Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

In just two weeks, the Fundació Navegació Oceánica Barcelona has taken important steps to fulfil two of its main objectives this year: the consolidation of Barcelona as a referential city on the IMOCA Open 60 scene and promotion of the very basis of offshore sailing with the entry of the Mini GAES Solidaria team in the Charente-Maritime Bahia Transat 6.5, the incredibly popular and prestigious Mini Transat race, a project which the Fundació has undertaken with particular enthusiasm and motivation.

Success for Barcelona as a stopover in the Istanbul Europa Race

The incredible success for Barcelona as host port for the IMOCA Open 60s and a stopover in the Istanbul Europa Race, was recognised by the skippers, organisation Olay Nautica and the IMOCA alike, fulfilling and exceeding all objectives.
The Fundació Navegació Oceànica was responsible for the logistics of the second leg arrival, the stay of the boats in the port and the start of the third leg to Brest. The Trofeo Barcelona coastal race was also organised close to the city allowing the general public to enjoy six of the best IMOCA offshore racing yachts and skippers in the world in action.

Barcelona once again welcomed some old faces such as Jean-Pierre Dick, Damian Foxall and Roland Jourdain who participated in the round Europe yacht race with the same boats they were sailing on 11th November 2007 at the start of the first edition ever of the double-handed, non-stop round the world race – the Barcelona World Race.

It was an emotional experience for the skippers to return to Barcelona, in particular Jean-Pierre Dick who in July this year was the first competitor to confirm his participation in the next edition of the race. Days before formalising his registration he had already hinted at the possibility of a come-back, “I didn’t win a past race but a future one,” he said, referring to another victory in the next race, and was clearly delighted to be sailing in the city once again.
Paprec-Virbac 2, the boat which crossed the finish line on the magical night 11th February 2008 to win the 2007/08 race after sailing 24,679 miles in 92 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds returned to the city once again with fellow winning skipper Damian Foxall, who stepped off the boat to exclaim, “Its great to be back here again!”

Magnificent experience for Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes

Paprec-Virbac 2 was also sailing the Istanbul Europa Race with two Spanish sailors and members of the Fundació Sailing Team, Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes, who were participating as part of the final stage of their training programme in the IMOCA Open 60.
In Barcelona Alex and Pepe were clearly delighted with their experience on board the former winner of the Barcelona World Race 2007/08. On arrival in Port Vell Alex commented, “It is fantastic to sail into Barcelona with Jean Pierre and Damian, the winners of the Barcelona World Race. For both Pepe and myself it is proving to be an absolutely fabulous experience to sail with them in the Istanbul Europa Race and it’s wonderful that Barcelona is contributing in this way to promote offshore sailing in our country.”
Pere Alcober, Sports Councillor for Barcelona City Hall and President of the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona also emphasised the importance of the event for the city, “These kinds of events strengthen Barcelona’s link with the sea. It is important to organise many projects, and important activities and top-level competitions to continue making steps to bring the public closer to the sport of sailing. A city with such a significant sporting history, and having hosted an Olympic Games needs ambition and challenge, and we are working on large-scale projects that will bring top level international offshore sailing events to the city. The start of the next edition of the Barcelona World Race on 31st December 2010 is our next main objective,” concluded the President of the Fundació, whose principal goal is to promote a culture and understanding of the sea and offshore sailing competition.

Guillermo Altadill and Pachi Rivero, the first regatta with Estrella Damm

The Istanbul Europa Race has provided the opportunity for Guillermo Altadill and Pachi Rivero to participate in their first official regatta as part of their training programme for the Barcelona World Race 2010/11. The boat belonging to the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona sailing team was also crewed by Antonio Cuervas-Mons, Antoine Mermod and Wouter Verbraak who made up the team of five in the race. The five-man crew is a feature unique to this regatta, and particularly from a technical point of view as Pachi explained in Barcelona,“We have learnt a lot of very valuable lessons. When you can sail the boat at its full potential you gain a lot of important information that you wouldn’t otherwise obtain.”

Estrella Damm has proven that its preparation is going according to plan after the results achieved. The damage suffered on the mast momentarily endangered the team’s podium position in Brest, although the team is currently awaiting confirmation on 24th September. After victory on the first leg from Istanbul to Nice and a third from Nice to Barcelona, Estrella Damm should know shortly if they can round off their overall participation with a third on the final leg and the general classification in Brest.

The Estrella Damm project, the first of the Fundació sailing team’s boats has taken shape and started successfully. The team’s next challenge is their participation in the Transat Jacques Vabre, the double-handed race across the Atlantic from Le Havre to Puerto Limón in Costa Rica that promises to be a true test for the two Spanish skippers.

Extraordinary first leg of the Mini-Transat for the six team members of Mini GAES Solidaria

The second all-round success has been the magnificent first leg of the Mini Transat, for the six members of the Mini GAES Solidaria sailing team, a project that the Fundació has undertaken with particular enthusiasm and motivation. It is the first time a project of this nature has been initiated in Spain, since there has never been a fleet of racing boats organised with these objectives nor by a private company (GAES) that is sponsoring the campaign and supporting a core group of top level offshore sailors.

The Mini Transat is one of the toughest and most demanding regattas in the world. The fascinating Mini class with a boat length of only 6.5 metres is the ‘younger brother’ of the IMOCA Open 60 class and is sailed single-handed. Anna Corbella, Gerard Marín, Joel Miró, Hugo Ramón, Juan Carlos Sanchos and Toni Weijl, the six solo sailors making up the Mini GAES Solidaria team all had a very successful first 1200 mile leg between La Rochelle and Funchal (Madeira).

Anna Corbella’s performance in particular has shone, after she achieved an incredible eighth place and overtook a number of podium favourites in the process. Gerard Marín proved that he is clearly moving upwards and that the preparation of his boat is heading in the right direction. Juan Carlos Sanchís once again made his mark in a historical comeback after climbing 21 positions despite a stop in port to make repairs. Hugo Ramón used the weather conditions to his full advantage, whilst Joel Miró made his debut in the race by fulfilling his objective to sail without any major setbacks. Toni Weijl overcame the breakage of both rudders and the gooseneck of the boom, managing to finish the regatta in the pure spirit and determination of solo sailors.

The next challenge ahead of the team kicks off on Saturday 3rd October at the start of the second leg. The great marathon of 3100 miles to Salvador will offer the possibility to see another incredibly promising page in the history of single-handed offshore sailing written.

Santi Serrat
sserrat@fnob.org