The ARC in Las Palmas: when and where to see the yachts
If you walk past the Las Palmas marina in early November, you will see an unusually dense forest of masts. These boats have been getting ready for weeks to cross the Atlantic, and they all set off together on a Sunday.
This year there are two starts. The ARC+ fleet leaves on Sunday 8 November for Cape Verde, and the main ARC fleet on Sunday 22 November for Saint Lucia. Both leave from the city's marina, the Muelle Deportivo, also known as Marina Las Palmas. You can watch the start from the city's shore, and see the boats from beside the marina in the days before.
The organiser says the dates may change, and at the time of writing it had not yet published the exact timetable for the start days. Below we explain where it will appear, and how things went last year.
Before you head down to the shore, it helps to know what you are looking at. This is not an ordinary regatta, or at least not mainly.
Not a race, but a crossing together
ARC stands for Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, a rally across the Atlantic for ocean-going cruising yachts. It grew out of an idea by Jimmy Cornell. The first fleet sailed out of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 25 November 1986: 209 yachts, flying the flags of 24 countries.
According to the organiser, World Cruising Club, the idea was to offer a friendly, supported way to cross the ocean, aimed not at ocean racers and professionals but at ordinary boat owners. Everyone sails their own boat, but nobody sets off alone.
Racing is not ruled out, though. The ARC is their only rally with a racing division, in the organiser's words a race within a rally. These boats are not allowed to use their engines.
The boats and crews are very varied. Monohulls, multihulls and even motor boats take part, from 8.23 to 32 metres. The smallest boat in the first rally, Raggles, was only 22 feet long; today the minimum length is 27 feet, and the average boat is around 13.7 metres. Everyone is on board, from babies in nappies to skippers in their eighties.
At first the destination was Barbados. Since 1990 the fleet has been heading for the island of Saint Lucia, to the marina at Rodney Bay.
Why they leave from Las Palmas
Part of the answer lies in the wind.
In the organiser's own description, Gran Canaria sits on the edge of the trade wind belt. Boats leaving the Canary Islands first sail south, until the butter melts, as the sailors' saying goes. There they pick up the northeast trade winds, which carry them west across the ocean. The ARC sets off in late November, when the trade winds have settled in, and the boats arrive at the end of the Caribbean hurricane season.
The other part is geography. Las Palmas is a natural starting point for boats heading from Europe to the Caribbean, and according to the organiser, boats arrive here all through summer and autumn from northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The organiser recommends that participants reach the Canary Islands as early as September or early October, to avoid the seasonal storms of the Mediterranean and northern Europe.
And then there is the marina. According to the organiser, the Las Palmas marina is big enough to hold the whole ARC fleet alongside the local boats. Today it describes Las Palmas as the ideal departure point for an ocean crossing, with every marine and shoreside service. The marina itself calls itself the crossroads of the Atlantic, where yachts arrive from Europe, the Mediterranean and the Americas.
The agreement between the port authority and the organiser, published in Spain's official state gazette (BOE) in July 2026, says it outright: Marina Las Palmas has been the ARC's starting point since the first edition in 1986. In 2015 the ARC received the Gold Medal of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Two fleets, two routes
According to the organiser, every November the ARC leaves Las Palmas for Rodney Bay in Saint Lucia with around 150 boats. The crossing is 2700 nautical miles, roughly 18 to 21 days for an average boat. The record is 8 days and 6 hours, set in 2016 by the American maxi yacht Rambler 88. In 2026 it will be the 41st edition.
The ARC+ also crosses from Gran Canaria to the Caribbean, but with a detour. First it heads south to Mindelo, on São Vicente in the Cape Verde islands: that is 850 nautical miles, 5 to 7 days at sea. After four to six days ashore on the islands, the fleet sails 2150 nautical miles to Port Louis Marina in Grenada, which takes 12 to 16 days. Because the harbour at Mindelo is smaller, the organiser usually keeps this fleet at just under 100 boats. The ARC+ is especially popular with family crews.
According to the state gazette, the two rallies together involve more than 250 boats and around a thousand sailors.
What we do not know yet
This year's public programme. Last year the main fleet's flag-raising ceremony and the fun dinghy race were held on the Sunday before the start, 16 November, at the Muelle Deportivo. At the ARC+ opening ceremony, participants paraded from the northern end of the marina along the main promenade of the port to the marina offices, with local bands. At the time of writing, neither the organiser nor the city's tourism website had announced the 2026 dates and venues.
Nor the exact times on the start days. The organiser's ARC 2026 page lists the days, but not the times.
We also do not know how many boats are setting off this year. The organiser only says that the main fleet usually starts with around 150.
And we do not know how many boats have left from here in total since 1986. According to the city's tourist office, more than seven thousand; according to the organiser's website, more than eight thousand boats have sailed with it to the Caribbean since the first ARC. The two may not even be counting the same thing, but neither source says. We cannot tell which is more accurate, so we do not put either at the centre of the story.
A city that sees them off
According to the organiser, the ARC's public events are planned to involve the people of Las Palmas too, and many of them come out to watch the start. Last year a large crowd of locals waved the fleet off on start day, and the event was also streamed online.
Locals could also enter the dinghy race, which returned last year after several years' absence. It carries the name of Pedro Texaco. Pedro Pérez Abrantes ran the petrol station at the Muelle Deportivo for decades, organised this race, and according to the city's tourist office became a much-loved host to every crew.
