{"id":61723,"date":"2026-01-12T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=61723"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:20:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:20:57","slug":"2026-world-arc-fleet-embarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/people\/2026-world-arc-fleet-embarks\/","title":{"rendered":"World ARC Fleet Begins 15-Month Circumnavigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n        <section class=\"hydra-container\">\n\n\t\t\t                <div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"449\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WARC_2026-2027_22-large-1024x575.jpg\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"World ARC fleet\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WARC_2026-2027_22-large-1024x575.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WARC_2026-2027_22-large-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WARC_2026-2027_22-large-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WARC_2026-2027_22-large-1536x862.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WARC_2026-2027_22-large.jpg 2000w\" \/>                <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n            <figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">The World ARC 2026-27 fleet has departed Saint Lucia, beginning a 15-month circumnavigation.<\/span>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy World Cruising Club<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t            <\/figcaption>\n        <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n<iframe id=\"gkstfcayky\" src=\"https:\/\/cruisingworld.dragonforms.com\/gkstfcayky\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>With bows pointed west and months of preparation behind them, the World ARC 2026-27 fleet officially got underway January 10, departing Saint Lucia to begin a 15-month circumnavigation of the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The start came at midday local time in steady northeast trades of about 15 knots, ideal conditions for the opening leg to Panama. For many aboard, simply crossing the start line marked the fulfillment of a long-held dream years in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m so excited. I can\u2019t wait to start the trip across the Pacific, and going through the Panama Canal is going to be a blast,\u201d said Tommaso Amadori of <em>Cashew<\/em> ahead of the start. \u201cThe group is amazing, and the organization is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For long-range cruisers, the days and weeks leading up to departure are often as demanding as the miles at sea. In Saint Lucia, crews focused on final systems checks provisioning and mental preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou need to get the boat ship shape for what\u2019s coming,\u201d Amadori said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big job mentally and physically, but the reward is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That mix of hard work and shared anticipation defines the opening chapter of World ARC. While some crews are new to organized rallies, many have crossed oceans together before through World Cruising Club events. Regardless of background, the Saint Lucia start brought together a new fleet bound by a common goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seminars, safety briefings and social events helped establish that sense of community, supported by World Cruising Club along with the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority and Events Saint Lucia. IGY Rodney Bay Marina served as the fleet\u2019s base, offering a practical and welcoming launch point for the adventure ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the course of the rally, boats will visit 19 countries. Many stops are places rarely reached by travelers arriving by air, a key draw for sailors seeking deeper engagement with the places they visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flexibility is also built into the program. Some crews plan to pause midway, effectively taking a cruising gap year before rejoining a future edition of the rally. For many long-range sailors, that adaptability mirrors the reality of cruising life, where plans evolve with weather, family and opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026-27 fleet reflects the diversity of today\u2019s cruising community, including eight family crews and seven doublehanded teams. Different boats, different backgrounds and different sailing styles converge under the shared challenge of going all the way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis has been a dream for decades,\u201d said Will Lee of <em>Sea Wisdom II<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to doing it with my wife Chloe and sharing this experience with everyone in the fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later this month, the boats will transit the Panama Canal, a milestone that marks the beginning of the 10,000-nautical-mile Pacific crossing. For cruising sailors watching from home, the fleet\u2019s departure is a reminder that big voyages are built on careful preparation, strong community and the willingness to finally cast off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Departing Saint Lucia, the World ARC 2026-27 fleet embarks on a globe-spanning voyage shaped by preparation and camaraderie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":61724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Cruising World News Desk","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_image":false,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[445,617,1101,2072,1280,448,197,552,625],"class_list":["post-61723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-bluewater-sailing","tag-circumnavigation","tag-community-sailing","tag-competitive-sailing","tag-offshore-sailing","tag-passage-making","tag-people","tag-sailing","tag-world-arc"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}