After 13 months sailing across the Pacific, Indian and South Atlantic Ocean the World ARC 2019-20 fleet are back in South America, at Salvador da Bahia in Brazil. Sailing around 3660 NM from Cape Town on the longest leg of their circumnavigation, the fleet broke the journey in Namibia and St-Helena for a 72 hour stopover before reaching Terminal Nautico in Salvador. The boats experienced a very slow passage, with very light winds from St Helena to Salvador; the 1st boat to make landfall was Babsea on Tue 4th Feb followed by SweetDreams on Sat 8th.
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Waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive, the city of Salvador is slowly changing face and getting ready for the carnival. Stages are going up everywhere, the shops are protecting themselves with wooden planks from the hordes of revellers, and bands are repeating their song at every corner of the streets around the city.
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With boats still arriving in Salvador, the programme will start with a City Tour on the 11th followed by a cruising briefing and a prizegiving on the 12th; from the 13th Feb the Cruising period will begin, giving yachts a chance to explore the coast of Brazil before gathering in Cabedelo for the start of the Leg 17 to Grenada
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