This is the point where the start is no longer just about the sailors. In the organiser's words, start day comes after weeks, months and even years of preparation, and many people from Las Palmas come down to the shore to see it. Since 1986, for forty years, this is where they have been sent off every November.
What would you spend weeks preparing for, and who would you want to see on the shore as you set off?
The 2026 timetable
According to the organiser's ARC+ 2026 and ARC 2026 pages:
Wednesday 28 October: the ARC+ office opens in Las Palmas, and the shoreside programme begins
Sunday 1 November: latest arrival for ARC+ boats
Sunday 8 November: ARC+ start from Las Palmas to Mindelo
Tuesday 10 November: the ARC office opens in Las Palmas, and the shoreside programme begins
Sunday 15 November: latest arrival for ARC boats
Saturday 21 November: skippers' briefing
Sunday 22 November: ARC start from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia
10 and 19 December: prize-giving in Grenada (ARC+) and Saint Lucia (ARC) respectively
So if you are reading this in early November, the ARC+ boats should already be in the marina, and the main fleet will be gathering until mid-November. Check the latest dates on the ARC 2026 page and the ARC+ 2026 page.
If you miss it this year: in 2027 the ARC+ starts on 7 November and the ARC on 21 November.
Where to watch the boats and the start
In the marina, in the days before the start
The boats are moored at the Muelle Deportivo. You cannot go down onto the pontoons: under the agreement published in the state gazette, access to them and to the washrooms is only with a personal card issued by the marina. So you watch the boats from the promenade, and that is not a bad spot: last year's ARC+ opening parade also went along the main promenade of the port.
Next to the marina is Alcaravaneras beach: almost a kilometre of golden sand sheltered by the port, between the Real Club Náutico and the Muelle Deportivo. The promenade alongside the beach runs parallel to the Avenida Marítima, the seafront avenue. Under the agreement, participants who are not berthed in the marina may only anchor in the anchorage off Alcaravaneras beach.
On start day
According to the organiser's earlier description, on the morning of start day the local brass band marches around the marina, the boats begin leaving from 10am, the first official start is at 12.30pm, and the main fleet of the cruising division crosses the line at 1pm. The start takes place offshore, in open water south of the marina, and spectators line the city shore.
Last year the city's advance notice gave the main fleet's start from 12.30pm. Friends, families and locals waved off the ARC+ boats from the marina wall, the start line was half a nautical mile south of the port, and according to the city's tourist office a large crowd watched the spectacle from the Avenida Marítima. After the start, the boats turned south and sailed down the island's east coast.
Last year the organiser's official notice board was on the ARC page of worldcruising.com and at the ARC Information Centre in Las Palmas, so look for the start day timetable there before you go. You can also follow the fleet on Facebook (@arcrally) and Instagram (@arc_rally).
If you cannot be there
Every boat carries a satellite tracker, and on the organiser's map, the Fleet Viewer, you can follow the whole fleet: where they are, how far they sailed that day and how far they still have to go. The map goes live a few days before the start on the rally page, and on your phone in the YB Races app. Last year the main fleet's start was streamed live, with commentary and drone footage, on the organiser's YouTube channel.
If you have time around the marina
The city begins right behind the port. Santa Catalina park is the gateway for people arriving by sea, next to the cruise ship terminal and close to Las Canteras beach. The Elder and Miller buildings at one end were once the offices of English companies. The former offices of the British shipping company Elder Dempster now house the Museo Elder science museum.
The modernist iron structure of the Mercado del Puerto was assembled by technicians from the Eiffel company. The Castillo de la Luz is the oldest fortress in the Canary Islands, built in 1494. If you fancy the beach, Las Canteras is known as one of the best city beaches in Europe, with a promenade running along it for three kilometres. If you want a closer look at the towers in the cover photo: Santa Ana Cathedral.
More about the city: What to see in Las Palmas. About the island: What to see in Gran Canaria and The best beaches in Gran Canaria. You will find other places in our Gran Canaria guide.
In short
The ARC+ leaves Las Palmas on Sunday 8 November 2026, and the ARC on Sunday 22 November.
Both leave from the Muelle Deportivo (Marina Las Palmas), where every ARC has started since 1986.
You can watch the boats from the promenade; the pontoons are card access only.
The start takes place offshore, south of the marina, and spectators gather on the city shore and the Avenida Marítima.
The organiser has not yet announced the start day times: check the ARC page on worldcruising.com.
If you cannot be there, follow the fleet on the Fleet Viewer map or in the YB Races app.
Sources: World Cruising Club (worldcruising.com): ARC, ARC 2026, ARC+, ARC+ 2026, Gran Canaria and Marina Las Palmas page, ARC 2026 Rally Handbook, ARC 2025 Notice of Race, the article "The History of the ARC" (2025), the 2025 ARC and ARC+ reports and the article "ARC Rally: A 40 year-old icon" (2026), and the organiser's earlier page about Las Palmas (archived version, September 2025); Resolución de 2 de junio de 2026 de la Autoridad Portuaria de Las Palmas, convenio con World Cruising Club Limited (BOE no. 182, 27 July 2026); the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria city tourism portal (lpavisit.com): ARC news (2024, 2025), Alcaravaneras, Santa Catalina park, Castillo de La Luz, Mercado del Puerto.
Cover photo (cropped): the start of ARC 2010 off Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with Santa Ana Cathedral in the foreground. El Coleccionista de Instantes Fotografía & Video, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The cropped image may be used under the same licence.