ARC+ Privegiving: Time to celebrate in Grenada

ARC+ 2025 has come to a close with a joyous prizegiving in Grenada.

Bringing together 84 yachts and over 400 crew members from around the world, ARC+ 2025 was a thrilling transatlantic passage of two legs. The first leg was from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands (850 nautical miles). Leg two was from Mindelo to Port Louis, Grenada (2,100 nautical miles).

The prizegiving event opened with a warm welcome from Shanai St Bernard, Nautical Development Manager for the Grenada Tourism Authority, and Zara Tremlett, General Manager of Port Louis Marina, recognized the achievements of the participants and incredible dedication of the wider support teams. Following this, prizes were handed out for crews taking part in the different divisions.

Prizegiving Highlights

Multihull Division Winners:

• Enjoy The Silence (BEL) claimed 1st place in Class A Multihulls and Multihull Line Honours, completing the crossing in 10 days, 4 hours, and 38 minutes – over a day faster than last year’s first over the line.
• Kotare (GGY) secured 1st place in Class B Multihulls.

Dan Simpson from Kotare said: “I still can’t believe that we’ve actually done it- I really can’t. It’s been two years in the planning and I’m so proud of us for seeing it through. It will be life-changing for us as a family.

"We are on our way to New Zealand and ARC+ is the first step. We’re glad we did it. We loved it and had an amazing time. There were ups and downs along the way, but that’s all part of it. It’s just an incredible life-changing experience.”

Cruising Division Winners:

• Dawnbreaker (SWE) was awarded 1st place in Class A and Cruising Division Line Honours
• Morning Bird (GBR) achieved 1st place in Class D Cruising
• Ursa Major (NOR) topped Class B Cruising
• Lala Salama (GBR) took Class C

Raymond Saelen from Ursa Major, said: “We are very, very happy right now. It was a really good experience and really enjoyable. We had nice conditions for the Atlantic crossing and it was so fun. It’s great to be here in Grenada and we are pleased that we did it as a family with ARC+."

In addition to the prizes awarded for the fastest boats in each division, there were also many special prizes handed out to other crews or individuals.

Special Awards:

• Fleet Nominated Awards recognized yachts such as Tangaroa for “Most Beautiful Yacht”
• Social Media Award: Dawnbreaker was named for most captivating posts throughout the crossing
• Adversity Awards: Crews of Canopus and Miss U were honoured for overcoming significant challenges during the crossing
• Spirit of the ARC+ Rally: Awarded to Fortuitous for exceptional support of fellow sailors at sea

Speaking at the prizegiving, Managing Director of World Cruising Club, Paul Tetlow, said: "I would like to say congratulations to all the prize winners but also to all the participants for completing ARC+. Hopefully during this experience they will have made memories that will last a lifetime.

"The prizegiving is all about celebration, but it’s also our opportunity to give thanks to the many organisations that help deliver ARC+ here in Grenada."

Double Handed Achievements

The event also acknowledged the skill and teamwork of double-handed crews, including Eveline. Speaking at the prizegiving, Linn from Eveline joked: “It was too short! We like to be out on the ocean and we were pleased that we managed to do the ARC+ crossing in under 14 days.

"The rally has been so much fun and we really enjoyed meeting all the other people and the World Cruising Club 'yellow shirts' are fabulous." 

Young Sailors Celebrated

This year, 48 children crossed the Atlantic with the ARC+ fleet, which was an all-time record. Each child earned a medal and a certificate for their remarkable accomplishment. Special recognition was given to Skye and Bee on Blue Ocean for looking after ARC+ mascot, Archie the Monkey, during the journey.

Charitable Contributions

The prizegiving ceremony was also a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate the lasting impact ARC+ sailors have made to the destinations of the rally through the Positive Impact Fund. This is a registered charity which was started by World Cruising Club in 2025.

This year, in recognition of the 40th edition of the ARC, World Cruising Club will make a donation of nearly £10,000 to the fund. In Grenada, the trustees have decided to award:

• A minimum of 1,750 USD to the L'Esterre, the Carriacou Junior Sailing project for basic sailing equipment and possibly 2 new (second hand ILCA) boats in the future
• 1,000 USD Grenada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to help fund improvements to the infrastructure at the homing centre

Additionally, 2,000 USD will be given to Umanzia, the humanitarian charity in the Cape Verde who help local populations with flood relief projects.

Next steps for the participants

The prizegiving in Grenada was the conclusion of the ARC+ 2025 programme, but for many participants there are even more sailing adventures to come.

Many of the fleet will enjoy a cruising experience around the Caribbean and it is common for participants to rendezvous together at different locations, continuing friendships formed throughout the ARC+ experience.

Five boats within the fleet, Beyond, Sea Wisdom II, Salta, Salty Rascal and Navigo, will complete a circumnavigation of the globe with World ARC in January and a number of the fleet will return to Europe with ARC Europe in May.

Whatever the journey for the fleet, they will unquestionably look back at ARC+ 2025 as an unforgettable experience, with a lifetime of memories made.