The Arc - what it all about ?!

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simonbuk

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I get the idea of sailing around the world but is it a race, a journey, an adventure, or all 3 ?!

Some sites suggest it starts in January 2012 whilst other places suggests it is staring in springtime ?

Is it a continual thing ? Can you join boats for realitively little money or do they charge a hefty amount ?
 
simonbuk said:
I get the idea of sailing around the world but is it a race, a journey, an adventure, or all 3 ?!

Some sites suggest it starts in January 2012 whilst other places suggests it is staring in springtime ?

Is it a continual thing ? Can you join boats for realitively little money or do they charge a hefty amount ?
Click to expand...

All your questions are answered here.

http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/
 
simonbuk said:
Can you join boats for realitively little money or do they charge a hefty amount ?
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If you're talking about the ARC - Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, it is possible to get berths on boats that are short of crew but there is tremendous competition for those places. Some owners make a business of it and charge upwards of ukp 2000.
 
simonbuk said:
I get the idea of sailing around the world but is it a race, a journey, an adventure, or all 3 ?!

Some sites suggest it starts in January 2012 whilst other places suggests it is staring in springtime ?

Is it a continual thing ? Can you join boats for realitively little money or do they charge a hefty amount ?
Click to expand...

In essence its a commercial support network, for which a fee is paid, for crossing the atlantic. Typically it was pitched at those who are venturing across an Ocean for the first time. While it is predominantly amateur sailors who participate there is also commercial enterprises. Both amateur and commercial may offer berths for sale in order to cross the Atlantic. While some may race across, others just cruise across and for all its probably an adventure, for some its a journey through life.

To me it is the antipathy of independent cruising; it has its place and many people achieve a significant ambition as a result of the support network it provides.

Some blurb from the web site link in simonbuk's post above: -

Cross the Atlantic with the ARC
The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
This annual transatlantic rally starting each November in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has now become the most popular way to cross the Atlantic. The largest transocean sailing event in the world, every year the ARC brings together over 200 yachts from all over the world. The Caribbean destination is Rodney Bay in Saint Lucia, one of the most beautiful islands in the Lesser Antilles. The 2700 nautical mile passage on the NE tradewind route takes on average between 14 and 21 days.

Conceived as a friendly race for cruising yachts to make the Atlantic crossing both safer and more enjoyable, participating yachts must carry a range of safety equipment including a liferaft, EPIRB and VHF radio. Daily radio nets contribute further to the safety of participants. The presence of experienced sailors is another incentive for those with little offshore experience.

The ARC has a special flavour, which successfully combines racers with cruisers, old with young, and provides entertainment for all. A wide ranging programme of entertainment takes place both before the start and after the finish. The ARC enjoys the support of the Tourist Authority of Gran Canaria, the Port Authority of Las Palmas, Rol Nautic and the Saint Lucia Board of Tourism.
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snowleopard said:
If you're talking about the ARC - Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, it is possible to get berths on boats that are short of crew but there is tremendous competition for those places. Some owners make a business of it and charge upwards of ukp 2000.
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For 2k, I'd expect caviar for breakfast and waitress service on the sun deck.
 
If boats are charging more than reasonable running costs shared, then they will need to be MCA registered and ocean coded which does ensure you will be sailing with at least an Ocean YM and an offshore YM in charge, or at least those were the rules when I had a coded charter yacht. The codeing for ocean passage was more than I wanted to do and I actually enjoy sailing with just two on board or S/H on longer passages.

Many yacht owner/skippers will take on crew for ocean passages, I think it is best if you can have a few miles with overnight passages first before agreeing to spend three weeks with them calling the shots.

Essentially the ARC is a shore party at both ends and a hand holding excercise during the preperation. Despite the idea of it being almost sailing in company it is a very big ocean and you will be a long way from other boats after a few days at sea. So you should prepare and act as if you were on your own and fully self sufficient, in my view of course.
 
Hello,

The Atlantic Rally (ARC) will be departing from Las Palmas on the 25th November 2012 finishing around the 17th December in Rodney Bay. We have just signed up our Rival 32. We will be circumnavigating the world and decided to join the Atlantic Rally for the fun of it on this leg, we also feel safer doing sucha long passage with other boats. The cost has been £975 for 3 of us including the boat, you have to have a minimum of two people to enter.

