Smaller ARC rally to go ahead
Plans by World Cruising to run the annual ARC transatlantic rally from Gran Canaria to St Lucia in November have been given the green light by governments on both islands. However, with uncertainty about what freedom of movement will be possible through the Caribbean, many owners have postponed their plans and the rally will have its lowest entry list in almost 20 years.
Andrew Bishop and his team of rally organisers have been working with authorities in both countries to allow the rally to happen, but there will be changes this year. “We’ve kept a positive attitude but it relies on the support of the authorities at the start and the finish so it needs to be COVID secure, and respecting all the local protocols in place.”
The rally fleet is already divided between the ARC+ via the Cape Verde islands and the ARC start, which begin two weeks apart, and a further split may be considered if it proves necessary to have a staggered arrival in St Lucia.
“From first to last, it can be as much as two weeks, and local facilities might be better placed with that spread,” says Bishop. “The protocol for St Lucia at the moment does require a test on arrival. Whether this changes by the time ARC arrives remains to be seen. But they have introduced something quite clever at Rodney Bay Marina where they take a test from a mixed sample of
[all] crewmembers and then if there is any sign of COVID-19, they test everyone. But 95% of ARC crews’ arrival is after more than 14 days at sea, so St Lucia’s chief medical officers have accepted and are building into protocols that days at sea can be counted into any quarantine period.”
For those changing crew or being joined by family, the current situation is that arriving passengers are tested on arrival.
“For the ARC, they are looking at accepting there is an element of crew changing and will require crew to go directly to the boat or go directly to the airport but we are not sure of the amount of time they have to do that. That is being worked on.”
At present, gatherings of up to 1,000 are allowed in Gran Canaria, provided venues are only filled to 70% capacity. That would allow World Cruising to run a social and shoreside programme, and their usual seminar programme. “But,” says Bishop,
“we need something that will keep people Covidsecure before they go to sea. It is likely the majority of activities will be early on and there will be requirements for crews to arrive a certain number of days before the start.”
“And I think that is very much down to the skipper and the crew to be responsible,” he adds. “It is the responsibility of skippers that they are happy to go to sea. Crew being, as far as they can make out, virus-free has to be their responsibility.
“We will issue some guidance as to how this is best achieved and this includes the suggestion of forming a crew bubble well in advance of the start and also taking tests in the days before the start. They will have to pay for it but we have a testing facility that can do 250 tests a day,” he says. The tests are €160 per person.