Each year in December, Rodney Bay – on the lush, tropical island of St Lucia in the Caribbean - is the finishing destination for the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), a 2,700 nautical-mile passage across the Atlantic from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.  The largest transocean sailing event in the world, it usually takes between 14 and 21 days to complete with over 200 yachts, from 29-112ft, making the crossing (along with numerous NARC (Non-ARC) vessels).  My father was racing on Star Chaser, a beautiful Swan 51 vessel, and so it was only right that I, together with my mother and brother, flew over to greet him at the finish line!

The first two yachts to arrive crossed the finish line in Rodney Bay on the 4th December, separated by just 16 minutes and five seconds.  Big One and Bagheera arrived after just 12 days at sea and an exciting gybing (turning) duel, one which intensified over the last 24 hours.  That left over 200 vessels still at sea, however, and not all had such an easy crossing – in fact some unlucky crews didn’t complete the voyage at all.  Auliana II was abandoned and the crew evacuated following the loss of her rudder on the 23rd November – just one day into the race.  Further misfortune befell Pelican on the 1st December: following a rig failure, the crew had to be evacuated around 300 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.  Others still had big decisions to make.  The crew of Silver Bear took the brave and valiant call to slow their boat down and shadow another yacht, Star Fire, for over 1,500 miles after she got into difficulty – providing selfless assistance and delaying their own arrival by several days.  Who said it would all be plain sailing?

My extremely-elated Dad and the rest of the equally-chipper Star Chaser crew arrived on the 8th December at 19:50 local time, after 16 days sailing (final results showed Star Chaser’s position as 28th out of 158 in the Cruising Division, and the crew won an award for the best photos taken at sea – not bad at all!).  A warm St Lucian welcome greeted them in Rodney Bay Marina, with rum punches at the ready…  Not that the crew needed anything in the way of pick-me-ups after the rally: they were all high as kites on the back of such a transatlantic achievement.  It proved to be a full-time job to keep them from swaying around and falling off the pontoon into the murky-marina water below!

The following day, the partying at the marina intensified as over a third of the fleet had docked safely in St Lucia.  The consistent winds meant that average passage times were reduced by nearly three days compared with 2008.  Rodney Bay buzzed with a unique atmosphere created by the coming together of hundreds of people from around the world united by a common accomplishment.

The fog horns, sirens, screaming and whistling continued even as the last yacht, Erasmos I, arrived on the 19th December after a string of nautical difficulties.  Camaraderie was high and the rapturous ovation was unparalleled.  Erasmos I may have taken her berth in the marina but for the pontoon-side celebrations with steel bands and fire dancers, this was just the beginning…

Welcome to St Lucia and the distinctly Caribbean pleasure of island time!