Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - February 2022

ATLANTIC RALLY FOR CRUISERS 2021
TIM WRIGHT / WWW.PHOTOACTION.COM
FEBRUARY 2022 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 16
A Challenging Crossing
— and We’re Here!
by Sally Erdle
“We’ve gone through the trials of the
pandemic, the challenging winds and seas of
an ocean crossing — and now we’re here!”
Scotsman Jon Moss, who sailed the Malö 42
Misty Mhor with his partner Fiona McLean, his
brother-in-law Alistair and friend Dugald, told
Compass, “For much of the crossing it was
quite rolly, relentless. The sea state was
moderate to rough and our stern was slewing
down the waves — we hit 12 knots surfing. But
our older hull shape is stable and we made it in
18 days, second in our class!”
Nearly 900 sailors from 29 different countries
Misty Mhor: “We made a daily
arrived in Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia, in
inspection of stores and ate
December 2021 in the 36th edition of the
accordingly.” Wilson the Watermelon
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, organized by World
made it all the way to St. Lucia.
Cruising Club (WCC).
The 147 boats on the entry list ranged from the Maestro 35 Annina at 10.75 metres
(35 feet) to Helena, a 38-metre (125-foot) schooner. The average length of the
monohulls was 15.70 metres (51½ feet) and the average length of the multihulls was
not far behind, at 14.60 metres (48 feet).
Of those 147 boats, 141 set sail from the Canary Islands on November 21st. WCC’s
Communications Director Jeremy Wyatt tells Compass, “A lot of the dropouts were
brand-new boats. Causes included pushed-back delivery dates, supply chain issues,
and the fact that some owners from the US and Australia couldn’t get to the Canaries
in time to prepare their boats.” Some of these planned to join the new ARC January
rally, which departed the Canaries bound for St. Lucia on January 9th.
Twelve of the entries were built in 2020 and ten (two monohulls and eight multihulls)
in 2021, just months before the start. While the median age of the monohulls in the
fleet was 14 years, the median age of the multihulls was only two years.
One benefit of the ARC starting from the Canary Islands is that the crews of new
boats gain experience on the shakedown sail to get there, getting to know the boat
and any areas of concern before undertaking the ocean crossing. In addition, the
ARC’s list of safety equipment is a major benefit when commissioning a new boat for
long-distance sailing.
Experienced ARC sailor John Simpson on the British Discovery 55 Casamara says,
“All the prepping of the safety equipment, the advice from World Cruising Club, and
the rally requirements are invaluable, even if, like us, you have sailed several rallies
before and done thousands of miles.” New Zealander Simon Pollard of the Oyster 56
Dragonfly agrees. “Being part of the ARC forced us to have the highest level of safety
gear aboard, and not cut corners.”
We happen to be here
Simon, his wife Amandine Monsaingeon, and their children Tama (age 13), Luca
(12), Naomi (10), and Lee (4), hadn’t originally expected to end up in St. Lucia at all.
They had entered the ARC+, which leaves the Canaries two weeks earlier and makes
landfall in Grenada (see last month’s Compass). Unfortunately, the discovery of
serious issues with Dragonfly’s carbon fibre mast prevented them from being ready
for the ARC+, but after repairs were made they were able to make the ARC start.
Simon tells Compass that the WCC did everything they could to help get Dragonfly
ready for the ARC start, and other ARC crews were helpful with lending tools, a hand
Polygala stood by the distressed Charlotte Jane, but already had a crowd — a reality TV show crew — aboard.
SALLY ERDLE
or advice. Amandine says, “I never heard of
anyone who regretted sailing in the ARC.”
Both Simon and Amandine had worked on
superyachts in the Med and were passionate
about boats. But they settled New Zealand and
developed careers, and their family grew. Then,
as Amandine explains, “We first had the idea in
2018 that, since we both love sailing, what better
adventure but to lead a family expedition? Then
2019 was a dark year for many people around
us. It cemented the fact that we wanted to simply
have a good time with our children. The global
events of 2020 precipitated us into action. There
would never be a better time — we wanted to go
before our oldest became uninterested. Between
July and December 2020, we sold up, quit jobs
and school, and flew to Spain for a first encounter
with the boat of our dreams.”
—Continued on next page
SALLY ERDLE
“We sold up, quit jobs and school,
and flew to Spain for a first
encounter with the boat
of our dreams.”
Left to right: Noa, John, Laura and Susan on Casamara. “The girls have been fantastic.”
SALLY ERDLE