The start for the crews took place under the dream conditions that every sailor would wish for when crossing the Atlantic: blue skies and winds of around 10 knots. For the 850 nautical miles or so to the south, the blue water aspirants are expecting classic trade wind conditions with stable winds from the north-east of around 15 to 20 knots over the next few days. This year's field is more cat-heavy than ever before: 27 of the 94 starters were two-hulled boats. The smallest boat at the start was the Hallberg-Rassy 340 "Aria Legra" by the British Carol Wu, the largest boat was the Solaris 75 RS "Luminious 3". Otherwise, as usual, there was a colourful mix of series boats and one-offs at the start, with Jeanneau being the most represented shipyard with 11 yachts, followed by 7 Lagoon, Kats. This was followed by five Amels, five Hallberg-Rassys and five Beneteaus.
If you want to follow the progress of the rally, you can do so on the Tracker of the organiser World Cruising do.
He expects a fast ride for the boats, with the majority of the field expected in Mindelo on Thursday and Friday. The crews will then have just under a week to explore the island before setting off on the second leg on 22 November. This leads to the Caribbean island of Grenada, more precisely to St Georges in the Port Louis Marina. The sailors will then need another 12 to 16 days for the approximately 2000-mile leg, depending on the trade wind conditions. The ARC+, which was originally introduced as an alternative date due to too many starters at the ARC, has established itself as a popular alternative to the ARC over the years, as the stopover is very attractive for many crews.
