ARC+ 2023 - Line honours for Italian team Berenice Cube
by World Cruising Club 3 Dec 2023 03:34 AEDT
ARC 2023 Start: Swan 90 Berenice Cube, and Sidney II a Grand Soleil 50 (JV) © James Mitchell Photography
A lucky thirteen years after claiming line honours in ARC 2010, Marco Rodolfi is again first to the finish, this time in a faster 12 days 13 hours 54 minutes and 34 seconds with Swan 90 Berenice Cube (GBR).
The Italian owned and crewed Berenice Cube crossed the line off Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia on Saturday 2 December at 02:39:34 UTC (local time Friday 1 December 22:39:34) after 3050 nautical miles of classic trade wind sailing from Gran Canaria.
Explaining the team strategy, Marco Rodolfi said: "The choice was to go south and use the Code Zero to go as fast as possible." He added: "The crew are very, very, very good. The best crew in the world, sailing stars."
Mulithull Line Honours
Seven hours after Berenice Cube was alongside in IGY Rodney Bay Marina, Regis Guillemot took multihull line honours with his Marsaudon ORC50 Ti ana (FRA), crossing the line on Saturday 2 December at 10:22:32 UTC (local time 06:22:32). Regis and the crew of Ti ana covered 3313nm in 12 days, 21 hours 52 minutes and 32 seconds.
Like Marco Rodolfi, this is the second ARC line honours award for Regis, following his 2019 win with Hallucine (FRA), a Marsaudon TS5. Ti ana made the crossing almost 2 days faster than Hallucine, which was first overall to finish in 2019.
ARC Doubles
With Berenice's line honours, Italian teams have won both the 2023 ARC transatlantic rallies as Andrea Nevi's Italia Yachts 15.98 Nessun Dorma (ITA) crossed the line first in the ARC+ rally to Grenada on 29 November after 11 days 18 hours from Cape Verde.
It is also a double in the 2023 multihull line honours with newly launched Marsaudon ORC50s taking both top slots - Ti ana joining Christopher Murray's Mongoose (USA) which finished ARC+ in 11 days and 23 hours.
Fleet Update
The next boats expected to make landfall on Sunday 3 December are Southern Wind SW100 L'Ondine (GGY), Roger Hill Yacht Design Nica (DEU), Marsaudon ORC50 Calamity (VGB), Oyster 885 Babiana (GBR) and Southern Wind SW100 Acaia (MLT).
The 156 ARC yachts have enjoyed sparkling sailing conditions with gentle trades building slowly during the crossing to more classic 15-20 knots. The bulk of the fleet are expected to arrive in Saint Lucia between 6 and 12 December, ahead of the prize-giving on 16 December.
This year 252 yachts are crossing the Atlantic with ARC rallies (156 with ARC to Saint Lucia and 96 with ARC+ to Grenada) including a record-breaking 73 multihulls spread between the two fleets. 2023 is also a record-breaking year for junior sailors, with 63 under-16s crossing the Atlantic with the ARC and ARC+ rallies.
Follow the fleets on the YB Races app, or on the rally website Fleet Viewer.