Oceanracing 2011 - Barcelona World Race 2010/11

Barcelona World Race 2010/2011
www.barcelonaworldrace.com - Übersicht

Barcelona, 29 December 2010
An Adventure with a capital A

With less than 48 hours before the start of the second edition of the Barcelona World Race, it was time for 27 of the 28 skippers representing the 14 teams to meet the media in a packed index Moll Barcelona World RACE Expo this afternoon.
The one missing skipper, Hugo Boss’ Alex Thomson (GBR), it was later revealed was undergoing emergency surgery to remove his appendix.

While tough decisions will need to be taken about Thomson’s participation or not, the other skippers took time out from their final check-lists, commitments and efforts to find time to relax and store their energies for what presently promises to be a demanding and very critical leg out through the Straits of Gibraltar in what are widely expected to be light conditions, with several stop-start transition areas.

Back for more
Among those who are back for more, returning for their second participation are 2007 winner Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) on Virbac-Paprec 3, Dominique Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA) on Mirabaud, all three echoing their passion for the race and enduring desire to come back and compete again.
Dick described his win three years ago as ‘one of the most beautiful moments of my life’ the race is ‘an Adventure with a capital A. It defines us as high level professionals and adventurers.’
Dominique Wavre,heading off for his eighth round the world circumnavigation, and placed third in the last edition of the Barcelona World RACE described the race as ‘made to measure’ for him and his partner Paret.
She said that as soon as she finished the last race it was her dream to do it again.

And First timers
He could wish for no better skipper by his side on Foncia than double Vendée Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux, but round the world rookie François Gabart (FRA) heading for his first ever big IMOCA Open 60 race admitted that the pre-start hubbub felt like pressure, but when the race starts Friday at 1300hrs ‘life becomes much more simple.’

Different kinds of tours
For Jean Le Cam (FRA) co-skipper of Président, with one Vendée Globe, one crewed Whitbread to his credit, confirmed he was looking forward to a new challenge, sailing two up round the world over three months. He described his relationship with his Catalan co-skipper Bruno Dubois (ESP) as a ‘solid marriage.’
And Iker Martinez (ESP) who has sailed for 11 years in the Olympic 49er with Xabi Fernandez (ESP) and completed their fully crewed circumnavigation on the Volvo Ocean Race said they would have to wait until their return until they made decisions as to what course their future careers will go.

Barcelona World RACE….Recapping the basics:
• It is the only race around the world to start and finish in the Mediterranean.
• Total distance is 25,000 miles (46,300 km)
The course takes the fleet from west to east, sailing around Antarctica and leaving the three great Capes to port (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn), through two natural straits (Gibraltar and Cook) with seven security gates to keep the fleet north of the worst of the ice and within range of rescue in the south.
• Non-stop
Technical stops are allowed in case of damage - before 140° East (entry to the Pacific Ocean), pit-stops may be of any duration. After this point, they can be no less than 48 hours.
• The only round the world race to be sailed with a partner The duo must reindex unchanged from start to finish, except in the case of an evacuation for medical reasons, when they may be replaced by a substitute. The minimum age is 21 years (on December 31, 2010).
• No assistance Routing, or external strategy assistance, is prohibited.
• Stealth mode The crew may "disappear" from the rankings for just over 24 hours (6 rankings in a row) for strategic reasons. Their position will no longer be shown to the public or other competitors. Each boat has 4 ‘wildcards’ and can use stealth mode on four occasions.
• €420,000 prizes The winner of the Barcelona World Race is the crew who cross the line first in Barcelona 2011. Six separate trophies also reward the fastest boats on difference sections of the route. The total prize fund is €420,000, including €150,000 for the winner.

Quotes:
Iker Martinez (ESP) Mapfre: “To prepare for the Olympic Games does not compare to this. There you sail with without instruments, without radios, all the boats are equal. And in the Volvo the boats always go at 100%. The IMOCA Open 60’s are great boats for two people and it is not easy to handle them with two. Only after this race will be decide what we do in the future. We may get a fright and not want to do more of this type of sailing, or we may find we have a real passion for it and want to do more. »

Pachi Rivero (ESP)Renault ZE Sailing Team: “We will start very motivated and much more prepared than the last time in the first race.”
Toño Piris (ESP) Renault ZE Sailing Team:“ We are almost ready, we only have some food to go on board. And I hope we have luck with the weather and get an express departure from the Med.”

Andy Meiklejohn (NZL) Hugo Boss(before news of his co-skipper’s surgery):“Hugo Boss is looking great. The shore team have done a fantastic job and everything is looking fantastic. The final job is just to load on the Manchego and jamon, and do a bit of entertaining, then we’re on our way!”

