Eight boats, 16 skippers, 23,000 miles. Barcelona World Race kicks off
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Here we go. For the third time, the adventure begins. We are not talking about leg number three of the Volvo Ocean Race, but rather the third edition (after 2007/08 and 2010/11) of the Barcelona World Race, the only regatta that involves circumnavigating the globe in doubles aboard IMOCA 60s, starting and returning to the Catalan city (about 23,000 miles), passing, in order, the Cape of Good Hope, Leeuwin, Horn and Antarctica. It starts today, Tuesday, December 31.
THE RECORD TO BEAT
The eight participating boats may make stopovers as needed (but there may be a maximum of three, for a total of eight days). About three months of sailing, three oceans, the Mediterranean. The record to beat is the one set by Paprec Virbac 2 with Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick and Irishman Damian Foxall aboard in the 2007/08 edition: 92 days, 9 hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds. The boat also won the second edition of the race (failing to go under 93 days), but this time Loick Peyron sat next to Dick.
THE TEAMS
Well-known and lesser-known names in ocean sailing are participating in the regatta: the most “famous” crew consists of the Swiss Bernard Stamm (who was the protagonist of an incredible accident in 2013, with his Imoca 60 Cheminées Joujoulat literally breaking in two while he was returning to France from the Azores, along with Damien Guillou) and Jean Le Cam. The two have never taken part in a world tour together-their decision to pair up dates back to spring 2014. The boat will always be under the auspices of Cheminées Poujoulat. The other “golden” pair is that of ocean acrobat Alex Thomson and Pepe Ribes, on Hugo Boss, while the only mixed crew is the Spanish crew of Anna Corbella and Gerard Marin, on GAES Centros Auditivos. Corbella took part in the 2010/2011 edition (also on GAES) paired with Englishwoman Dee Caffari, currently with Team SCA. Aboard We Are Water, however, will be Spanish brothers Bruno and Willy Garcia. Completing the list are Neutrogena(Guillermo Altadill / José Muñoz), One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton(Aleix Gelabert / Didac Costa), Renault Captur(Jörg Riechers / Sébastien Audigane), Spirit of Hungary(Nandor Fa / Conrad Colman).
(photo © Barcelona World Race 2014-15 / Photo Gilles Martin-Raget)
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