Rothmans Arrives in St Lucia

Phaedo Arrives early Friday morning.

Already a busy day in the ARC office. Four boats have arrived, and the Akalaria 40 Vaquita is due in sometime in the next few hours. Vaquita is only 40-feet long, but has the highest (read fastest) handicap in the entire event. Still, under 13 days across the Atlantic (2800 miles) is impressive.

Med Spirit earned line honors, crossing last night around 2330. With her 15-foot draft, she did not even attempt to enter the marina, and has already left for Martinique this morning. Rayon Vert, a trimaran, was a close second (and was actually overtaken by the bigger Maxi Med Spirit last night).

Mia and I woke up around 0345 this morning in anticipation of Phaedo, the distinctive Gunboat 66, painted bright orange (and looking quite impressive at the head of I-dock). They arrived about 0500 into Rodney Bay marina, and were rather excited by Mia's presentation of rum punch and Heineken. Rothmans followed shortly thereafter. Rothmans is a 90+ foot Maxi, former Whitbread boat, with twenty crew onboard, a mix of old and very young Swedes. I think Mia enjoyed speaking with them - I enjoyed listening.

The local news crew was by this morning to interview some of the first arrivals. Phaedo's crew were very receptive, and gave a nice chat about their recent program. The boat has been across the Atlantic three times already this year, most notably winning the Newport - Uk Trans-Atlantic race by a slight margin over Maltese Falcon. Phaedo's photographer was actually responsible for the dramatic photos of Rambler 100 after she capsized in the Fastnet Race this past summer. She and her owner are based in St. Barth's for the winter.

Check out official photographer Tim Wright's (of photoaction.com) photos of the boats crossing the line.