The weather systems on Leg 2 from Mindelo were varied for the fleet with the earlier boats sailing in mostly calm conditions with steady winds while some of the later boats experienced stronger winds and some heavy squalls gusting over 40 knots.

Many families undertook the crossing and there were 53 children aboard the yachts – 28 catamarans, 56 monohulls and 2 trimarans – as well as three dogs.

The first boat to arrive at Port Louis Marina at St George’s was Enjoy the Silence, an Outremer 55 catamaran, making landfall amid jubilant celebrations on the dock after 10 days and four hours at sea.

Enjoy the Silence was well ahead of the rest of the fleet. Skipper Jean Jullien said: ‘This is a special feeling for me. On one hand we are really happy because we have been pushing the boat to cross the line first, but I actually feel slightly deflated now it is over.

‘For us, the start was the best moment. Before the start we were completely relaxed but when we saw all the other boats, it was all action – the crew just wanted to win.’

Enjoy The Silence and all the crews received a tremendous welcome in Grenada

Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the World Cruising Club, which organises the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) rallies, Grenada Tourism Authority and Port Louis Marina and the celebrations began.

Two days later, the first family boat arrived, Dawnbreaker, a 2002 Kanter 64 skippered by Karl Nerman from Sweden. Father Lars passed his beloved boat to his son and the three generations sailed together with Karl’s wife Anna and their three young children.

The first doublehanded team were also very fast, reaching Grenada after 13 days and 14 hours. Linn Eve and Anders Krogholm from Norway sailed on Eveline, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 50DS.

‘We had a lovely trip over,’ said Linn. ‘There was not very much wind on the first leg so we had a bit of motoring. This second leg we had much more wind which was better for our boat.

‘The last two nights, the squalls increased and the wind increased over the last few hours so we finished with 10 knots on the finish line in the middle of the night in complete darkness. We had a really lovely trip.’

Several yachts are planning to sail with World ARC, departing from St Lucia in January. Linn and Anders will sail north along the US coast to Canada and then to Greenland.

There was a beautiful wedding aboard Beyond 1 shortly after their arrival

One truly memorable moment was on 6 December when, shortly after arrival, the Hungarian Windelo 50 catamaran Beyond I, became the setting for a very beautiful and unique wedding ceremony.

Owner-skipper Endre Eolyus, officiated at the wedding of his school friend and crew member Botond and his fiancé Edit, who had flown across the Atlantic to join him. Friends and family joined new friends from the ARC+ to celebrate as the sun set.

An aerial view of Port Louis Marina near St George’s in Grenada

Around 1,200 sailors are taking part in this year’s ARC and ARC+ rallies sailing across the Atlantic from Las Palmas in two fleets destined for St Lucia and Grenada. The first boats are beginning to arrive in St. Lucia.