Don’t believe all you hear about how badly sailing has been hit in the recession.

Following on from my blog about private individuals keeping the Class 40 so gloriously in the pink, the same can be said about events aimed squarely at cruising sailors.

A press release issued by World Cruising Club last week states that almost all their events for this year are full or almost full.

Their flagship event, the ARC transatlantic rally, has already reached its maximum of 225 entries and a waiting list has been opened. Interestingly, the entry includes a record 25 multihulls – we have been noting for the last few years the steady growth of (expensive) catamarans.

While the Blue Water Rally has ended prematurely in Oman and the company is about to cease trading, it is clearly not a lack of demand for a round the world event. World Cruising’s next World ARC, which takes a different route around the Cape of Good Hope and not into the piracy-ridden area of the northern Indian Ocean, has 30 entries even though it doesn’t start until next year.

And their new event, the Malts Cruise, which takes over from the Classic Malts Cruise that was run by distillers Diageo but ended in 2009, has already gathered 31 entries.

This picture is a very cheering one for all kinds of reasons, most of all because it shows people aren’t put off getting out on the water or delaying the dreams for which they bought their yachts in the first place.