On November 24, our catamaran left the port of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, as part of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. This was not only Avel Vaez’s first participation, but also the first time an ORC57 took part in the ARC: a transatlantic race organized by the World Cruising Club, bringing together hundreds of passionate crews every year.
Our professional crew and 3 passengers headed west for the West Indies… or, more precisely: Rodney Bay, on the island of Saint Lucia.
Right from the start, Avel Vaez stood out from the crowd. The tone was set!
Christian, our skipper, told us the day after the finish: « The crews of the other multihulls were following our progress on the AIS. Very quickly, they saw us as THE boat to catch ».
For us, who wanted above all to show what our ORC57 is capable of, the 14 days spent in the transatlantic race proved Avel Vaez’s incredible capabilities. With light winds over the 3042 nautical miles covered, we didn’t break any records. But, every day, our passengers enjoyed very pleasant speed peaks of between 20 and 23 knots.
What everyone remembered was the human adventure of fast cruising, experienced in comfort and always in safety:
I had expectations. To say they were met would be unfair: they were far exceeded, and the pleasure was immense.
In just a few days, 6 people sharing the same passion for sailing became a team. For me, that’s the most remarkable thing about the trip!
For 52 hours, about halfway through the race, the crew of our catamaran was called upon to divert and take part in the search for the crew member of a rival boat. Of course, Avel Vaez did everything in its power to help.
Meanwhile, Addiction, a particularly fast Outremer 5X, extended her lead to 74 nautical miles over our catamaran. At the finish line, Avel Vaez had caught up well… but was still 15 nautical miles behind.
On December 9 at 04:56 UTC, Avel Vaez crossed the finish line. 14 days, 16 hours and 26 minutes after the start of the race, our catamaran was in 3rd place in real time among the multihulls. The MC75 Jack and Outremer 5X Addiction had arrived respectively 2 hours 04 minutes and 1 hour 34 minutes earlier: a tiny time difference, after more than 2 weeks at sea!
With only 6h15 of engine use over the whole race – compared with 75h for Jack – Avel Vaez and his crew chose to play the sailing card, right to the end.
We’re proud to have proved that performance and sobriety can go hand in hand, and we intend to take our revenge next year…
Do you dream of taking part in the ORC57 Avel Vaez’s East-West transatlantic race as part of ARC 2025? Find out more on the dedicated page.