40 years of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers

ARC Rally yachts in the Cruising Division cross the line © World Cruising Club / James Mitchell

2025 marks the 40th edition of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which has crossed the Atlantic from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to the Caribbean every year since 1986.

When the 2025 rally concludes in Saint Lucia, over 8,000 boats and 40,000 sailors will have sailed the Atlantic with the support of the ARC over the last 40 years. To celebrate this 40-year achievement, there are discounts for all entries under 40 feet and for any boats or skippers who participated in the inaugural rally in 1986. In addition, £40 from every entry fee will be donated to the newly formed World Cruising Positive Impact Fund.

"Forty years is a landmark anniversary", said Paul Tetlow, World Cruising Club Managing Director. "Supporting local organisations on our route has always been a part of the rally, from the ARC Forest in Gran Canaria to supporting local sailing in Saint Lucia, and our new Positive Impact Fund will enable us to reach more charities and communities in the countries we visit".

£40 from every ARC 2025 entry fee will go direct to the Positive Impact Fund, and all ARC participants are invited to make a donation. In the run-up to the start in Las Palmas, sailors can get hands-on by planting trees in the mountains above Las Palmas, working with Fundacion Foresta. So far, 3,770 trees have been planted in the 'ARC Forest', helping to capture carbon and improve rainfall retention.

Anniversary discounts for ARC 2025 include two free crew places for all boats under 40 feet length overall, whether cruising or racing, monohull or multihull. There is also a discount of four free crew places for boats or skippers who sailed in ARC 1986. The first boat to enter ARC 2025 was Contessa 32 Teela (GBR) sailed by Ellen and Mark Catherall. At 32 feet (9.75m), Teela is comfortably under 40 feet! "We're really excited to be taking part in ARC 2025, and our preparations are in full swing!", said Ellen Catherall.

Rally history

The ARC was devised by Jimmy Cornell to be a fun event for true cruising enthusiasts, arranged to increase safety and enhance the confidence of those taking part - the abiding principles of every subsequent ARC rally. The first rally in November 1986 attracted 209 yachts from 24 countries - the event has always been very multinational.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was the first choice of departure port, and both the spectacle of the fleet and the spending power of the sailors continues to be welcome by the tourist authority, city council and local people. Late November is widely known as 'ARC season' in Las Palmas. After four years of finishing in Barbados, Saint Lucia became the 1990 destination and has been the rally's Caribbean home ever since.

The ARC has run every year since 1986, including through Covid. The increasing popularity of the rally led World Cruising Club to start a sister event, ARC+, which runs from Las Palmas to Mindelo in Cape Verde and then on to Grenada.

To date, 7,656 yachts have crossed the Atlantic with the ARC and ARC+, and by the end of the anniversary 2025 rally this number will be well over 8,000 boats and more than 40,000 people. The boats will have sailed a combined total of over 22 million nautical miles.

2024 and 2025 rallies

163 boats are entered for ARC 2024 and ARC+ 2024 has 103 entries. ARC 2024 boats range in size from Johann Brumm's 10.59m Hallberg Rassy 352 Lucia (DEU) to the Wally Yachts 83 Wally One (GBR) at 25.15m. The ARC is the only World Cruising Club rally with a competitive IRC division with 18 yachts listed for the start - some will be aiming to beat the course record of 8 days, 6 hours, 29 minutes and 15 seconds, set by George David's Rambler 88 (USA) in 2016.

The increased popularity of catamarans has reduced the overall number of boats due to capacity constraints in the host ports, but the two rallies continue to support over 250 boats every year to cross the Atlantic.

Entry fees for ARC 2025 start from £1,100 for boats up to 10.29m (33'9") increasing in bands to £3,900 for boats between 25.92m and 32.1m (105'). Alongside the boat fee, multihulls pay an additional £400 and there is a crew fee of £175 for everyone aged over 16.

The special 40th edition discounts for ARC 2025 are two free crew places (worth £350) for all boats under 40 feet (12.19m) and four free crew places (worth £700) for all entries where the boat or skipper participated in the 1986 ARC.

The rally fees include two weeks of pre-departure activities in Las Palmas, tracking of all vessels across the Atlantic, 24-7 support from the rally team, landfall welcome in Saint Lucia and a memorable prize-giving ceremony.

For enquiries, visit www.worldcruising.com or mail@worldcruising.com or +44 (0)1983 296060