After the drama of a mid-Atlantic rescue, the ARC fleet turned out en masse to give a rousing welcome to three yachts – Muskrat, Lorrigray II and Little Women – to St Lucia at 0800 local time Wednesday. An armada of ARC yachts and rubber ducks came out to greet the yachts as they crossed the finish line and headed for their berths in Rodney Bay.

Each yacht was incidental in the dramatic events at the start of the month after ARC yacht F2 lost her rudder. Muskrat stood by her hove-to for three days while the crew of the sail training ship Tenacious built a new rudder. When that one failed after 500 miles, Muskrat once again turned round and beat back to F2 for 60 miles. Lorrigray II then took F2’s crew – Peter, Zara, and Ellie the German Shepherd – in a daring mid-Atlantic transfer by rubber dinghy in 4-metre seas. F2 was scuttled.

“The welcome we had coming in – wow,” said Zara, back on terra firma at last. “We were all in tears. It was amazing, absolutely amazing.” Her husband Peter added: “It was overwhelming. We just want to say a big thanks to Tenacious and all the yachts concerned, and for all the support we’ve had from everyone – even people we don’t know. It has restored our faith in human nature.”