ARC 2022

Las Palmas has been the host port for the start since the very first ARC back in 1986 and has been a busy place for most of November - safety checks, tinkering and optimizing, but also visiting the inland areas of Gran Canaria, and seminars and events offered by the organizers: there is no chance of getting bored!

During the final 48 hours in Las Palmas, while the crews were making their last-minute preparations and provisioning for the start of their Atlantic crossing, strong gusts of north-easterly wind generated a 5-foot swell, making perfect conditions for experienced surfers, but less so for any crews yet to find their sea legs.

The wind was a bit more easterly than is typical for an ARC start, and a bit stronger - 18 to 20 knots. The weather forecast for the first 24 hours predicted winds of 20 knots, with stronger gusts in the Acceleration Zone south of Gran Canaria. This zone extends up to 100 miles downwind of the island, whose peak at nearly 6,500 feet causes a significant increase in wind strength to the south. Skippers anticipated these conditions by reefing at the start and keeping south of the course, sheltered from the strongest winds for the first 24 hours. The fleet should then benefit from more stable trade winds, especially south of the rhumb line, a pattern that should continue for at least the first week of the crossing, which should take an average of 18 to 20 days.

All ARC boats are equipped with YB Tracking satellite trackers, allowing family and friends to follow the fleet via the ARC website or the YB Races app.

In November, 234 yachts are crossing the Atlantic under the ARC banner. The ARC+ fleet of 91 yachts left Mindelo, Cape Verde, on the second leg of their crossing on November 18, bound for Camper and Nicholson's Port Louis Marina in Grenada. Another 43 yachts will join the second edition of the ARC January. They will be setting sail obviously in January, as part of a third transatlantic rally organized by the World Cruising Club, sailing from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia.