Steve... Thanks very much. Where are you now?
Greg... The event doesn't cater to the
racing types. This is a story put about by the
Blue Water Rally people who seemed paranoid about World ARC. They seemed to think it was only run to put them out of business. There is a competitive element but at least 90% of the
boats taking part - including us - had absolutely no interest in the 'competitive' bit.
The main purpose of the competitive element is to try and get all the boats to start at the same time. This then means that there should be a nice, spaced out time of arrival at the next port enabling World ARC staff and C&I officials to be able to cope. What happens if you don't have a 'start' is that the slow boats
head out early and so there is a long departure period that needs staff coverage and a concentrated arrival time as different boats all aim to arrive on the same day.
No you won't be left behind doing 100-150 mile days. The event is based around an assumption of the slowest boats averaging 5 knots, therefore 120 mile days.
We actually 'won' the
multihull division on the leg from Reunion Island to Richards Bay, South Africa (the toughest of the whole event), in spite of my policy of always being reefed for the worst possible conditions ( I just read the
weather and currents better than most) and being one of only two husband and wife crews.
pm or
email me if you have any questions you'd like to ask privately.