ARC...........

AIDY

AIDY

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just been looking through the entry list for arc 2006...... is there any reason why there is a distinct lack of smaller boats.... it seems you need a 50 - 60 + foot boat now to take part... there is even a swan 100 taking part.
 
corporate influence. been getting away from the old concept of a rally for cruisera, and become a race for fee paying customers.
 
ARC entrants tend to be boats doing an Atlantic circuit (many with paying crews) and people delivering their yachts to the Caribbean with the intention of sailing for six months a year. These are the big boats.

Short handed long term cruising boats account for no more than 5 - 10% of the entries. Cruising boats tend to be old, solidly built GRP models and around 35% are metal. Few are Amels, Oysters, Beneteaus, Bavarias or Jeanneaus that feature in ARC surveys. Typical size is 38 to 42 feet, 25% ketches, most of the rest are cutters.

It's interesting that you raise the size question because I've always thought the ARC survey is misleading for those considering long term cruising, but spot on for anyone else.
 
We (I) had considered the Round the World Rally run by the ARC people but on a recent e-mail I was told that the minimum lenght was 11.58 metres (38 feet in English) and we are just 6 inches short. So we can't go. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I suppose the limit is because the yachts will have such different average speeds. A 50 foot yacht is likely to be quicker than us and over several thousands of miles would be days ahead. Which would mean that the quicker yachts would be in harbour for many days awaiting the arrival of the slower yachts. Which would cost the ARC people more money!

Hence the prevalence of large yachts on these events.
But frankly I would be more comfortable in a 37/38 foot yacht easily handled by a couple than one of these huge over 50 foot jobs; if anything serious went wrong, in a BIG boat, there is so much more for the crew to do to sort things out. And everything is SO much bigger. And more expensive.
 
That was lucky. It's a very expensive way to rush around the world. Just head off on your own, there will be plenty of other cruisers along the way the will cruise with you in company.
 
[ QUOTE ]
is there any reason why there is a distinct lack of smaller boats...

[/ QUOTE ]
At least part of the reason was a change in the rules to exclude small boats. A friend of mine has the distinction of being the smallest ever boat to take part (28 days 13 hours in the first ARC in 1986) prior to the exclusion of sub-30' vessels.

This shows the trend:

Length of ARC Yachts [all LOA in m]
Year Average Median
1986 11.89 11.60
1987 12.27 11.88
1988
1989 13.14 12.79
1990 13.98 13.85
1991 14.11 13.28
1992 13.05 12.15
1993 13.62 13.17
1994 13.78 13.18
1995 13.84 13.26
1996 13.83 13.24
1997 13.76 13.35
1998 14.23 14.00
1999 13.92 13.34
2000 14.39 13.70
2001 14.90 14.08
2002 14.53 13.95
2003 14.94 13.95
2004 15.14 14.50
2005 14.79 14.02
 
After last years ARC times I would not say anything about length is best.

Tactics, large crews and an ability to keep the boat together were the key. I think the first 2 did not even stop after crossing the line as they were so late. The independent cruisers that left weeks after had good crossings.

I wonder what they have in store this year? They definitely did not pay for good conditions last year.
 
I am sure you are right; after all, you have done it. But I do like lots of peeps to chat to over the radio. And the cameraderie is great. But when we were in the Caribbean at Xmas, we met lots of people. And again this summer on our cruise it was the same.

Trouble is HWMBO isn't too keen anyway, so it looks like Biscay again next year, which is really OK with me. Great place to sail.
 
I think it might be; but in fact my post referred to the Round-the -World Rally, and I checked on that web site before posting. Cornish maid is just too short.

Interestingly enough, when we were in the Caribbean, our friend's HR 40 was tiny in comparison to most of the yachts. Yet when we sailed along the French coats this summer, i wouldn't have wanted a boat much bigger than ours, there were some quite tight spots we went into. And wouldn't have wanted to miss out on visiting. As it was our wind steering got hit by another boat and damaged.
 
I just meant the ARC has a reasonable distribution so you can tell what makes a difference.

The round the world rallies have no small boats for comparison. I assume it has a lot to do motoring range. When there is little or no wind and a deadline they did not have a choice.
 
It also does not allow single handers to enter.

I'm planning to do the crossing west to east next year single handed setting off early May via Bermuda.

Send a pm if also concidering a non arc crossing.
 
The average length of ARC boats is around 46ft. That ties in pretty well with the size of boats you'll find cruising around the Caribbean. At 40ft we felt pretty small. The boat seemed to magically grow when we got back to the UK.

The size limits are set at the lower end so that they can get home for Xmas without waiting for very small slow boats to turn up and at the upper end for berthing at either end.
 
I thought there was a cut off day for the ARC. They don't wait around for ever.

I followed the ARC closely last year and my point was size does not matter as much when things get ugly.

Take the 22nd day arrivals. That day they ranged from a 51 and a 47 foot boat down to a 37 and 38 foot boat.

As for the final times the Westerly Falcon did really well and he was only 2 days later.
 
Yes, the ARC closes about a week before Xmas and the staff go home. Generally there are only one or two who fail to make it, usually through mishap rather than slow sailing. If a larger number in slow boats turned up to find it was all over the organisers would come in for a bit of stick. Don't forget the entry fee also covers parties and seminars after the finish. We had the incentive of getting there in time for the 'early arrivals' party (which turned out to be the best one). If we'd missed them all we'd have been pretty browned off.
 
A Sad Change..

Once upon a time there was a rally for Atlantic Cruisers...

It was based around families and small boats and sharing knowledge and a good party and keeping an eye open for each other....

Then it became a race and a marketing exercise for big boat builders and worst of all an event that charter boats sold berths on.

We called them "white legs". The brown legs had sailed their own boats to the Canaries and would sail themselves across but the white legs had flown in and bought a berth.

Shame really, but Yachting Monthly bears a lot of the responsibility for the change.
 
Re: A Sad Change..

[ QUOTE ]

Shame really, but Yachting Monthly bears a lot of the responsibility for the change.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sad but true - friends of ours went last year (2005) in a "small" boat 35ft.
They confirmed to us that the organisers seemed only interested in bigger, corperate boats and everything was geared towards them.

By the time they arrived, the ARC team had all but packed up & there was only 1 "party" to go. They also complained about the weather "forecasts" which they said were a joke. Seems the ARC has sold it's "soul".

When we go - it will most definitely be solo!
 
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