Once again Gran Canaria briefly became home to over 200 yachts as the fleet for the annual ARC trans-atlantic yacht race assembled in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ahead of the event.

This race for amateur crews attracts an unusually large number of entrants and is able to claim the honour of being the largest transocean sailing event in the world. The fleet left Gran Canaria on 22nd November this year the yachts were expected to take between 2 and 3 weeks to reach of the port of Rodney Bay in St Lucia.

The run up to the race start is one of the big social occasions on Gran Canaria and is fully supported by the island's tourist authority. Yachts from all over Europe start to assemble in the days and weeks before the official start and vessels of all shapes and sizes fill up the spare berths in the marinas in and around Las Palmas.

The event has a tradition of being just as much a social occasion as a major yacht race, with a full programme of entertainment both before the start and once the yachts arrive in the Caribbean. It is also a great opportunity for novice transatlantic sailors to make their first ocean crossing in the company of a large fleet of boats and together with other more experienced yachtsmen and women.

Many of the yachts which took part are British, but with lots of entrants from Germany, Spain, Scandinavia and The Netherlands too. There were also a few yachts from the British Virgin Islands that sailed across the Atlantic before making the return leg as part of the race. The start of the race is always a spectacular affair with a Spanish Navy warship typically acting as the official start line and hundreds of smaller craft out on the sea to witness proceedings.

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