Who's Who

Andrew Bishop: Mister ARC bows out…

Drawn to the sea from an early age, the discreet Andrew Bishop is about to hand over the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which he has been managing since 2006. For the past 16 years, he has made a success of the transatlantic rally created by Jimmy Cornell in 1986, despite two years dominated by the Covid-19 crisis. Here then is a portrait of this man who has enabled more than 10,000 crew members and 3,000 skippers to cross the oceans in complete safety.

Who's Who

Published 03/02/2023

By Emmanuel van Deth

Subscribers Only

Issue: 188

Published: mar. / apr. 2023

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It’s the day before the start of the 37th ARC and on the pontoons in Las Palmas, Andrew makes no secret of the fact that this will be his last start of the event as the big boss. He was in the same state of mind two weeks later at the arrival of the ARC+ in Grenada and at the ARC prize-giving ceremony in Saint Lucia, with the added emotion and even a few tears. At 62 years old, Andrew is handing over the helm to Paul Tetlow this fast-growing company that organizes nautical rallies.

Andrew learned to sail at a very young age, and as an only son, he accompanied his father, an accomplished racing sailor. At 15 he competed in his first Fastnet Race. While attending Gordonstoun School in Scotland, Andrew continued to learn to sail and became fascinated with celestial navigation. Today, his love for sailing «the old-fashioned way» has remained intact... Andrew started a career in the Navy: until 1989, he therefore got a much broader and more complete knowledge of what happens on the water than that reserved for the world of pleasure sailing alone. However, it was sailing that took over with a first transatlantic rally under the colors of the ARC. A transatlantic that would undoubtedly mark the start of a long and happy story.

In 1992, Andrew heard that Jimmy Cornell was looking for someone to help him run Europa 92, the first ever round-the-world rally-cruise. Collaboration between the two men was not easy, so Andrew and his faithful lieutenant Jeremy Wyatt set off again with a rally around England. The partnership resumed again in 1997, first with Jimmy, then with Sir Chay Blyth. At the end of the 1990’s, the Andrew/Jeremy tandem tried to take control of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers... but they didn’t manage it until 2006. Andrew then became totally involved. He bought Noonsite, Jimmy Cornell’s website dedicated to ocean ...

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