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Contact:
Primus Hutchinson
Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - Approximately 72 participants of the 2004
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), who are already on the island received an
enthusiastic welcome on Saturday, December 4th by local partners and sponsors of
the event, including the St. Lucia Tourist Board and the Ministry of Tourism.
Marketing Manager for the St. Lucia Tourist Board, Ian Herman said the other
sponsors included Bank of St. Lucia and Cable and Wireless, who organised a very
special programme for the ARC participants at Rodney Bay Mariner.
“So we are just welcoming them on the island and of course ensuring that at
least they know that we are very interested in their wellbeing once they are on
the island; and St. Lucia is extending itself, making sure that their stay here
is a very good one,” Mr. Herman said.
According to Mr. Herman, a local participant of last year’s ARC event has gained
much popularity in this year’s event. Eric Jean, Skipper of the boat “Paper
Moon” is said to be very much involved in this year’s Atlantic Rally for
Cruisers.
“We understood that Eric is somewhat a celebrity in the ARC; in fact, we
understood that he was a hit in Las Palmas. In addition, we understood that
there is a resident of St. Lucia, whose parents have actually participated in
the ARC- Mr. Mike Richins, the owner of Spinicus ,whose his son happens to be
the youngest skipper in the race this year. He is only twenty three years old
and he is captaining a boat called Sky. He has not arrived yet, but he has
already set the record of being the youngest skipper around this time,” the SLTB
Marketing Manager said.
The ARC race is in its 19th year in the Caribbean. In the first four years, the
final destination was Barbados. This year marks the 15th year since the ARC was
move to St. Lucia.
In 2002, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers generated in the region of 1.4 million
US dollars to St. Lucia’s economy while in 2003, it accumulated 1.6 million US
dollars.
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