I had to look it up, but when I was writing my last article, I was already sitting in an apartment in England, Cowes where I was being trained for my job with World Cruising Club. They organize several sailing rallies, the most famous of which is probably the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). Around 150 boats set sail every November from Las Palmas on Gran Canaria to Rodney Bay in Saint Lucia. Since the first ARC in 1986, over 8,000 boats have sailed with the rally to the Caribbean.
I enrolled mainly for one of their other rallies, World ARC. Every January, a fleet of around 30 yachts sets sail from St Lucia to cruise the Panama Canal, the Pacific Islands, Australia, the Indian Ocean, South Africa, the Atlantic and Brazil, before returning to the Caribbean.
Together with my work partner, Lesley, I was responsible for planning and delivering the rally ‚in the field‘. This basically meant assisting the sailors with their clearance procedures at each stopover, often involving special arrangements with the local authorities to streamline the process for our sailors. We ensured that every crew received a warm welcome and introduced them to their new destination.
We were on hand to help with any problems, such as finding the best mechanic or sailmaker, or organising duty-free fuel, even when the whole island was shut down due to public holidays! We organised island tours, prepared social events and prize-givings for the ‚fun competition‘, and held briefings to inform the sailors about their next destination, the challenges en route, the weather, anchorages, and the most beautiful places to visit.
While the boats were sailing to their next destination, we rushed to the airplane to arrive ahead of the fleet while continuing to provide support via email.
It was a demanding job. But it was also great in many ways: I could use and pass on the knowledge I had gained during my circumnavigation, and working for a company meant that my management skills became more professional. There was quite a difference between organising my own trip around the world and organising 28–32 yachts with up to 130 sailors in total!
Secondly, I had the chance to return to my favorite places around the world, see new countries I haven’t seen on my trip, and I had the chance to reunite with friends I didn’t think I would be able to see again within the next 10 Years!
One of these friends is my brother Pako in Vanuatu. We first met when I sailed to Moso Island on WASA. It was unexpected, but it was so nice to see him again after only three years. Due to a coincidence, I could not sail to Tanna Island, the first port of call for the fleet, but instead had to fly to Port Vila, Vanuatu’s main island.
This gave me the opportunity to finish my work early in the days and travel to Moso in the afternoon.
It was funny how we linked again immediately and caught up on old stories as if we had never been apart!
We reconstructed our photo from the first visits. The two pictures are three years apart!!
I continued working for the rally until we reached Australia, which marks the halfway point. Some yachts decide to take a break here, leaving the rally to join again the following year. Others had started a year earlier and were now joining us for the return journey, while others had just started their adventure in Australia. It was also a convenient time for a change in staff.
I missed sailing! I missed being on the water, and I missed watching coastlines disappear on the horizon. I missed the vastness of the sea and the freedom and challenges that nature puts in oour way.
I spent four weeks in Australia exploring a few new places and visiting old friends. Then I flew home to Germany for another month to prepare for my next sailing adventure:
Malcom and Kate, a couple I had previously sailed with in Australia, had invited me to join them in the Mediterranean. The plan was to deliver the Grace of Sydney, a Swan 48, from Greece to Malta, and to sail the Rolex Middle Sea Race on her. I can’t describe how much I was looking forward to this trip! – I just couldn’t wait any longer!
Back home, I assessed my sailing gear and realised that I needed a few new items to prepare for the upcoming trip and race. Nights in October can already be cold around Malta and Sicily, and you never know what conditions you will get. In a race, you can’t change the departure date if the weather isn’t suitable.
Anyone who has researched good-quality sailing gear will probably have been shocked by the prices listed in the catalogues! The happier I was when Christoph the owner of my local sail chandlery “Der Segelladen am Ammersee” stepped forward to support me with the purchase of my new gear.
In mid-September, I flew to Lefkada, where I met Malcolm and Kate, as well as Max and Katy, on Grace of Sydney. We didn’t stay long as bad weather was forecast to hit western Greece, and we set sail for Sicily. ‚Grace‘ immediately proved what a beautiful vessel she is. She was absolutely balanced on the helm, very responsive to adjustments to the sails or rig, and fast. Nice and fast.
The same goes for the crew: Nice and fast! I was very happy to be going sailing with Malcom and Kate again, and I was also very happy to meet Max and Kate! It was great sailing with them. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed, yet everyone was keen to work the boat upwind and set new speed records downwind.
Since we left Greece so early, we had plenty of time to reach Malta, so we stopped at a few ports around Sicily and explored the currents in the Strait of Messina, as these would form part of our race course later on. We stopped in Messina (where we enjoyed amazing pistachio granita), Milazzo (where we had fantastic pizza), anchored off the active volcano on the island „Volcano“, visited Lipari (where we found another stunning old town and some amazing food), and sailed back through the Messina Strait to Syracuse, where we were again stunned by the old town and the mouth-watering Sicilian cuisine!
From there, we headed straight for Valletta in Malta, where we moored prior to the start of the Middle Sea Race. We waited for the rest of the crew and prepared ‚Grace‘ for the upcoming 600-nautical-mile race around Sicily, Stromboli and Lampedusa.
There were 11 of us in total, mostly friends and sailors who had already sailed together in Australia. However, never has this team sailed together in this constellation or sailed on GRACE before.
It has been an exciting few days. When the team came together in Valletta, we unloaded the boat onto a container, while Max and Katy started preparing our meals for the race.
The start line was located in the centre of Grand Harbour, just below the Saluting Battery and surrounded by the historic buildings of the old town. With 100 entries, the start of the race was quite busy in the small harbour
The first day was quite windy and promised to be wet, too, but luckily the rain never came. By the time we reached Messina, we were doing very well, positioned within the top ten overall and potentially securing a podium finish in our division.
However, after the first day, the winds became very light. Not always, of course, but I lost count of the hours I spent awake watching the wind meter showing 5 kts, 2 kts, 3 kts, 1 kt … 0 kts?!? Light wind wasn’t our biggest strength, but we did our best and literally did some magic “to keep the bus moving”! Being more of a cruising – racer set up, GRACE definitively wasn’t the lightest boat in the fleet.
It was a great experience – or, as Rolex would say: ‚the great adventure!‘ Hard work, fantastic fun, the best crew, lovely food and even though we didnt make the , in my opinion we still got still a great result! IRC overall we came 35 (out of 94 finishing), 8th (out of 20) in our division, and FIRST in the SWAN Cup!!
I was working a few days in the preperations with the shore team of the overall winner BALTHASAR:
Here are two links for the Middle Sea Race Aftervideos:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/185c3gReSG/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JPiJDBuCFAM
Well, and then I only wanted to visit my ‚foster family‘, the Tobins, in Portugal before going home for Christmas. But then I came across a job advert for a skipper position on an Atlantic crossing at short notice.
I found the advert on Thursday morning, signed the contract that evening, and flew to the Canary Islands on Saturday to meet the crew. We prepared the boat, and set sail on 23 November for the start of the ARC.
The boat was a Harmony 52 and the eleven crew members came from all sorts of different backgrounds and were from six different nations. They ranged in age from 25 to 64. What brought them together was their wish to sail across the Atlantic and learn about long-distance sailing and sailing with spinnakers. We sailed without an autopilot or engine propulsion.
After an extensive and intense week of preparation, the crossing went very well, and we sailed the 2,700 nautical miles from Gran Canaria to St Lucia in just 17 days!
I am now back at Ammersee in Germany. I want to spend the winter here and take a short!!! break from sailing. I have started a Yacht Surveying course with the International Institute for Marine Surveying, and I am going to use the calm days to study and make some progress before setting out on the water again next season.
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
Paul