Things to consider while participating in ARC The sailing rallies have boomed with the increasing popularity of blue water cruising. You can find hundreds of sailing rallies, cruising companies, and many club events. For enthusiastic sailors, crossing the Atlantic is as thrilling as climbing Mount Everest. If you are a sailor and want to experience the thrill, then participating in the world’s famous ARC is the best deal that works.
The Atlantic Rally for Cruises is an annual event that is specially designed to encourage sailors for transatlantic crossing. The rally includes a sailing competition for racers under the authorities of world cruising club. The ARC starts at the end of the November and possibly ends before Christmas. In the rally, the sailors have to gather at Gran Canarias Islands to start the race until they reach the Caribbean destination named Rodney Bay in Saint Lucia.
It takes 15-20 days to complete the race which is around 2700 nautical miles. The ARC is considered as one of the major sailing events of the world, aimed to gather more than 200 boats and 5000 people through different nations. The ARC is founded by Jimmy Cornell and it is now managed by the World Cruising Club i.e. WCC. Whereas, participating in ARC can come up with lots of achievements, here are the core things you have to take into consideration before jumping into the rally.
Pre-planned everything
It is advisable to start the preparation for transatlantic crossing as early as possible. If you are participating in an event held in November, then you need to start planning from January or February. Be strategic in your preparation and work out on your sailing and managing skills. According to the sailors, the worst situation you have to go through is sailing at night. As the rule of rally suggests sailing 24 hours a day, it is mandatory for a participant to sail continuously without any halt. You can even join training institutes that provide different sailing skills like sea survival, offshore medical, and many others. You can even browse experience of experts who have previously participated in ARC. While learning some important sailing skills, you also have to decide your crew members whom you can trust.
Inspecting the Yacht
You don’t need a special boat for crossing the Atlantic if you are following the safety guidelines of ARC. The ARC has high standards of boats in order to stiff the safety of participants. They inspect all the boats and permit only those boats that passed out their requirements for sails. Right from rig set-ups, safety equipment to spares every item of your boat should be inspected properly for your safety.
Registration and estimated sailing cost
Although the registration fee of this flagship event is high compared to other rallies, it clearly fits the bill for your sailing experience. ARC sets a standard in terms of safety, parties, seminars as well as online fleet tracking. The estimated cost for transatlantic crossing is between 800 to 1500 pounds excluding 95 pounds per crew member.
Assigning the duties
The crew that you hired to get aid while participating in the rally should be habituated with sailing. You can go on with sailing trails with them in order to know each other better. You must know your crew, as you will be relying on each other. All you need the best teamwork for winning the rally. You need to discuss the daily tasks with your crew and assign the duties on their interests like cooking food, navigation, optimizing energy resources and many other tasks.
Consideration of energy resources
Electricity is extremely important for keeping you warm at the coolest night, for watermaker, for preparing food and for getting light in the dark. Before participating, it is very much vital to make sure that all the batteries are in good working conditions. Experts recommend that you should increase the number of generators for electricity. You can carry diesel generator, solar panels and wind turbines are some of the major options available for energy resources. While some sailors found out an ingenious solution of LED lights and batteries for electricity. Make sure you are comfortable and had enough resources for generating electricity.
Keeping your mind calm
Dealing with the constant dilemma in the water disturbs any sailor. All you need is to switch your mindset from a cruiser to an ocean sailor. Check your boat inside out, know everything about chafe and wear appropriate clothes to protect against it.
Final thoughts:
Thousands of boats sail the Atlantic independently each year. For peace of mind, support and sociable fun, ARC is the best sailing rally to choose. Apart from the competitive side, ARC is a much more fun event that will be cherished throughout your life. Having fun, making friends, helping each other and sailing together are some core experiences you will get after participating in sailing rallies.
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Things to consider while participating in ARC
