Cruising
Planning and
undertaking an
Atlantic crossing
I
f you’re considering an
Atlantic crossing, or simply
pushing the boundaries of
your sailing a bit further
next season, you might well
be looking for some advice.
And while you might strike it lucky
in the club bar or on an internet
forum, there are few people better
placed to advise than those already
doing what you hope to achieve.
Every November, if you head to
Las Palmas you’ll fi nd the largest
collection of would-be transatlantic
sailors you could ever hope to
meet. Some of them are seasoned
ocean cruisers; others are
crossing the Atlantic for the
fi rst time. What they all have in
common is that they have decided
to do it together as part of the
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC),
opting to take advantage of the
support and experience offered by
organisers World Cruising Club,
and the security of sailing with
a large fl eet.
Choosing to cross the Atlantic
with the ARC is no devolution of
responsibility, however. Each
skipper is 100% responsible for
their own boat and the crew it
carries. The ARC team offer
seminars and safety inspections,
and will in rare cases refuse a
boat entry which does not meet
their safety criteria, but the
decision to drop the lines and
head west remains the skipper’s.
The key to being able to make
that decision with confi dence is
preparation. I spoke with the ARC
organisers and participants to fi nd
out how they had planned for their
voyage, and what they regarded
as the most important things to
consider when taking on an
Atlantic crossing.Getting ready
There are two sides to preparation:
the boat and the crew. Part of
getting the boat ready requires
that you think through how you
are going to supply essentials
such as power and water for such
a long time away from land, but
much of it, says safety inspector
Chris Brooke, who has worked at
the ARC for 16 years, is ‘checking
everything you should check on
the boat when you go to the Isle
of Wight, but half of us don’t do’.
Clare Pengelly points out that
even with the boat in tip-top order,
the crew needs to be in good fettle.
Clare, who advises the 1,200-plus
participants on how best to survive
up to 21 days offshore, said: ‘It’s
not all about sailing, it’s also about
the food, snacks and surprises,
and discussing where the
next meal is coming from.’ ➜Thinking about an ocean passage? PBO’s
Laura Hodgetts shares some tips from
sailors setting sail with the 30th ARC
Las Palmas
and the ARC
The ARC boosts the Las Palmas
economy by ‘several million euros’
each year, according to World
Cruising Club’s Andrew Bishop.
Gran Canaria Tourist Board has
been a principal sponsor since the
start and remains, along with St
Lucia Tourist Board, the event’s
biggest sponsors.
Andrew says: ‘The revenue
the ARC brings to the island is
something we ask participants.
How much they spend and where
they spend it. Sailors don’t like
adding up what they spend, but
it’s several millions of euros as
opposed to hundreds of thousands.’
Pablo Llinares, managing
director of Gran Canaria Tourist
Board, said this claim is backed
by a Las Palmas university study,
and added: ‘It’s amazing.’
The addition of the ARC+ route,
which includes a stop in Cape
Verde, means that rally boats now
spend more than three weeks in
Las Palmas. Andrew added: ‘The
marina has developed along with
the ARC. If you go back 25 years,
it was the ARC pushing for the
development of the marina and
luckily we had the support of the
port authority who shared the
vision and had the fi nances to
actively do it. The City of Las
Palmas’ Councillor of the Sea
position was inspired by the ARC.’Year-round sunshine
A huge draw for Gran Canaria is
its ‘very soft climate’ with an
average temperature of 24°C,
rarely exceeding 28°C or dropping
below 21°C, which enables a
year-round calendar of outdoor
events including windsurfi ng
world championships, surfi ng,
sailing, marathons, music
festivals and golf tournaments.
Other attractions include more
than 120 beaches, small historic
towns and a World Biosphere
Reserve. Pablo said: ‘Christopher
Columbus visited here three out of
four times on his trips to America.’
One hundred and thirty-one airports
fl y direct to Gran Canaria. The
economy of the Canary Islands
is based in Las Palmas, which has
a population of 400,000 and is the
‘seventh-largest city of Spain’. Last
year a record number of 3,000,600
tourists visited Gran Canaria,
which 2015 looks set to beat.
Nearly one million tourists come
via cruise ships, and a world-class
aquarium is currently being built
next to the cruise ship terminal.