POWER OF THE ARC

OUR GREAT ANNUAL ARC EQUIPMENT SURVEY FOCUSSED ON POWER ON BOARD, ITS USAGE AND GENERATION. JEREMY WYATT QUIZZED THE 234 SKIPPERS WHO MADE THE 2024 CROSSING

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Power on board is a key equipment issue for all bluewater cruisers, whether preparing a boat for a first transatlantic passage or considering comfortable liveaboard cruising. We asked the 234 skippers who took part in the 2024 ARC and ARC+ rallies detailed questions about their electrical systems, how they generated power and their power consumption at sea.

Crucially, we also wanted to find out what went wrong for them and their tips for how to ease anxiety about power management.

[Note: 220 skippers responded, fully or in part, to our survey. Not all respondents answered all questions]

BATTERY TYPES

As any electrical expert will tell you, having good batteries is the key to a reliable marine electrical system. Most boat owners will want to replace or upgrade their batteries at some point during a yacht's life. When that time comes should you take the easy option and just swap like-for-like, or should you take opportunity to upgrade? If that's the case, what might be best for your boat?

We looked at which battery types were fitted within the ARC fleet, their ages and capacities, and the results showed a clear trend towards lithium batteries.