Extra spaces have been reserved for the most popular cross-ocean rally.

The ARC 2013 will have an additional start on 10 November to meet ‘unprecedented interest’ from sailors and a new route option to include a stopover in Cape Verdes.
 
Thirty extra boat slips recently installed by the Las Palmas Port Authority has enabled the ARC rally to grow to a maximum of 245 yachts for 2013; despite this, the ARC was full by the end of January, with the waiting list closed a month later.
 
As a result World Cruising Club has launched an alternative start for the ARC rally, which also includes a stopover in the Cape Verde Islands.
 
Called ARC+ the new route will depart from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday 10 November, two weeks ahead of the traditional ARC start, and includes a full week of activities, seminars, and social functions.

Additionally cruising sailors will benefit from all the discounts associated with participating in the ARC, including substantial offers at eighteen marinas en route from Northern Europe.
 
A stop in the Cape Verdes has been added to introduce ARC sailors to another archipelago en-route to the Caribbean, and gives a route alternative to those owners returning to the ARC for whom this is not their first Atlantic crossing. The ARC+ fleet will re-group in the Cape Verdes before setting off with the trade winds across the Atlantic to Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia.
 
ARC+ will be limited to 50 cruising boats and only ‘fun’, non- competitive racing.