| After 11½ days at sea, it was a spectacular finish for the first two ARC boats to cross the line in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia last night, with just over an hour separating the two very different boats.
With favourable conditions for the entire crossing, Russian owner Oscar Kunyukhov’s mighty 28.7m monohull Med Spirit worked hard to keep up with ARC 2011’s only trimaran, the 15.2m lightweight Rayon Vert owned by determined Frenchman Alain Delhumeau, who had taken the lead from the start in Las Palmas on Sunday 20 November.
Different Tactics
During the first few days after departing Gran Canaria, the two boats split tactics, with Rayon Vert opting for a more northerly route. Both were going for the ARC course record, set by Rinaldo del Bono in Capricorno (ITA) in ARC2006 with a crossing time of 11 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 30 seconds.
Within a few days, the two leading ARC 2011 boats were 300 miles apart in latitude. But they closed the gap, and for the past four days, have battled it out for the lead, both consistently logging 300+ mile days, with Rayon Vert hitting 25 knots boat speed at times. For the last 48 hours the two were only a few miles apart, working hard to reach Saint Lucia and claim line honours.
In the end it was the Med Spirit that claimed the title, crossing the finish line in Rodney Bay at 22:54:37 local time (UTC-4). Rayon Vert – almost half the weight and length, and with only 5 people onboard compared to Med Spirit’s 17 crew – impressively followed in behind about an hour and a half later, crossing the line at 00:20 local time.
Course record remains intact
The impressive turns of speed shown by the leading boats this year was still not enough to beat the record however, and lighter winds on the final approach to Saint Lucia combined with a blown spinnaker on Rayon Vert and 'problems' onboard Med Spirit put paid to record hopes. This will be a difficult record to beat, as it requires consistantly good winds for the entire crossing, not something that can be guaranteed on an event with a fixed departure date!
Despite the late hour, Med Spirit was greeted in traditional ARC and Saint Lucian style to a full-scale musical carnival of drummers, enthusiastically beating out their rhythm from onboard the press boat as it chased alongside in the approaches to the line.
Once sails were downed, the World Cruising Club team and the Saint Lucia Tourist Board welcomed the crew to the island alongside many locals and IGY Rodney Bay Marina staff in the same way they will greet every single ARC boat over the next couple of weeks, with trays full of rum punch, cold beers and fresh fruit!
The much-talked about electric orange Gunboat 66 Pheado arrived only a few hours later, followed by the Maxi Rothmans. The 40 foot Aquilaria Vaquita is also flying along in the closing miles of the crossing, and is expected in Rodney Bay mid morning local time Friday.
Rest of Fleet sailing well
The rest of the ARC fleet are still sailing in good tradewind conditions, with 12-18 knot winds pushing them along the way to the Caribbean. The majority of the boats have passed the half-way point and are expected to arrive in Rodney Bay Marina over the next week and a half.
The moderate tradewinds experienced by the boats this year mean that thus far there have been relatively few breakages or other dramas. Over 90 boats are submitting blogs and pictures to the ARC website and you can read their stories at http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/dailylogs.aspx Of the 217 boats that left Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday 20 November, 212 remain actively sailing for Saint Lucia. Two boats retired in the Canaries for personal reasons, and one is making for Antigua. Two boats in the Cape Verdes are expected to rejoin the fleet later this week. |
