Leopard of London first over the line in St Lucia

There was an air of celebration at the Gaiety Nightclub last night for the ARC 2004 prize giving which marked the close of this year’s ARC. Sponsored by Cable & Wireless and the Bank of St.Lucia International, participants were welcomed with Pusser’s Rum Cocktails and a chak chak band before the prize giving part 1 started.

The first half of the evening saw awards for yachts placed second, third and fourth in class, as well as special Pusser’s Rum Survival Kit for the last yacht to cross the finish line in each cruising class. Robert Holbrook of Admiral Marine Insurance presented ARC certificates and medals to all the ARC junior participants, and Pusser’s Rum presented rum hipflasks flagons to all yachts that came 2nd and 3rd in their class.

After an interval with music from the All Stars steel pan band, whose pulsating Caribbean rhythms had many of the guests dancing on the lawn, the second half of the presentation got underway with a live performance of the ARC theme song “Sail Away” by St. Lucian vocalist Lisa Weeks. Her song was composed especially for the ARC and has been played daily around Rodney Bay Marina to welcome new arrivals.

During the Prize Giving, US$3,000 was raised at a charity auction for a Pusser’s Rum marine chronometer, bought by Claus Heinrich, owner of the yacht Amoenitas. The auction proceeds will go to buy equipment for the St.Lucia Yacht Club Youth Sailing Project, which aims to introduce young people from all backgrounds to the sport of sailing.

Special guests for the evening were the Hon. Phillip J.Pierre, Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Mario Michelle, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, the Parliamentary Representative for Gros Islet, and Mr Costello Michelle, Chairman of the St.Lucia Tourist Board. The VIP’s joined representatives of sponsors Cable & Wireless and the Bank of St.Lucia International to present prizes to the crews of the first placed yachts in each class. The overall winners in each division on corrected time were:

Division I - Cruising
Jakima -- Mario Codeca -- Italy
Division II – Racing
Antares -- Franciscus Winterswijk -- Netherlands
Division IV – Multihulls
Girolata -- Christian Martin -- France

Pre-prizegiving Pusser's cocktails

However, the highlight of the evening, and the most prestigious award in the ARC, is the coveted “Spirit of the ARC” prize. This goes to the crew, which in the opinion of the organisers, most encompasses the unique spirit of the rally. This year’s winner, a popular choice, was double handed father and daughter team, Peter and Sally-Ann Turner of Asolare.

The last two yachts to finish, Lady Menai and Autumn Breeze, arrived in Rodney Bay Marina just after 12 noon today, too late for the prize giving, but not too late for a tremendous welcome on the dockside from their fellow participants.

At 1007am local time, on 3rd December Leopard of London crossed the ARC2004 finish line in the shadow of Pigeon Island to be the first boat to complete the ARC route. Leopard rounding the headland and going hard on the wind in a north easterly 3 was an awesome and beautiful sight. She powered over the finish line at 15 knots with all the crew cheering at their achievement, including the yacht's goldfish. Leopard, with the Davis family on board, completed the route in 12 days, 1 hour and 17 mins which is just outside the course record. When asked about the crossing James Davis, 14, said, “it was awesome”. Leopard experienced good winds on the crossing apart from a light patch in the middle of the Atlantic, however they picked up good winds off St. Lucia to take them to the finish. The participation by the goldfish was justified by the Skipper, Chris Sherlock saying, “we are a cruising boat”.

The second boat in the ARC2004 fleet to cross the finish line was Sojana, Peter Harrison’s 115ft Ketch in the open division of the ARC along with Leopard and Tenacious. Leopard and Sojana have been involved in a titanic struggle all the way across, with the lead changing hands many times

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