As its rival Blue Water Rallies falls foul of piracy and recession (see the May issue of YM), World Cruising Club has decided to make its World ARC into an annual event.

Currently the circumnavigating rally is a biennial event, starting each even-yeared January and lasting for 15 months.

But now, after its annual ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) ends in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, the World ARC will continue through the Panama Canal towards the Galapagos Islands.

From there it goes to through the South Pacific to Australia. Instead of the Blue Water Rally’s route through the Suez Canal, the World ARC avoids the pirate-infested waters of the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden and goes around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

World Cruising Club says that the change will make it easier for participants to spend longer in an area, before rejoining the following year’s rally.

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