The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), and its sister event the ARC+, is the ultimate gear test – often to destruction – of everything from sails to self-steering, cookers, communications and electronics.
I first visited St Lucia in 2005, and have since covered the event five times. While crews are inevitably exhausted when I meet them on the docks, so is their kit.
COMMUNICATIONS
Distress calling
Weather apps
Radar
AIS
DSC/VHF radio
SSB radio
Starlink
Iridium
SAFETY
Safety at night
MOB recovery
Danbuoys
Throwing lines
EMERGENCY KIT
First aid
Medication
Seasickness
Dive equipment
LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Cooking
Watermakers
Refrigeration
Batteries
Wind, sun and
hydro power
Generators
Fuel
STEERING
Autopilot
Hydrovane
Windvane
Running equipment day and night for three weeks in Atlantic swells and squalls, often with tired and inexperienced operators, is a great way to test its limitations, not to mention the problem-solving nous of the crew – but more of that in May’s edition of Practical Boat Owner!
Comms
While the ARC sails direct from Gran Canaria to St Lucia, the ARC+ has a stopover in Mindelo, Cape Verde, which for some boats is a fixing frenzy, and for others an opportunity to collect the replacement parts they ordered at sea.
Yes, that’s right, ‘at sea’. Online shopping definitely didn’t feature back in 2005 – when the cost of horrendously slow data was up to £3 a minute.
Thanks to high-speed internet Starlink, one boat on 2023’s ARC+ managed to order a new forestay and have someone fly it to Cape Verde in time for their arrival.
“Starlink was brilliant,” says Claire Wallace of Discovery 58, Aqualuna. “We didn’t have any drop in quality, it’s honestly better than our wifi at home.”
Claire was sailing double-handed with her husband Malcolm when their second forestay snapped following a halyard wrap. Immediately, they alerted ARC+ cruisers on the WhatsApp group, who stood by. They then spoke to John Eustace, build manager at Discovery Yachts, who flew out with new rigging disguised in his luggage as a windsurfer!
Of the 96 boats taking part in last year’s ARC+ rally, 12% were fitted with Starlink, which uses low-orbiting satellites installed by Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX.
The rally’s first Lebanese entrant, Toni Salame on board Oyster 575 Ahlam, used Starlink to receive weather data. His son, Nicholas, even held a video conference during the crossing.
“Starlink has been the key to keeping us connected. It’s given us a lot of comfort,” he says.
“We communicated with the family onshore, we shared news of what’s happening in the world and managed personal, family and business situations.”
Toni bought his €280 monthly Starlink contract in Barcelona. It gives him 50GB of data per month on the ocean, and when he’s on land he can switch to unlimited data for €90 a month.
Distress calling
In the latest rally, 40% of participants had Iridium GO!, a portable hotspot device, which links tosatellite network. This requires a prepaid SIM card or contract, allowing users to connect to up to five devices (laptop, tablet or mobile) using the required software, apps and logins.
