Sunny weather and a fresh breeze treated competitors and spectators to a spectacular start of the 2009 ARC Sailing event in Gran Canaria.

The annual Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) is one of the largest mass-participation events on the sailing calendar and this year over 200 yachts from 30 countries set sail from the port of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria for the 2700 mile long voyage to Rodney Bay in St Lucia. The race takes between two and three weeks depending on the strength of the trade winds. This year's event is the 24th time the race has been organised and it seems to be growing in popularity each time.

The advantage of the perfect 10 knot breeze was that the yachts were able to unfurl their huge spinnakers, those ballooning colourful sails that yachts can use when sailing downwind in certain wind strengths. These sails are the ones you see in the best sailing photographs as each boat seems to be trying to outdo the others for the largest and most colourful sail. The organisers are expecting the weather to remain favourable for the sailors with strengthening winds taking the boats quickly across to the Azores.

The pride of the fleet was the RORC sanctioned racing class, 18 thoroughbred racing craft that were running on high adrenalin as they battled for position on the start line. One of the crews let the excitement of the moment go to their head and crossed the start line ahead of the gun, thereby receiving a three hour penalty. A more prudent approach may have cost them just a few seconds, not the three hours which are going to take some making up.

Next came the bulk of the fleet, cruisers with largely amateur crews who were either sailing their own boats or had booked a bunk on a boat manned by a pro skipper for the exciting journey across the Atlantic. For many people, completing the ARC will be their first crossing of a major ocean, representing a lifetime's ambition for some. This section of the ARC represented some 190 boats with the scale of the fleet making for a remarkable sight for a small island like Gran Canaria. The locals and tourists on holiday in the resort came out in their thousands to witness the event. Many would have felt for the smallest boat in the race, a tiny 29 foot boat, racing against others almost twice its size. As the boats set sail the Texaco Dock in Las Palmas was the scene of music, dancing and general celebration.