The NY-BCN Transoceanic Sailing Record has passed another landmark on the course towards the record. The pair of Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) Racing Division entries that will be competing against one and other to set the very first sailing record between New York and Barcelona are now on their way to the United States. This morning Estrella Damm and W Hotels were loaded onto a transporter ship in Valencia, Spain. The ship will transport the racing yachts to Baltimore (Maryland, USA) where the skippers will then sail them to New York, a course of some 400 nautical miles, which will be added training ahead of the 3,750 miles (6,945 km) they will cover during the record.

Once the teams are in New York, they will also race an inshore regatta, set for April 3rd 2010. After that, it will be a question of opening up the weather window for choosing the best conditions for the start, which both yachts will take together, between the 5th and 12th of April. At that point the crossing will begin, taking the yachts from the mark at Ambrose Light, New York to the waters near W Hotel, Barcelona. The arrival at the Spanish city will determine who will be the first to claim the NY-BCN Transoceanic Sailing Record.

The loading operation began at 06:30 local time in the Port of Valencia, where the yachts arrived last Wednesday. The boats were de-masted and Estrella Damm and W Hotels were tugged by a tugboat to the cargo ship, situated in the MSC dock in the Port of Valencia, where the America's Cup bases are also situated.

This was a "water to water" loading process, with a crane lifting the yachts directly into their cradle on the ship. This is the culmination of tough process of preparation involving the shore crews of Estrella Damm and W Hotels.

Both of the yachts, that will race against on and other in April in order to set the new record between New York and Barcelona, have undergone an intensive refit (maintenance, painting, changes to appendages, etc.) that has been carried out in a period of just five weeks.

"We are very happy that this moment has come true", says Chema Benavides, Director of the Racing Division. "It seemed like a mission impossible to get the boats ready in such a short time, but thanks to the immense hard work by the team, we've managed it. We doubled the efforts in terms of staff and hours, and now we are seeing the results of that. We are really happy with everybody's dedication".

Pachi Rivero, one of the three skippers (along with Antonio Piris and Peter Becker) who will attempt to win the record on board W Hotels said: "It's amazing to see the boats leave after so much work on the ground, with amazing efforts from everyone on the team. I can't wait to get to Baltimore to set off for New York to get the record".

Alex Pella, skipper on Estrella Damm with Pepe Ribes and Stan Schreyer was also very pleased with the fact that the technical work was complete: "Our shore team has already beaten a record by getting the boat ready for the transport. The New York-Barcelona record is crucial to our preparation programme for the Barcelona World Race, which will start on the 31st December this year. This is a very important step towards that challenge".