GAES Centros Auditivos, ready for the Barcelona World Race
Dee Caffari, Gemma Mengual and Anna Corbella.
© Bito Cels
Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari make up the only female crew taking the start of the next edition of the regatta. Both sailors are keen to show that “at sea men and women are equals”. The launching ceremony welcomed a special Godmother for the yacht, Spanish synchronised swimmer Gemma Mengual.
The IMOCA Open 60 ‘GAES Centros Auditivos’ (GAES Hearing Centres) is ready to face her main challenge, the Barcelona World Race, following the launching ceremony for the yacht, which took place today at the Reial Club Maritim de Barcelona yacht club. Spaniard Anna Corbella and Britain's Dee Caffari make up the only entirely female crew in the competition, now in its second edition, due to set off on 31st December this year from Barcelona. If they complete the 46,300 km (25,000 nautical mile) course, both women will also become the world's first women to race around the world double-handed.
Anna Corbella was “very excited” about the launch and chose to thank GAES for all of their support: “Thanks to this sponsorship I will be able to fulfil my dream of sailing around the world on a yacht”, said Anna, who also challenged the other competitors when she affirmed that “Dee and I will show that when it comes to the sea, gender is not an issue, and we'll be a tough entry for the others to deal with”. Dee Caffari said that she is “delighted to take on this challenge with Anna” and chose to also thank GAES in this new project as well as Aviva, “the company that has always been at my side, throughout my sporting career”. The British yachtswoman was also certain of the pair's chances at doing very well in the competition.
The launching ceremony for 'GAES Centros Auditivos' welcomed a special Godmother for the boat in the shape of Spanish synchronised swimmer Gemma Mengual. Gemma is the most successful Spanish athlete ever, and was keen to wish both crew members good luck in the challenge and emphasised the ever-increasing importance of women in sport. The swimmer also spoke of her pregnancy, saying “I am very happy and I'm still training, although in a few months time I'll have to take a break to focus on my baby and to face this new stage in my life”
GAES beside sport
For Antonio Gassó, Managing Director and CEO of GAES, a leading firm in hearing correction, this new sponsorship “means a step closer towards our special connection with the world of sport, and in particular the world of ocean sailing, a sport that we all identify with here, in that our company shares the key values associated with it, such as teamwork, excellence and effort”.
The GAES support of the sailing world began back in 2007 when the company developed an advanced communications system for the Spanish Desafío Español team in the 2007 America's Cup. Last year the company also sponsored the six Spanish teams taking part in the Transat 6.50/ La Rochelle-Salvador de Bahia, more popularly known as the Mini-Transat.
At the launching ceremony of the GAES sponsored yacht, Pere Alcober, Sports Councillor for Barcelona highlighted the importance of the Barcelona World Race and of the role of companies in the challenge: “they allow athletes, such as Anna Corbella and her new sailing partner Dee Caffari to realise their dreams, as well as showing the whole world that Barcleona is synonymous with top level sporting events”.
The only all-female crew in the BWR has already kicked off its training regime and is now working on the finer details of its first competition: The Sailing Tour of Spain IMOCA Open 60. Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari will be taking part in this competition that starts on 12th June from the port of Hondarribia (Basque Country, Spain).
