Jimmy Cornell, the founder of the ARC, is inviting owners of boats sailing from Northern Europe to the Canaries or Mediterranean in summer 2014 to join this European Odyssey as it makes its way south with stops in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Starting from Hamburg in July 2014, yachts in the European Odyssey will sail across the North Sea to Hamburg’s twin, the City of London. Here they will join the symbolic start of the Blue Planet Odyssey round the world rally.
A spectacular start is planned on the River Thames where the iconic Tower Bridge will be raised to send the yachts on their way to a port in Normandy. The next leg will take the yachts across the Bay of Biscay to Northwestern Spain, with further stops along the coast as far as the Portuguese capital. From Lisbon, boats bound for the Mediterranean will sail to Gibraltar, while those bound for the Canaries will head for Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Landfall in the Canaries will be at the new Marina Lanzarote.
Participants in the European Odyssey will enjoy a rich program of local activities in all ports along the route. Those who intend to cross the Atlantic later in the year will benefit from special long term discounts on docking fees in Marina Lanzarote. Further incentives will be offered to those who wish to join the Atlantic Odyssey I to Martinique, starting from Lanzarote on 16 November 2014, or Atlantic Odyssey II to Grenada starting from La Palma on 9 January 2015.
From 2015, the European Odyssey will expand to attain a wider European dimension by calling at every maritime nation in the European Union with scheduled starts from Istanbul, Odessa and Sevatastopol in the Black Sea, to Venice in the Adriatic and St Petersburg in the Baltic Sea.
The European Odyssey is an annual event organized by Cornell Sailing Events, and is managed by an international team of experienced sailors with several circumnavigators among them. Anyone interested in joining the European Odyssey should send an email to info@cornellsailing.com.
