2017 ARC Portugal - Celebrations go off with a bang in Oeiras

by World Cruising on 30 Jun 2017 The rally arrived into Oeiras on Sunday afternoon with Grey Goose first, shortly followed by WikiWiki. After a drizzly start to the day the fleet were welcomed by blue skies and sunshine. An impromptu pontoon party was held for crew member Paul from yacht Milla to celebrate his birthday. The fleet also celebrated Garrys from Arcarius birthday the following day.

On Monday participants departed for a tour of Oeiras. Once all participants had gathered at the top of the pontoon ramp Andrew Bishop took the opportunity to present Chimichanga with their plaque as they unfortunately had to sail ahead of the rally to catch their original flights home. The tour started at the Barcarena Gun Powder Factory and museum, followed by the Palace of the Marquis of Pombal, which included wine tasting at the historic wine cellar. The bus dropped participants at a local supermarket and they had the afternoon to explore Oeiras.

In the evening there was a prize giving super at the opening night of “Charqal” one of the marina restaurants. Due to the short time spent in Peniche prizes were given for leg 5 and leg 6. For leg 5 Khaleesi won the Smiley Miley competition, guessing only 3km away from the actual distance driven by rally control. The ETA was won by Snow Goose who guessed just four minutes out of their arrival time.

The first place prizes for sailing went to Mischief in class A, and Serafina in class B. Prizes were also awarded to fifth place with Jubilate Mare winning class A and Chimichanga winning class B. Arcarius won the Smiley Miley for leg 6 with a guess only 1km away from the distance driven. Alex and the crew from Atwa won the ETA guessing just 10 minutes off their arrival. Prizes for the sailing division were won by WikiWiki in class A, and Serafina in class B. Oysterama took second place for class A and Serafina K for class B.

After congratulating the winner’s participants were treated to a three course dinner cooked by a famous Portuguese chef. On Tuesday participants were free to explore Lisbon, Cascais and the local beaches in Oeiras before preparing for their leg from Oeiras to Sines.