World ARC, the new circumnavigation rally organised and managed by the UK-based World Cruising Club (WCC), sets off from Rodney Bay, St.Lucia today on a 15-month voyage.

Cruising ‘guru’ Jimmy Cornell has helped to plan the route, a mixture of open ocean stages, and independent cruising.

After crossing the Pacific, the rally avoids the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa because of ‘political unrest’ and instead rounds the Cape of Good Hope to call at Brazil before returning to the Caribbean.