled both rallies. In 2023, 43 children aged from eight months to 16 years sailed with their families on 20 boats in ARC+. ARC saw 20 children aboard 11 boats. The total record number of 63 children inspired organizers to cater to them with activities that gave parents time to provision and tend to boat chores. 

ARC 2023, which set out November 19, 2023, also broke records, with 43 catamarans and one trimaran entered. Of 155 entries, 152 sailed into Saint Lucia (one returned to Gran Canaria, two diverted to Martinique); crews hailed from 40 countries.

As if sailing across one ocean isn’t enough to satisfy dreamers and doers, a subfleet of four ARC+ boats and nine ARC boats planned to head out in January 2024 from St. Lucia on the globe girdling World ARC, part of a fleet of 37 boats.

For the most part, weather and passage conditions were light, with one exception. The weather on the ARC+ leg to Sao Vicente was boisterous, evening out on the second half of the trip. ARC participants complained of light winds, though overall passage length didn’t stretch to a month’s time as it did in the faint airs of 2022.

That doesn’t mean hardware, sails and spirits didn’t break – spinnakers split in gusts, one mast failed, as did at least one boom, not to mention self-steering giving way and refrigeration going on the fritz. As for crews, aside from seasickness and sore muscles and a range of boat bites, physical transformations included weight loss and gain, cutting a tooth, and (mostly) successful potty training. For those who subscribed, Elon Musk’s Starlink was the communications game-changer, allowing rally goers to go on the rally Whatsapp channel to stay in touch, help each other out, swap trivia and recipes, and boost bored and sleepy souls. 

Throughout, WCC staff and volunteers kept abreast of their progress, and ashore, family and friends could follow through the YB Races app.

“Everyone at World Cruising Club is so proud to play a small part in helping to realize the dreams of so many sailors,” said Paul Tetlow, managing director of World Cruising Club.  “Participants can find like-minded individuals or meet people who give them new ideas. We provide the structure, the safety guidelines, the equipment requirements, but the participants run with it.”

ARC is the only World Cruising Club rally with a racing division, and this time, 14 monohulls raced under the International Racing Certificate from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia. Although ARC+ is strictly a cruising rally, the first to finish takes line honors. An array of awards and prizes for performance, spirit and sportsmanship are bestowed in ceremonies after each rally.

“I have such admiration for you, I could never do what you do, I know that,” Ernest Hilaire, deputy prime minister of St. Lucia, told ARC crews at their ceremony. “You are a unique breed of human beings. And I’ll tell you another unique thing about ARC ceremonies — I am always amazed at the sheer joy when you are called on for your prizes. If I had crossed the Atlantic for so many days, who cares about the prizes, you know! But as I said, you are unique.”

Top honors for the 2023 Atlantic rally crossing season went to Italianteams:Andrea Nevi’s Italia Yachts 15.98 Nessun Dorma (ITA) crossed the line first in the ARC+ rally to Grenada after 11 days, 18 hours from Cape Verde. Marco Rodolfi, who took line honors in ARC 2010, claimed them again after 12 days, 13 hours, 54 minutes and 34 seconds into St. Lucia aboard the Swan 90 Berenice Cube (GBR).

Just over 15 percent of the ARC+ fleet have sailed with World Cruising Club in previous rallies. Almost half of the ARC fleet has sailed with World Cruising Club before, with many regular ARC participants. Wait lists for upcoming rallies fill fast; by December, ARC+ 2024 was nearly full.

With so many dreams realized, how could anyone possibly find a downside? With a jolly laugh, Kristoffer Larsen of Celeste of Solent, a Farr 65r, supplied it. “The worst thing about the ARC is the heat!” he exclaimed during the welcome party at the Cap Estate Golf and Country Club in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.

Caribbean Compass thanks those who made this report possible, including World Cruising Club and the tireless, good-humored yellow shirts team; Grenada Tourism Authority, the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, IGY Rodney Bay Marina.

SIDEBAR

An interesting backstory sails with every rally boat. Here are just a few that Caribbean Compass caught dockside in Grenada and St. Lucia.

Youngest Crew

s/v Pinnacle

To those who think taking a months-old infant and a toddler along for a 3,000-nautical-mile ride is insane, grandfather David Seymour, crew of Pinnacle, a Nautitech 46 Open, offers an easy solution.

