Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

Although a glance over the general rankings table may point towards a superiority across the board from the French teams, the unfolding of events over the six legs and three scoring gates was was worthy even of a 'Best Thriller' Oscar in the plot stakes. Perhaps we'd leave the 'César' for the Gibraltar scoring gate, won by Safran, and the 'Goya' might go to Estrella Damm's last minute second place at Calpe. Even the finish at Barcelona could have been different and may have altered the overall standing for the three Spanish entries, who had been fighting tooth and nail to take the final step on the first IMOCA Open 60 Sailing Tour of Spain.

This circumnavigation of the Iberian peninsular included passages across legendary Spanish coastal landmarks: Estaca de Bares, Finisterre, San Vicente, Gibraltar, Cabo de Gata, Palos and the Balearic islands. There was also an immense variety  along the course to be enjoyed, with weather conditions as broad and as colourful as the umbrellas shielding the masses from the rain in the Bay of Biscay or the decorative hand-held fans cooling off  onlookers along the Med coast, as well as tough beats upwind with big swell contrasted with the balmy lulls of the South. The ports visited by the Sailing Tour of Spain 2010 were as familiar but as personal as Hondarribia, Gijón, Sanxenxo, Calpe, Palma and Barcelona.

This was a Sailing Tour of Spain where the eight teams came to the starting line with different levels of preparation and a different number of training hours behind them, and even different sporting objectives. One thing all of the teams had in common was their will to compete from start to finish, as this was a valuable learning opportunity for all. Some had more areas of study to focus on than others, but for everyone this was an exam. The upcoming Barcelona World Race and the Route du Rhum  were the other most immediate commitments for all of the competitors. The idiosyncratic nature of this regatta, with its 'short' legs for the IMOCA Open 60s, a five-strong crew and the ability to race close-up to rivals are all characteristics that will guarantee this competition with a key role in future international sailing calendars.

This was a Sailing Tour of Spain for enthusiastic sailors and experienced racers, but with neither big names nor fresh faces missing from the crew lists of the entries. Some glanced at their rivals out of the corner of their eyes, whilst others sized up the competition unabashedly from top to bottom, but all shared a mutual respect that went beyond the mere cliché of sporting camaraderie.

The relative inexperience of the Spanish compared with the well-seasoned French crews in this type of  yacht played as a definite incentive for the Spaniards, who seized the opportunity to grow as crews and to improve as pupils, becoming able to break down the gaps considerably over the three weeks of competition. There was Ribes' and Pella's Estrella Damm, holder of the New York – Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record and then Mumbrú and Sanmartí's Pakea Bizkaia, with a crew formed just shortly before the event and a boat with somewhat outdated features. Merediz and Palacio's Central Lechera Asturiana is still on course to the Barcelona World Race and GAES Centros Auditivos with Dee Caffari , the only woman to have sailed around the world in both directions continues to generously share her experience with relative newcomer Anna Corbella. 

Pachi Rivero and Toño Piris' combined breadth of experience on large yachts was shared onboard W Hotels -Nova Bocana, while newbies and two-time Olympic champions Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández launched a brand new keeled yacht project, Movistar. Each and every team and crew member learned from this experience, but the seasoned and respected Frenchmen  Marc Guillemot, Jean Le Cam, Vincent Riou and Michel Desjoyeaux conceded that the 'chicos españoles' were more than up to the challenge and were veritable warriors on the closely fought battlefield.  Grateful for the new arrivals to the IMOCA Open 60 Guillemot, Riou, Desjoyeaux and Le Cam congratulated one and other for competing in the Sailing Tour of Spain and forecasted a successful future for the class with all skippers in agreement that the addition of the 'Spanish Armada' has brought internationalisation and a boost to competition in the class.

Safran may have won, but it was a victorious regatta for all of the entries.

Comments:

Marc Guillemot (FRA), Safran: “We're really happy to have come. This was great training for my next Route du Rhum, which is actually better to prepare for with a crew, despite the fact that the regatta is solo. We want to come back for the next edition of the regatta. There's immense motivation from the Spaniards and the tight finishes are evidence of the steep level of competition in this event”.

Vincent Riou (FRA), PRB: “It was a very interesting regatta, with a very equal fleet and a fantastic course. We'll definitely be back for another edition. There are some great crews in Spain , as has been seen over the course of the three weeks of competition”.

Alex Pella (ESP), Estrella Damm: “We've evolved as the Sailing Tour progresses, as have the other Spanish teams. By the final legs we were on an even playing field”

Pachi Rivero (ESP), W Hotels-Nova Bocana: “The finish of each of the legs demonstrated the high level of competition, although it must be said that PRB and Safran were incredibly strong, with excellent crews. The light winds towards the final phase of the Tour  surely contributed to the tight finishes”.

Iker Martínez (ESP), Movistar: “The Tour was the first chance we had to see where we were with this boat. What we have at the moment is very good and now we've got to work on getting the most out of it. Sometimes we were off like a shot and at others we'd hit some trouble”.

Dee Caffari (GBR), GAES Centros Auditivos: “The Spanish teams' experience in dinghies and windward-leeward racing meant that they were strong rivals in this Sailing Tour of Spain split into legs. They are used to competing with this level of contact with the other yachts. It's been really useful to me in terms of watching the other boats, comparing and improving the speed of my yacht, training with Anna and the crew to improve, improve, improve”.

Juan Merediz (ESP), Central Lechera Asturiana: “The boat performed really well and one of the main aspects of our Barcelona World Race preparation is to make the boat as reliable as possible. We only suffered some minor problems. Thanks to GAES, who pulled us along like a carrot, dangling ahead of our bow, we had real motivation to push. I'd also like to warmly congratulate Pakea-Bizkaia – they are true winners”.

Cali Sanmartí (ESP), Pakea Bizkaia: “We knew beforehand that the hurried nature of our project might cause us some problems on the Sailing Tour of Spain. Despite a few problems we managed to push forward with the boat. Being able to sail her with a crew of five has allowed us to really get to know her more quickly”.

Overall Rankings for the Sailing Tour of Spain 2010

Position, Boat, Skippers, Nationality, Total Points (Leg 1, Leg 2, Finisterre, Leg 3, Gibraltar, Leg 4, Leg 5, Palamós, Leg 6)

1 Safran, Marc Guillemot, FRA, 11.5 (1+2+0,5+1+0,5+2+1+1,5+2)
2 PRB, Vincent Riou, FRA, 18.5 (2+1+1+2+1,5+6+2+2+1)
3 Estrella Damm, P.Ribes/ A.Pella, ESP, 32 (5+5+2+4+1+4+5+1+5)
4 W Hotels-Nova Bocana, P.Rivero/ A.Piris, ESP, 32 (4+4+1,5+3+3+8+3+2,5+3)
5 Movistar, I.Martínez/ X.Fernández, ESP, 35.5 (3+3+2,5+6+2,5+10+4+0,5+4)
6 GAES Centros Auditivos, D.Caffari/ A.Corbella, GBR/ESP, 49 (6+6+3+5+2+12+6+3+6)
7 Central Lechera Asturiana, J.Merediz/ F.Palacio, ESP, 59.5 (7+7+3,5+7+3,5+14+7+3,5+7)
8 Pakea Bizkaia, J.Mumbrú/ C.Sanmarti, ESP, 68 (8+8+4+8+4+16+8+4+8)