At the sound of a cannon the 30th edition of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers kicked off from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria en route to Saint Lucia last Sunday November 22. Simultaneously, the 2015 Mercury ARC Flotilla unfolded on the seas between the Castries waterfront and the IGY Rodney Bay marina in celebration of the event. At the forefront of this event was Heineken which has been with the ARC as a sponsor from the inception. This year Heineken is a gold sponsor once again.
For the kick off Flotilla event, this year Heineken collaborated with a number of media partners namely Radio Caribbean International (RCI), the Wave and Hot FM to make the event more appealing to the general public. Via this medium, Heineken offered consumers the opportunity to be on the Heineken party boat last Sunday, for an experience like no other.
According to Heineken Brand Manager Gaius Harry, the feedback was overwhelming from consumers and those who participated in the Heineken party boat, as part of the Flotilla.
“We are aware that the ARC is an event which brings great economic benefit to Saint Lucia via the hundreds of persons who sail here each year and spend while on-island, and the publicity the island receives as a favourable yachting destination. And so, in light of this, we thought we would extend our role by making the event more appealing to Saint Lucians as well as informing them of the overall ARC,” Harry said.
The ARC is an extension of Heineken’s longstanding tradition of supporting world- renowned sailing events in the region and Saint Lucia of which the ARC is premiere.
Over 260 boats and 1,250 persons are taking part in this year’s ARC from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, heading 2700NM across the Atlantic to Saint Lucia. As always, the ARC fleet represents almost every principal sailing nation and, this year, boats are registered in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, USA and 12 other nations. Crews have also come from far and
wide to take part, with 41 different nationalities represented.
Heineken Brand Manager Gaius Harry encourages Saint Lucians to welcome the visitors with open arms and to articipate in the activities planned by the Saint Lucia Tourist Board as part of this year’s ARC welcome events at the IGY Rodney Bay Marina.
