Under bright blue Caribbean skies last weekend, the 13th edition of World Cruising Club’s World ARC circumnavigation rally set sail from Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, bound for Columbia.

Published 3 months ago

The 27 yachts taking part in the rally left Saint Lucia on January 13, 2024 heading for their first destination of Santa Marta in Colombia, before journeying through the Panama Canal and on into the Pacific.

The fleet enjoyed a Force 5 north easterly for the start, with many opting for a reef – there’s 26,000 nautical miles to cover over the next 15 months and World ARC isn’t a race. Ian and Jacqueline Kirkpatrick’s Shipman 63 Fatjax (GBR) was first over the line, followed by Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49 Bahati (GBR) and Sundeer 64 Crazy Horse (USA).

From onboard his Moody 54 Dilema, Tom Ogilvie said: “We were all buzzing as we crossed the line. Pre-start tension behind us and a good breeze in the sails – long may it continue!”.

Rally supporters on the water to wave off friends and family included Saint Lucia’s Minister of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, the Honourable Dr Ernest Hilaire, who spoke to the fleet via VHF radio: “You’re looking fantastic out there. I want to say a special thank you to everyone. I wish I could be in your rally, but someone has to be here to welcome you back in 2025!”

Lane Jacobs, owner of Bristol 57 Corsair (USA), sums up the aspirations of many sailors: “I’ve wanted to sail around the world since 1976 and its taken me almost 50 years to learn to sail, save the money, get the right boat and find the time to do it. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here at last for the start of World ARC”.

The first arrivals were expected in Santa Marta, Colombia on the evening of Tuesday 16 January. One-off Roger Hill Yacht Design catamaran Nica (DEU) is leading the fleet, followed by Oyster 62 Skyelark 2 (GBR). The forecast is for strong trade winds, and all boats are making good time on the 815 nautical mile passage.

From Santa Marta, the fleet will explore the San Blas Islands of Panama, before a Panama Canal transit in February and on into the Pacific to Galapagos, French Polynesia and Oceania.

Helmut and Babsi Lexen (pictured below) are joining World ARC for a second circumnavigation, this time in their new Nautitech 482 Freya (DEU).

“This is the second time we’ve done World ARC. We love it so much, particularly the camaraderie among the sailors. Our favorite destination, which we can’t wait to return to, is Fakarava in French Polynesia”.

A total of 37 yachts will take part in the rally over the next 15 months as it sails around the world, with the option of breaking the rally half way in Australia or Indonesia to extend the adventure with independent exploration. 14 yachts will leave the rally in Australia or Indonesia with another 11 joining, the majority of which took part in World ARC 2023.

Nineteen of the yachts starting from Saint Lucia sailed with World Cruising Club across the Atlantic, crossing with the 2022 or 2023 editions of the ARC and ARC Plus rallies.

In the week before the start, the crews assembled in Rodney Bay Marina for safety checks, routing and weather seminars and the social events that build the friendships and camaraderie that define the rally.

World Cruising Club (WCC) Managing Director, Paul Tetlow said: “We have an enthusiastic and well-prepared group of sailors and the World Cruising Club team are looking forward to supporting them of their adventure of a lifetime.

“It’s been a wonderful week in Saint Lucia. We couldn’t have asked for a better destination to launch the World ARC rally,and we thank the team at IGY Rodney Bay Marina and Saint Lucia Tourism for their marvellous support”.

Late starters for leg one include Axonite (NLD), Abide (GBR) and Crazy Horse (USA), all of which are expected to be underway in the next day. Esperanza (USA) will join the fleet in Santa Marta.

Sixteen yachts are already signed-up for the next edition of World ARC, which will set sail from the Caribbean in January 2025.

World ARC 2024-25 Entry Statistics

• Entries to date: 37 yachts. 27 are taking part in the first stage from Caribbean through the Panama Canal, with others joining or leaving along the route.
• 29 monohulls and 8 catamarans.
• Smallest boat: 11.56m Esperanza (USA), a Lagoon 380 S2 catamaran.
• Largest boat: 23.6m Isabel (GBR), an Oyster 725.
• Boat brands: 6 Oyster; 3 each from Lagoon and X-Yachts; 2 each from Beneteau, Hallberg Rassy, Jeanneau and Nautitech.
• Boat flag nationalities: 13 in total, with 13 from UK, 8 from USA, 3 from Germany, 2 each from Australia and Switzerland.
• Crew come from 20 nationalities and are aged between 16 and 80 years old. The oldest skipper is John Lovett, aged 72 on Crazy Horse (USA).

General Information

• World ARC 2024-25 will be the 13th edition of the rally and the fifteenth round-the-world rally organised by World Cruising Club.
• Start: World ARC 2024-25 started from Rodney Bay Saint Lucia on 13 January 2024.
• Finish: The rally will conclude in Saint Lucia in April 2025 with a parade of sail to Rodney Bay.
• Route: The fleet leaves Saint Lucia to visit Santa Marta, Colombia, before transiting the Panama Canal and into the Pacific. There are a mix of rally legs/stages and independent cruising, covering the Galapagos, Marquesas, Society Islands including Bora Bora and Taihiti, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu before making landfall in Queensland Australia. The yachts will cruise the Great Barrier Reef before departing Darwin to Lombok Indonesia, then across the Indian Ocean to Cocos, Mauritius and Reunion to South Africa for Christmas 2024. In January 2025 the fleet will leave Cape Town across the Atlantic to Brazil, cruising the coast during carnival season before sailing to Grenada then the finish in Saint Lucia.
• Boats can join for the whole circumnavigation or for half a rally to and from Australia or Indonesia.
• World ARC 2024-25 is supported by tourist boards and organisations around the world and is run in conjunction with Yachting World magazine.

General Enquiries:

For information about participating in the ARC or other World Cruising Club rallies, please contact [email protected] or call +44 (0)1983 296060.

………………………………

Related Links

• World ARC Fleet website
• World Cruising Club

………………………………

Find out all news, reports, links and comments posted on Noonsite, plus cruising information from around the world, by subscribing to our FREE monthly newsletter. Go to https://www.noonsite.com/newsletter/.