Concerned about how his family would fare, he chose to head out with daughter Stef, 35, and husband, Rich Stevens, 39, and Rich’s brother Jonty Stevens, along with infant Roux and two-year-old Jesse for ARC+.

“From a grandfather’s point of view, you’re a bit fearful, but actually Stef and Rich are very competent, and very skilled,” Seymour said. Roux and Jesse did their part, too; Roux teethed and cut a tooth, and Jesse potty trained.

Noted Stef: “Now he’s lived and breathed it with us. It’s so special to have had my dad with us.” She added that having a family didn’t complicate the decision to go sailing, it was the reason for shoving off from Jersey, in the Channel Islands, where she and Rich operated a RIB day skippering business.

“Having a family made us re analyze things,” Rich added. “Jersey is amazing, and our job was fun, but you’re busy all summer, when you want to be with your family.” The Stevens clan plans to stay aboard for the foreseeable future and will head to the Pacific Ocean next.

Oldest Crew

s/v Carrick

There’s no time like the present for Jonathan Duncan Hutchinson. At 89, he’s the oldest crewmate of both rallies, having crossed in the ARC aboard s/v Carrick, a Rustler 42. The sturdy model is well-known for its long-distance cruising capabilities. 

“I’ve been sailing for 83 years and I’d never crossed the ocean,” he said. “It seemed if I was going to do it before I dropped off the perch, I’d better get on with it.” Hutchinson did the trip with his two sons and a family friend. “When my sons invited me to join them I could hardly refuse, could I?”

His biggest frustration with the passage — besides his son’s choice of pink crew polo shirts — was the wind direction, which prevented them from relying on the spinnaker as much as they’d hoped.  Nevertheless, Hutchinson stood his share of watches and hand-steered his shifts over two and a half days when the self-steering failed.

“I enjoy being with my family,” he said. “What more could you want?”

Brave New Provisioning

s/v Northern Light

Sophie Mack Smith’s family were “scandalized” when Mack Smith told them she was headed out on ARC+ to help longtime partner Jeremy Loveless attain a lifelong dream, crossing an ocean aboard the 2009 Hallberg Rassy Northern Light. From landlocked Oxford, Britain, neither Mack Smith nor her friends or family sailed. But the pair of 60-year-olds, former staff of the humanitarian agency Oxfam, were no strangers to roughing it all over the world.

So Mack Smith signed on, encouraging Loveless to join the rally. Then came the next surprise: Loveless told her that to conserve power, they’d voyage without refrigeration. After she got over the initial panic, she got creative, provisioning with fresh food as well as vacuum packed salamis, long life milk, vegetarian meat substitutes, soup stock, beans, pastas, and an array of spices and herbs. “We had pancakes and maple syrup on my birthday,” she said, adding, “we never ate the same thing twice.”

A few thousand miles later, Mack Smith still isn’t sure if she likes sailing but the night watches “were glorious, and the blueness of the infinite in the early morning was beautiful.” She adds: “If I’d dodged this I would have felt terrible. And? Here I am. We’ve met all these people and they’re the best.”

Sophie’s One Pot Green Lentil & Squash Curry

         Green lentils

         One onion

         Garlic

         Ginger

         Cumin, pinch

         Teaspoon fennel powder

         Cardamom – 10 pods

         Olive oil (not extra virgin)

         One butternut squash, chopped and slivered

         Coconut powder

         Vegetable stock – 1 cube

         One cinnamon stick

Parcook lentils; set aside. Chop and fry onion in olive oil.  Add spices and saute. Chop squash, simmer 10 minutes with lid on. When onion is brown and spices have mixed in, add to squash. Simmer 5 minutes. Add lentils, coconut powder, vegetable stock, cinnamon stick and enough water to cover. Simmer for 20 minutes or until squash is tender.

Nuptials at 16 05’ 02N & 38 36’ 03W

s/v Athena

It’s one thing to decide you want the captain to perform your wedding at sea. It’s completely another to have the ceremony sprung on you. That’s exactly what happened to Evelina Mrosk, 29, whose husband, Philip Mrosk, 32, orchestrated the ceremony mid-Atlantic with approval of his crewmates and dear friend Carsten Seebach, owner and captain of Athena, a 50-foot Contest that joined the ARC.

