Sailyachter

The Canary archipelago is situated close to the northwest coast of Africa. It is conformed by seven major islands: El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Tenerife, belonging to the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife; and Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote: the province of Las Palmas. It also comprises other insular territories like the Chinijo archipelago (La Graciosa, Alegranza, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este, and Roque del Oeste) and Isla de Lobos, all of them within the province of Las Palmas. The distance to Africa (Tarfaya) is very small, about 95 kms. to the closest point in Fuerteventura.

Canarias has a volcanic origin and is part of the larger natural region of Macaronesia together with the archipelagos of Cape Verde, Azores, Madeira, Salvajes and the African macaronesian area. The Canary islands is a Spanish autonomous community, fully part of the European Union as an ultraperipheric region. The climatic variability offers us an annual average of about 22ºC/71.6ºF, enhancing a great biological diversity, which, together with the richness of the landscape, has awarded four national parks to the islands. Some of them also have become UNESCO biosphere reserves. Besides, the Canary islands is the Spanish region with the largest coast (1.583 kms.). These natural assets, the excellent climate and the beaches, made out of them a major turistic destination, with more than 10 million visitors every year.

The preponderance of the islands as a turistic destination, the high quality of the offer in hotels, as well as the numerous connections (8 airports) to the rest of Spain and Europe, confirm the unique conditions to enjoy superb sailing. Due to the peculiarities of the archipelago and its wide variety of mooring place, with 41 marias distributed along the vast geography, sailing is an important activity deep-rooted and with long tradition in the locals' culture. Its clearest expression is the so-called 'vela latina', a nautic sport originating in the Canary islands.

Cradle of great sailing legends, the islands has been an inexhaustible reservoir of Olympic and world champions in all categories. The varied regatta field and the mild climate and favourable wind allow endless possibilities to all sail-lovers to experiment unique sensations on their favourite boats. With a broad agenda of competitions and events, we have to highlight the Atlantic Race Cruise (ARC). This annual regatta starts in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and has its destination in the Caribbean. Once every year, the city witnesses a spectacular setting of sails and the beginning of a full-fledged adventure that carries us back in time, remebering us those intrepid sailors, authentic navigation pioneers, that set off from the Canary islands to discover a new world.