Three family boats led the fleet at the start of the ARC+ rally this afternoon in Gran Canaria, all of them Outremers. Sailing with 13-year-old twins, US-flagged Appa was in front, followed by French boat Oxane, with Exio (5) and Laia (2), then Sizzle, whose youngest crewmember, Charlotte, is just eight months old.

The crew of US yacht Appa ahead of their transatlantic. Credit James Mitchell

There are 37 children taking part in the 2024 ARC+, the sister event to the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which sails from Gran Canaria to Grenada with a stopover in Cape Verde.

At 8 months, Charlotte is the youngest crewmember in the rally. Credit Ali Wood

In the monohull start, which left Las Palmas at 1pm, Carol Wu’s Hallberg Rassy 340 Aria Legra was in pole position.

The first leg, a passage of 850 miles, is expected to take five to seven days. Crews will then have a few days to explore Mindelo, São Vicente, before continuing to Grenada, a passage of 2,150 miles (12-16 days).

The smallest monohull, Hallberg-Rassy 340 Aria Legra GBR owned by Carol Wu. Credit James Mitchell/ WCC

Familiar ARC+ boats

PBO was at the start line to wave them off, and spotted a few familiar names, including Piment Rouge (this time a Catana 50C, not an Outremer) and Wauquiez 47PS Hilma. Although not doing the rally this year, Hilma‘s skipper Henrik Linder told PBO, he ‘wanted to get the feeling again!’, having been dismasted in ARC+ 23.

Living up to her name, Luminous 3 looked glorious with her sails set for an upwind start. At 72ft the Solaris 74RS is the largest boat in the fleet and will be joining the World ARC 2025-26. She’s one of 13 ARC+ boats to have been launched this year. 

Solaris 74RS Luminous 3 is the biggest yacht in the ARC+ rally. Credit James Mitchell/ WCC

ARC+ Double-handers

Meanwhile, double-handers Helen and David Harbour chose to stay near the back of the fleet on their Amel Santorin Frances Louise V. “We race dinghies and cruise yachts,” said the couple, who used to compete in Laser 4000s and RS200s. “If you tap a dinghy a repair might cost you £200 and half an hour to mend. If you break a yacht it can take £2,000 and weeks to fix!”

Helen and David Harbour race dinghies but cruise yachts. Credit Ali Wood

Fifth transatlantic

At 41, Gertha 5 is the oldest boat taking part, and is skippered by Simon Ridley. This will be Simon’s fifth transatlantic, and he plans to join World ARC afterwards, a dream that has been a decade in the making.

Simon at the helm of his Swan 46 Mk I Gertha 5. Credit James Mitchell/ WCC

Simon bought the neglected Swan 46 Mk 1 for under £100k, and used his skills as a builder, plumber and engineer to bring her up to spec, working alongside shipwrights. 

“Boatyards tend to be very busy and struggle to find skilled labour, so if you can do a lot yourself and book them for a few hours here and there, they’re very helpful.”   

Range of nationalities

A quarter of the sailors this year are from the UK followed by 13% from Norway and 9% from the USA.

Carol Wu’s Hallberg-Rassy 340 is the smallest boat in the fleet. Carol, who’s from Hong Kong, fell in love with the twin-rudder design after sailing hull number four in Ellös, Sweden. She only wanted to buy hull number eight, though. 

“I’m superstitious. In Chinese eight is a lucky number, so it had to be that one,” she said. “When this model came up, they said I had to sign up the following week, so I did!”

Carol Wu receives delivery of her new alternator two days before the start of the ARC+. Credit Ali Wood

Carol has sailed extensively with friends, including Yachting Monthly’s Rachel Sprot, and sailing instructor Peter Hopps, who’s joining her on the transatlantic. When PBO met Carol on the pontoon in Las Palmas, she was taking delivery of a new alternator. Hopefully this will improve the efficiency of charging her new 300Ah lithium batteries. 

Hydrovanes and trampolines

Hydrovanes are very popular with bluewater boats, and this year the company’s owners Sarah and Will Curry are taking part in ARC+ with 5-year-old twins Kip and Hugo.

Kip bouncing on the trampoline of Kaia II of Vancouver. Credit Ali Wood

There was no time for demonstrating self-steering gear, though; Kip was keen to show off his wonderful trampolining skills on their Leopard 46 Kaia II of Vancouver. Meanwhile Sarah was busy making jellyfish costumes for the crew party.  

Sarah Curry making outfits for the twins ahead of the ARC+ crew party. Credit: Ali Wood

There were some impressive arrays of solar panels on the boats this year, and it was interesting to see innovations such as Rasmus Haurum Christensen’s moveable frame, which allows him to point his panels at the sun at all times to ensure his batteries are well topped up.  

Power management

We also got some top tips on power management from James Kenning onboard Regina 43 Arkyla, which we’ll be sharing with PBO readers soon. 

Rasmus Haurum Christensen had an adjustable frame made for his solar panels. Credit Ali Wood

We’ll be following the fleet as they head to Cape Verde and then Grenada. Check out our Facebook page for the latest posts, and previous ARC stories. 

Keep in touch with the ARC+ fleet on the YB Races app and on the worldcruising.com website.