30 Yachts Start A 15-Month Adventure.
Thirty boats participating in the World ARC fleet will depart Rodney Bay Marina in St. Lucia on an epic 26,000 mile adventure around the world in over the next 15 months.
The St. Lucia Tourist Board, Island Global Yachting are again teaming up with World Cruising Club in staging this event. World ARC is a circumnavigation rally for cruising boats, with a mix of organized stages and free cruising.
The preparations programme in St. Lucia before the start of the event has ensured crews were prepared and excited for their adventure. The crews have had a busy but enjoyable schedule. They represent different nationalities, ages and motivations. For the various crews this past week has been about getting to know new cruising friends, who will be together for the many months ahead.
Supporters, friends and members of the media will be at the start as the boats will head to Castries for the first leg of the event. From here on the boats have 1100 miles ahead of them before exploring the San Blas islands of Panama.
The 30 strong fleet with 100 participants will then transit the Panama Canal before setting off across the Pacific for Australia stopping at some of the most idyllic Pacific islands en route, including Galapagos, HivaOa, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Niue, Vava’u, Fiji and Vanuatu.
Like previous years the boats will be avoiding the troubled areas of the Indian Ocean. The World ARC route takes in Bali, Cocos Keeling, Mauritius and Reunion. They will also visit Cape Town and St. Helena, before enjoying carnival in Brazil and then heading back into the Caribbean to finish in St. Lucia in April 2017.
