Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

Following a tempestuous last few hours of racing, with violent showers and peaks of 10 knots for the sailor, Anna Corbella has finally crossed the finishing line of the second and final leg in the Transat 6.50 in seventeenth position at 15:55 GMT. The Spanish skipper took 21 days, 2 hours, 53 minutes and 39 seconds to complete the 4,200 mile run from Funchal (Portugal) to Salvador de Bahia (Brazil). Anna finished the first leg in an admirable ninth position, but the skipper will still have to wait until some of her rivals finish to find out her final race classification, calculated by adding the finishing times for both legs.
Anna disembarked at Salvador de Bahia somewhat thinner, but logically radiant: "The important thing is to have actually finished, that everything went well and that the boat has performed amazingly. I have finished this leg in much better physical condition than the first and I feel much better rested than in Funchal, even though this leg was much longer".

For Anna the race has been made up of many different phases: "After the start at Funchal I had two really bad days with headwinds, short waves and generator problems. Once I got to the trades things got better. When I got to the Doldrums I was amazed by the spectacular nature of the storms and the sudden wind shifts; I dropped back quite a few positions. After that everything went more smoothly and I'd even go as far as to say monotonous up until Salvador de Bahia".

A milestone in Spanish sailing history

Anna is the first Spanish female to compete in and finish the Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50, more commonly known as the Mini-Transat. She is also the first woman in this edition of the race to reach the finishing line at Salvador de Bahia. This achievement means that has become the first Spanish woman to sail a solo transatlantic race.

“The fact that I am the first Spanish woman is not that important to me", commented Anna. "What is important to me is that this race serves to encourage more Spanish women to get involved in offshore sailing, a sport where there is no difference between the sexes".

Anna Corbella was born in 1976 in Barcelona, Spain. She began sailing at four years old in her parents' Dufour 31 and didn't take long to move onto dinghies. In 1997 she won the Spanish national female championships in the 420 class and three seasons later she repeated a victory, but in the 470 class. She also competed with the Spanish pre-Olympic team for two seasons. She has been sailing with the Minis for over four years, aiming to complete a Mini-Transat, the most important race in the Class and one of the toughest in the world. She came fourth in the Mini-Med 2004 and fifth in the Mini-Med 2006 and she also won the Taylor Woodrow Trophy in 2007. Anna came sixth in the Mini Barcelona 2008 and fourth in the Mini Empuries 2008. The Spanish skipper concentrated her pre-season efforts on Atlantic racing, including the Pornichet Sélect and the Mini Pavois with excellent 12th and 14th place finishes respectively. In the Mini Fastnet Anna set sail with a new mast, but was forced to abandon the race after a rudder problem. Anna Corbella sailed this Mini-Transat with GAES Solidaria 385, none other than Ulisees, a Ricardo Teixido 2002 design that proved that the secret to a good race is thorough preparation with time and structure by overtaking new generation entries.

Juan Carlos Sanchis, Toni Weijl, Gerard Marín and Hugo Ramón, tonight and in the morning

When Anna crossed the finishing line Juan Carlos Sanchis was approximately 20 miles behind her, Toni Weijl 23 and Gerard Marín 52 miles away, and as such they should finish during the night or in the early hours of the morning. In the Series Division Hugo Ramon was some 60 miles from the finish and due to a GPS fault the exact position of Joel Miro is unknown, although he is expected to arrive during Monday morning, to round off a magnificent performance by all of the Spanish sailors in the Mini GAES Solidaria team.

Rankings and positions 16:00 GMT:
Prototypes Division:                                                    

1.    Ruyant, Thomas / Faber France (FRA). Finished. 18 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds. (6.92 knot average speed).
2.    Delesne, Bertrand / Entreprendre Durablement (FRA). Finished. 19 days, 2 hours, 45 minutes and 43 seconds. (6.81 knot average speed).
3.   Schipman, Henri Paul / Maison de l’Avenir Urbatys (FRA). Finished. 19 days, 2 hours, 46 minutes and 10 seconds. (6.81 knot average speed).
 ....
17.  Corbella, Anna / Gaes Solidaria 385 (ESP). Finished. 21 days, 2 hours, 53 minutes and 39 seconds. (6.16 theoretical average speed).
 
18.  Sanchis, Juan Carlos / Somni – Gaes Solidaria 403 (ESP). 18.66 miles from finish.
19.  Weijl, Toni / Gaes Solidaria 684 (ESP). 21.03 miles from finish.
….
21. Marín, Gerard / Gaes Solidaria 727 (ESP). 51.16 miles from finish.
32 entries.
 
Series Division:

1.   Dalin, Charlie / Cherche Sponsor- charliedalin.com (FRA). Finished. 20 days, 6 hours, 36 minutes and 0 seconds. (6.42 theoretical average speed)
2.   Lobato, Francisco / Roff Tmn (POR). Finished. 20 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes and 15 seconds. (6.28 theoretical average speed)
3.   Macaire, Xavier / Masoco Bay (FRA). Finished. 20 days, 19 hours, 55 minutes and 16 seconds. (6.25 theoretical average speed)
....
12. Ramon, Hugo / Nassau – Gaes Solidaria 450 (ESP).  56.83 miles from finish.
…
≈ 30. Miró, Joel / Gaes Solidaria 677 (ESP). No data

47 entries