You could argue that best thing about the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) isn’t really the camaraderie, the energy, or even the excitement of taking on the big challenge of a transatlantic passage. It’s possible that next to the sailing itself, the best thing is the stories. It’s the way that hundreds of sailors young and old, veterans and newbies, embark on this shared experience yet have entirely singular adventures.
And every time one of them crosses the finish line in Rodney Bay in St. Lucia, wrapping up the 2,700-mile passage from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands, they are adding to the sea of stories that make this annual event a must-do for so many cruising sailors.
Consider Easter Snow, the Southerly 42 that entered the marina in the dark under tow, having lost its engine days earlier and wrestling a variety of challenges. No matter that they were among the final 20 boats to finish of the 155 that started—loudhailers blared and cheers erupted from the surrounding boats for brothers John and Richard Lambert and their two crew. It was their first transatlantic, all the sweeter for John, who made this crossing sailing with multiple sclerosis. He describes the illness as a race against time, and it made him launch himself into this adventure with a fair degree of abandon.
“I sailed 14 weeks straight before we even reached the start line. The physicality of it is difficult because I fatigue more easily and