Bruno Garcia (ESP) Président:« I am a bit nervous. If you had said to me a year ago that I would be on the verge of setting off to go around the world now, I would have said you were crazy. »

Jean Le Cam (FRA) Président:“ Bruno and I will make a good team. Within three months, when we return, we will see if we divorce or stay married, which would not be bad either, between Bretón and a Catalan. At the moment we a re a strong marriage. But for me to co-exist on board with another person for three months is something new and we will just have to see how it goes.”.

Gérard Marin (ESP) FMC:“To be here is a dream. We both have a great desire and passion to go sailing and we both share a love for the sea.”
Cali Sanmartí (ESP)We Are Water: “This is magical. It was a dream of mine and today it is a reality, and to leave from our home city is fantastic. Hello and goodbye to everyone,
Juan Merediz (ESP) Central Lechera Asturiana:“We are fighting on this first stage but we will be thinking positively all the time and pushing. Thanks to everyone we will be able to make the start line along with everyone else.

François Gabart (FRA)Foncia: “As the start approaches you could not say that life is exactly calm, on the contrary it gets more and more intense. But on the 31st and 1300hrs we will be going and then life becomes very simple.”
Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA), Virbac-Paprec 3: « Barcelona holds great memories for me. The finish here three years ago was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. This is an Adventure with a capital A. We are all at the same time adventurers and entrepreneurs.”

Alex Pella (ESP) Estrella Damm:“The boat has been ready to go for a week, so these last few days have been very relaxed, because we have been working at it for 18 months. »

Pepe Ribes (ESP),Estrella Damm: “It is looking quite difficult I think. The start is in a NE’ly 10 knots to Ibiza and then a ridge coming and then no wind and a start again. We take it as it comes because our boat is not especially good in light airs. So we have to be really awake and active, ready to make the transitions very quickly. And of course you have two tonnes of things inside to move forward, aft, from side to side and trimming all the time.

We know the area very well, but I think there will be lots of breaks, lots of changes, a lot of sail changes. From Barcelona to mid way to the Canary Islands it is going to be a nightmare, for us. Not hard weather but a lot of manoeuvres, a lot of changes.
We are very prepared for it. The competition starts in two days and it will be full on from the start. I think it will be really good.”

Ryan Breymaier (USA), Neutrogena: “ The first stage of the race is pretty much the whole race. When you leave Gibraltar if you are not in the leading group everyone gets into the stronger winds and takes off and you have a deficit you have to make up. So the first part of the race is critical. We have done a lot of things on the boat to optimise for this first stage rather than later on, trying to keep the boat super, super light for this section is ultra important. The first 500 miles in light airs, if you don’t have a boat which is light to begin with, then you will struggle. For us that has been choosing hydro-generators, less fuel, trying to extend the advantage over people who have the heavier boats.”
“ The pressure is right on from the start gun, and it could be on on the way back too, even with a big lead if you stop after Gibraltar then those chasing can make up 500 miles in a day and a half, then you know are back to square one after 25,000 miles. The Mediterranean is make or break for sure.”
“And that is a little weird compared to the Vendée Globe or races like that where you start from Atlantic coast and straight into the weather system. It is different. And there is very much the possibility of a re-start coming into Gibraltar in either direction.”

Dee Caffari (GBR) Gaes Centros Auditivos:
“ The nice thing is because the weather’s looking quite light, it’s not like with the Vendée where you think you’re going straight into a big system. But it’s going to make it harder because the boats aren’t going to get away, we’re all going to be a lot closer and having to work really hard for every fraction of a knot that we can get, so it’s quite stressful. We’ve got to push to get out of the Med as fast as possible, and there’s going to be a fast transition in the Alboran Sea, where we’ll get a bit of downwind, then it’s just going to be really hard work as we try and get to the new wind. So I hope it’s going to be not as light as it’s forecast to be, but it’s nice to know that you’ve got time to get into the system without anything scary coming!”
“We’ve done this trip in and out of the Med several times now for practice, and obviously this is Anna’s back garden so I’m in her hands. She knows local effects and what normally happens, whereas I’m pretty much stuck to the models because I haven’t sailed here that much. But we’ve got to look at the others too because there’s a lot of local knowledge in the fleet, so we’ve just got to keep our eyes on what they’re doing as well as what we think is going to happen.”
“In order to beat them you’ve got to be sailing with them, so there won’t hopefully be any flyers, and I don’t think you’ll get anyone do anything extreme because we’ve all got that mission to get out into the Atlantic. It’s just about keeping the boat moving, and that big transition will be the killer, that’s where someone might get stuck. If it is light we know how strong the currents are in the Gibraltar Straits so it’s going to be really hard. But it’ll make it a really exciting race for people watching, the boats will be together tightly, which is what everyone wants.”

Anna Corbella (ESP) GAES Centros Auditivos:“To be honest I’d be happier to be going now. I would like it to be one hour to go, not 48 hours. The last days are about commitments and media and they are things I am not used to.”

To download high resolution pictures please go to the media section: media.barcelonaworldrace.org

Emily Caroe Media Relations English Barcelona World Race
www.barcelonaworldrace.org

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