Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

The Real Club Náutico Calpe yacht club hosted the presentation of the city as a stopover destination on the first Sailing Tour of Spain sailed on IMOCA Open 60 yachts. This regatta is organised by the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV) and the Fundació per la Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB), in close collaboration with, among others, the region of Valencia Sailing Federation, the Real Club Naútico Calpe yacht club, with the institutional support of Calpe Council, and Alicante's Diputación and Generalitat.

Presentation guests include Ximo Tur, the Mayor of Calp: Julio Marín, Head of the Port Farming and Conservation Division of the General Board of Ports, Airports, and Coasts for the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport of the Generalitat; Andor Serra, the Director General of the FNOB; José Martínez. President of the Region of Valencia Sailing Federation; Bruno José Fernández, Naval Commander in Alicante; José Joaquín Mas. President of the Real Club Naútico de Calpe yacht club.

During his address, Ximo Tur, Mayor of Calp expressed his “satisfaction and pride” at the Sailing Tour of Spain's stopover in the city, which has a “strong maritime heritage” as well as the Ifach Rock “a focal point for seafarers and part of the enviable multicultural landscape of  Calpe”. As such, Tur guaranteed the Sailing Tour of Spain teams “a very warm welcome and exemplary hospitality and organisation, but above all the opportunity to experience the humanity of Calpe and the city's admiration for those who set out to sea”.  

José Martínez, President of the Sailing Federation of Valencia also pointed out that the Sailing Tour of Spain has had the full support of the authorities involved: “We are all very excited about this”, said Martínez. “The level of the yachts and the crews is huge”, and “this event will help to educate people and to bring ocean sailing closer to the general public, because with real time offshore racing it is easier to see and feel the extreme nature of the sport and that generates immediate interest”. He went on to say, “This will also be fantastic preparation both for the crews and the machines themselves for the start of the Barcelona World Race on 31st December this year. We are very lucky to have a club like this here (referring to the RCN Calpe yacht club), yet again  the focus for good news, which is very well-deserved”.

Martínez also presented a video in which Pepe Ribes, skipper on Estrella Damm, native of Benissa and member of the Calpe yacht club greeted the guests and apologised for his absence, due to the fact that he was sailing for Hondarribia to prepare for the start of the regatta. “I am very happy that Calpe will be the finishing port for the chief leg on the course, the longest leg, arriving from Sanxenxo”, said Ribes in the video, to the eruption of applause. Just a few hours following the press conference, Ribes and Pella's yacht passed the coast of Calpe.

Right around the peninsula

With six scored legs, the Sailing Tour of Spain will set off from Hondarribia on 12th June, stopping off at six Spanish ports. Calpe will host the finish of the fourth leg from Sanxenxo and the start of the fifth leg towards Palma de Mallorca. Santander, Gijón, and Barcelona round off the list of ports in the competition, with a total of 1,730 nautical miles around the peninsula (3,204 km).

Following the start of the leg at Sanxenxo on the 20th of June, the finish at Calpe is calculated to take place on approximately Thursday 24th of June. The start of the fifth leg towards Palma de Mallorca will take place on Sunday 27th June at midday (local time: GMT+2). The yachts will sail a course marked out by buoys, allowing the general public to enjoy the starting display by the 8 IMOCA Open 60 yachts from the coastline, before they set course for Mallorca.

Before this, on Saturday 26th June at 19:00 (local time) there will be a prize-giving ceremony for the fourth leg on the course. From June 24th to 26th there will be an open leisure area with different activities taking place, where visitors will also be able to see the crews at work and the different jobs carried out onboard the yachts.

Cutting edge yachts

This is the first time that a Sailing Tour of Spain has been organised onboard IMOCA Open 60 class yachts. These monohulls are at the cutting edge of sailing technology and are specially designed for tough conditions such as those found in solo or double-handed regattas around the world, such as the Barcelona World Race.

For this regatta, the yachts will have crews of five onboard, a format that will allow these maritime thoroughbreds to be pushed to their limits, seen only up until now during the Istanbul Europa Race, the sailing tour of Europe.

The Sailing Tour of Spain brings together some of the best national and international sailing talent. Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella, who recently set the inaugural New York – Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record will be sailing on Estrella Damm. Pachi Rivero and Toño Piris, rivals of Ribes and Pella for the Record, head up the W Hotels-Nova Bocana team. Basque sailors Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández, world champions and Olympic medallists in the 49er class head up another of the Spanish teams. Juan Merediz and Fran Palacio are the leading pair onboard Central Lechera Asturiana.

Britain's Dee Caffari, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in both directions and Barcelona's Anna Corbella, the first Spanish woman to race solo across the Atlantic are the leaders of the GAES Centros Auditivos team. The most recent addition to the Sailing Tour of Spain entry-list is headed up by a pair from Barcelona: Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmartí onboard Pakea. Their track records feature ocean regattas such as the Sydney-Hobart (Sanmartí) or the Mini-Transat (Mumbrú).

Frenchman Vincent Riou, winner of the Vendée Globe 2004 and the Rolex Fastnet Race 2007 is also on the list of sailing stars with his brand new yacht PRB launched just weeks ago in France. Marc Guillemot, another Frenchman and winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre, with a CV including a third place finish in the Vendée Globe 2009 will be skipper on Safran. Joining this star-studded list of entrants at various points on the course will be other stars of the sport, such as Michel Desjoyeaux, Pedro Campos, Jaime Arbones, Simon Fisher, Bruno Dubois, Antón Garrote, Jérémie Béyou among others.