Does the ARC start too early.

[KellysEye]

>you class yerself as wimps

Does five years flying and aerobatics and ten years skydiving and BASE jumping go into the wimp category. If you think trashing things is fun I feel sorry for you.

 

[Cariadco]

ARC departs....

Not exactly an answer to the OP's question, but I thought you lot might like the vid below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veDmULG4dpQ&feature=related

Regards,

 

[Conachair]

That's just scarey Far too many boats.

If there's one thing which can really get you into trouble on a cruising boat it's a calendar The most precise unit of time onboard should be at the very least a week or preferable much longer.

 

[BobnLesley]

...ARC start too early? No, the timing's perfect...

Is mid November when I'd choose to depart the Canaries? That's a different question entirely and scores an even more definite NO! But we're a livaboard couple and don't have the same time constraints as those poor souls who live in the real world: -

A proportion (substantial? I really don't know) of the ARC yachts are doing the trip on a commercial or at least semi-commercial basis; as the ARC is the 'known' event, it's got to be easier to find 'customers' for a crossing then than at any other time. An 'I did the ARC' T-shirt is likely to be better recognised/carry far more kudos amongst non sailing friends than a common or garden 'I've sailed across the Atlantic' one. Similarly, if you're a 'customer' looking for a berth, it's probably easier to find one then than at any other time.

When you're 'selling' the idea to your non-sailing or at least ambivalent wife/partner, of you spending a chunk of your shared wealth/holiday-time on sailing across the Atlantic, then being able to include '...and then you could fly out to meet me in the Carribean for a couple of weeks over Christmas and the New Year...' as part of your pitch has got to make the sale easier.

Even for those doing the ARC non-commercially and on their own boat, one gets the impression that for many, perhaps most, it's a career-breaking/once in a lifetime trip, so 'real world' time constraints still have to be applied: Cross Atlantic - spend one season in the Carribean - sail back home. If that's the scenario, then it makes sense to be arriving in the Carribean as early in that season as possible, so setting off in Nov & getting there before the end of December, may not be the optimum time for the Atlantic crossing itself, but it does give you a few weeks extra at the Carribean side.

On a smaller scale, one sees the same thing happening every week or so of the season in any charter destination you care to mention: The day's weather forecast is a bit iffy, so all the liveaboard/long-term cruisers, check that everything's secure, let out a few more metres of chain and settle down with a good book, whilst watching the charter boats head out to 'battle the elements'. Why? Because as liveaboards, we can go tomorrow, or the day after, or even next week if needs be, so why bother; the conditions won't be great, it won't be as much fun as you'd like and it'll certainly be harder work. However, for the Charterers, the choice is different: We go to X harbour today, or cross it off the list and at best get to there go next year; so you put up with the conditions (hell, they're not going to kill you!) and make the most of your one/two weeks holiday, rather than not go at all.

It all comes down to time constraints: Does the ARC set off too early? for mine it does, but for many, indeed a majority, of those people who'd like to 'cross the pond', it's departure date's perfect.

Oh, before I get off my soapbox: I have no sympathy whatsoever for those who set off on the xth of November (because that's the ARC's 'official' start date) and subsequently get battered by the weather in the first 24-48 hours. Setting off in mid-November for the reasons I've noted makes sense, but to depart in the knowledge of seriously bad weather, just because the 'organisers' have told you to is just silly, you deserve all you get; waiting another two or three days at the start of a transAt, is the equivalent of deferring a day sail by an hour.

 

[wklein]

Biscay

One factor nobody has mentioned is that the majority of the entrants come from northern Europe and as such have to cross Biscay which is best done end of September certainly not Nov - Dec. If they head south at the right time and do the crossing at the right time then it will be a very long trip with months of sitting around. Just a thought.

 

[KellysEye]

>If they head south at the right time and do the crossing at the right time then it will be a very long trip with months of sitting around. Just a thought.

Many crews deliver their boat to Portugal in the Summer, fly back home then go back to Portugal to sail to the Canaries. Some go straight to the Canaries then back home and fly out for the parties and start.