I have a PDF brochure I can send you for the 2012 rally which stipulates what is included for the price and the relevant dates; it also gives you information of what prepartions you will need to do your boat before you set off. Let me know if you would like a copy.

Good Luck,

Oliver
 
We're contemplating joining the ARC in 2013 as part of our two year trip. Whilst we're planning to do some passages to build experience beforehand, it's unlikely we'll have done anything as long as a 2 to 3 week passage, so the idea of crossing as part of an organised "group" is reassuring.

We would likely be taking on a couple extra crew to help out on a shared costs basis. Whilst this will stop the prettier half from sunbathing naked on the deck, it would help with watch shifts!
 
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Oliver,

If you think you will be 'doing the ARC' in the company of other boats on a Rival 32 I think you are mistaken.

Firstly, you will be if not the slowest boat in the rally at least one of the slowest. A day or two after the start the rest of the fleet will be well out of sight ahead and downwind of you and in no position to assist you or provide any support. You are unlikely to see another ARC boat until you reach St. Lucia.

(The 50ft cat I sailed on left 3 days late this year and overtook over 100 of the fleet - but we only saw five of them, three of which were hull-down on the hoirizon).

Secondly, by the time you arrive in St. Lucia most other boats will have finished and you will have missed much of the partying and events. In fact, you will need to be sure to do it within four weeks or the Finish Line will be closed. Having said that there was a 32-footer this year (Tur-Bo, Norwegian, smallest ARC 2011 entry) that arrived 156th on Saturday just before I left St. Lucia. They had taken 21 days for the crossing, and motored the last two or three.

So - yes, join the ARC and enjoy the partying in Las Palmas and the 'official' welcome when you get to the other side, but don't imagine it as a 'cruise in company' and don't imagine that being part of it substantially reduces the risk - you are still making a 2,800 mile passage during which time you will be beyond practical help other than that available via satphone email or SSB.

- W
 
Is it just me? but it makes me slightly uneasy hearing phrases such as "safer with other boats" and "organised group reassuring" as webcraft has said, you are on your own on an ocean passage and should treat it as such but with an organised start. Especially in a boat at the slower end of the fleet. If you have a problem you may be lucky and find a passing yacht that can offer assistance (who has heard you need it) but this is just as likely to be from one of the many yachts crossing, not part of the group start. It is in my view worth keeping a ch16 watch as there may be vessels within vhf range on route but over the horizon.

On one E to W crossing we saw what we thought was a liferaft behind us, we turned to sail upwind to investigate, it's quite a shock, the going is rough, wet and slow, with 30knts across the deck and a large although long swell. The thought of offering assistance (although you would try) would probably come down to larger power vessels. I've also sailed back to the Canaries after breaking a rudder 36 hrs after leaving, that was hard going.

The risks are injury, illness and equipment failure. If it's not life threatening you'll sort it, if it is you'll be setting off an EPIRB and looking for the closest merchant vessel or super yacht. In my view the random ssb nets can keep you in touch with vessels that are close by rather than having a chat with a fixed group of yachts mainly ahead of you. For the record we did it with no Comms on one trip (just vhf) and spoke to one passing ship who sent messages home, on another I had an ssb receiver so we could hear what others were up to. We would get to know people as we cruised the Canaries and pass on details of ssb schedules that we would listen in on.

It is a great trip with few decisions to be made and no really nasty weather patterns, I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable crossing, you'll never forget the sense of how big the ocean is and how small your boat is.
 
oliverkinchin said:
The cost for crew is £75 per person. The skipper may want food and fuel costs to be split but this is at the skippers discretion.
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Correct but a little misleading. The gbp75 is the fee the organizers charge the owner of the boat per crew member. The OP should not imagine he can pitch up, pay the 75 quid and jump aboard!

On the safety issue, almost every year there is a rescue, more often than not it is one or more ARC boats rescuing a non-ARC boat. Friends of ours rescued a sinking singlehander, others coordinated the rescue when a mentally ill crewman stopped taking his medication during the passage and kept jumping overboard. On another occasion an ARC boat escorted an non-ARC boat that had lost its rudder through hitting a container.
 
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