World ARC, the round the world yacht rally, is gearing up for another circumnavigation with the announcement today by organisers World Cruising Club that the entry list has opened for the 2012 edition of this popular cruising rally.

Billed as an adventure of a lifetime, World ARC 2012 will leave the Caribbean in January 2012, cruising across the World’s great oceans on a circumnavigation of the globe, returning to the Caribbean 16 months later.

The cost per boat for the whole rally is from £12-£13k, with each crew fees (again for the whole rally) coming in at about £1,500 per person.

World Cruising Club Director Andrew Bishop said, “World ARC is well established on the cruising calendar and we have planned long and hard to ensure its success. A significant improvement for 2012 will be the inclusion of automatic satellite tracking for all yachts in the rally, using Yellowbrick Iridium Trackers. This will enhance safety on the rally since we will be able to keep a close watch on any of the yachts in the event of an emergency at sea.”

Twenty nine yachts from 13 nations are participating in the 2010 Rally, which set off from St. Lucia back in January and have a little under a year to go.

The rally cruises west into the Pacific via the Panama Canal, down to Ecuador and on to the Galapagos Islands and the Marquesas.

During April and May, the 2010 rally cruised through the Marquesas, Tuamotos and Society Islands before departing from Bora Bora in mid-May heading towards the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu.

The voyage continues across to Mackay, Australia and a cruise inside the Great Barrier Reef, before regrouping for the leg across the top of Australia to Darwin and the start of the Indian Ocean stage.

From Bali, the Rally calls at the remote islands of Cocos-Keeling to reach Mauritius in October.

Avoiding the dangerous Red Sea region, the route crosses the southern Indian Ocean via the French island of Reunion, to arrive in South Africa at Richards Bay, cruising slowly southwards to be in Cape Town for Christmas.

In January the fleet heads out from Cape Town to Brazil, via the tiny mid-Atlantic island of St. Helena. From Salvador de Bahia, where crews can enjoy the frenetic sights and sounds of Carnival Brazilian style, the route cruises north along the coast to Recife.

Late April sees yachts back in the Caribbean and they will have sailed approximately 25,000 nautical miles.

World ARC is open to monohulls with a minimum LOA of 40ft [12.19m], and multihulls between 40ft [12.19m] and 60ft [18.29].

Minimum crew requirement is two people onboard each yacht.

A range of safety and communications equipment must be carried, as detailed in the Entry Regulations available from World Cruising Club.

Full details of the entry fees and rally benefits are published in the Entry Pack, which is available from World Cruising Club.
Entry packs are available in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish languages

The daily logs being uploaded onto the World ARC website provide
terrific insights into the many and varied highlights and the occasional
‘low’ as participants share their experiences 
http://www.worldcruising.com/worldarc2010/dailylogs.aspx
 

You can read more and find out how to enter World ARC 2012 by
logging on to World Cruising Club’s website
www.worldcruising.com/worldarc.aspx  

or contact World Cruising Club on: +44 (0)1983 296060.