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Rallying Around the World

Bang! The photo shows the first Oyster World fleet setting out from the Pillars of Hercules, Antigua, for their voyage around the world. The second Oyster World event, which starts on Sunday, will be twice as long as the first, 27 months.

© 2017 Oyster World

Folks who have been around cruising for many years will probably recall that the ‘standard’ time for a circumnavigation used to be three years. That’s what seemed to fit in with coming and going of hurricane/cyclone seasons, the speed of the boats, and the then-normal pace of cruising life.

The first year would be across the Pacific Ocean, the second year across the Indian Ocean, and the third year across the Atlantic Ocean. Naturally there were cruisers who took longer. As in five years, 10 years or even 25 years.

Up until about five years ago when Somali pirate attacks reached their peak, the greater percentage of cruisers went by way of the Red Sea and the Med instead of by way of South Africa and the South Atlantic.

In the last 10 years there has been an increase in quicker circumnavigations. A good example is that of the late Mike Harker, who despite some physical limitations singlehanded his Manhattan Beach-based Hunter Mariner 49 Wanderlust III around the world in just 11 months. It’s possible to do it that quickly without tempting hurricanes/cyclones.

Also encouraging quick circumnavigations have been various around-the-world rallies. The World Cruising Club has been running the World ARC, a 15-month, 25,000-mile event, on an annual basis for many years. Eighteen boats took off from St. Lucia on January 7 for the start of this year’s version of the event.

Charlie and Cathy Simon of the Spokane- and Nuevo Vallarta-based Taswell 58 Celebration did the World ARC two years ago and loved it. While they admitted that the pace of the event didn’t allow them to spend as much time as they would have preferred in certain areas, they did get to see lots of places in a relatively short amount of time, and the pace wasn’t too bad. And they loved the camaraderie of the group. In all, the experience has inspired them to attempt the Northwest Passage this summer.

The World ARC divides the route into two parts: from the Caribbean to Australia, and from Australia back to the Caribbean. This allows entries to take a break and rejoin the second half of the event a year later if they wish.

Perhaps even more impressive than this year’s World ARC is the second Oyster World Rally for Oyster-brand yachts. A fleet of 31 Oysters with owners from 10 countries will depart Antigua this Sunday on a “fully supported” 27,000-mile circumnavigation. Unlike the first Oyster Rally, at 27 months this one is going to be twice as long as the first and will be divided into four stages: the Pacific Rally, the Antipodean Cruise, the Asian Rally, and the Trip Home.

While not identical, the World ARC and Oyster World Rally follow pretty much the same trade-wind route. 

© 2017 Oyster World

So while the World ARC fleet heads directly from St. Lucia to the Panama Canal, the Oyster fleet will stop at each of the ABC Islands and the San Blas Islands before regrouping for the Canal transit. There will be similar pauses along the way.

One of the benefits of joining one of the around-the-world rallies is that, in many cases, the checking-in and clearing-out paperwork — and arranging for things such as Panama Canal transits — is taken care of by the organizers.

© 2017 Oyster World

Entry in around-the-world rallies is not cheap. As we recall, the entry fees for both the World ARC and Oyster World Rally ran about $25,000. But based on Latitude 38’s discussions with sailors who have done both rallies, folks who could afford them felt as though they’d gotten full value for their money.

If you’ve done an around-the-world rally, we’d like to hear your thoughts

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