Phil made the unilateral decision two months after the couple were legally married at city hall in Munich, Germany. “Our families were there, but we were missing the emotional part,” Phil said. “I thought if we are going to do the Atlantic crossing that would be much more fitting than a church wedding because we love sailing. It’s something that bonds us together, we love our crew mates and skipper, and our long-term plan is at some point to have our own boat and go sailing around the world. Getting married on the ocean by a skipper we love and who knows us makes it personal and it just felt completely right to do it this way.”

So Phil instructed his mates to bring long pants and shirts, and packed a suit for himself. He also stowed a wedding veil aboard, out of Evelina’s sight. To complete the ruse, Phil told Evelina that it’s traditional to have a formal party mid-ocean, and asked her to bring along a dress with bright colors. At the appointed time of the party, 1600, on December 1, the entire crew assembled at the helm, and Evelina, struck by seeing Phil in a suit and tie, became suspicious. “In front of our gods — Neptune and Poseidon — will you marry me?” he asked.

And there, under main and genoa, at a cruising speed of seven knots and blessed by Captain Seebach, Phil and Evelina tied theirs.

Rescue

s/v Champagne Hippy

“There’s a turtle in there!” shouted a crewmate aboard Champagne Hippy, an Oyster 825. Actually, there were two, and the boat’s new crew of six, five days into the ARC, went into action similar to a man-overboard drill, keeping sight of the yellow net that contained them. But first, they had to drop the spinnaker, which they’d only just set for the first time.

“We really wanted to help these turtles, but also it was very stressful,” said chef Giverny Sanders. “And turning a boat this size around isn’t necessarily an easy task. We’d also caught a dorado without realizing it.”

But the crew, under the direction of captain Josh Cole, pulled off the maneuver and pulled the turtles, which were caught in the net, aboard. Carefully cutting them out of the tangle with diving knives, they then set them free. The fishing rod snapped and they lost the dorado, but the rescue was a success. 

Impossible Is Possible

s/v Peristera

Hours after the all-female crew of seven aboard the Beneteau Oceanis Peristera made their ARC landfall in Rodney Bay, they were found chatting, laughing, and staying together, which was no different from how they’d spent the previous three-plus weeks aboard. 

Such harmony might be challenging to fathom, but not for this group, led by captain Linda Lindenau, who’s taken women crews on sail training trips around the world since 2010.

“The advantage with going on a sailing trip, short or long, with other women is that when you come back you’ve started to think for yourself,” said Lindenau. “You realize that there are different ways to do things and you can think through the best way to do things on your own.”

Daughter-mother duo Carla Larsson, 20, and Charlott Frisk, 50, broke barriers on the adventure.

Said Larsson: “Sailing across the Atlantic has always been a dream since I was a little child, a very fuzzy dream, kind of like it’s so big that it could only be a dream and not really possible to do. Now I realize there’s so much more stuff that I want to do. When I think about my younger me — the child me — she would be proud.”

For Frisk, the opportunity to share the experience with her daughter as well as other women who’d been strangers before the ARC are key. “We had good harmony on board, everyone had the intention to sail and to do this together. The connection to each other for me was one of the big adventures, as well as having time to myself and together with others in something totally different from daily life. I can actually do this. I can be my own captain aboard, and in life.”

Barbie Goes Transatlantic

s/v Escapado

Germaine Williams’s first experience sailing was transatlantic, so it makes sense that when the 41-year-old decided to embark on a racing-cruising sail training career with his business, Sail Racing Academy (www.sailracingacademy.org), ARC crossings were part of the annual itinerary. Aboard Escapado, a 40-foot Beneteau that has now completed six ARCs, while Williams and his crew of nine at one point led the 2023 ARC racing division.

“Then we blew out our spinnaker,” he said. Oh well, the passage was great and Williams said he was incredibly lucky to have such a great crew. “You’ve got to have the racing mentality with all this crew, otherwise it would be a dull passage,” he said.

And how could anything go wrong with Barbie as the mascot? “She came to Escapado as a bon voyage gift to the first mate and was immediately adopted by the entire team,” Williams said.

“Sunsets, sunrises, sail changes, squalls and dolphin encounters, she experienced it all securely tied to the pulpit for the entire crossing. As a member of the crew someone would check on her daily to ensure her safety during the trip. Barbie, in pink, will return to the ARC in the future!”  

View the Caribbean Compass photo scrapbook of ARC+ and ARC scenes at caribbeancompass.com/2023-world-cruising-club-arc-and-arc-recap-3000-miles-244-boats-1353-crew