Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

The Real Club Náutico de Palma yacht club hosted the presentation of the Balearic capital as a stopover on the first ever Sailing Tour of Spain sailed on IMOCA Open 60 yachts today. The regatta is organised by the Spanish Royal Sailing Federation (RFEV) and the Fundació per la Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB), in close collaboration with, among others, the Balearic Sailing Federation and the Real Club Naútico de Palma itself, with the institutional support of Palma Council, the Illes Balears local government and the Balearic Port Authorities.

The presentation ceremony held this lunchtime was attended by Diego González Carrasco, Sports Councillor for the Illes Balears government; María Isabel González Carrasco, Sports Councillor for Palma Council and President of the Institut Municipal de l’Esport; Ricardo Recio, Head of Marketing ans Communications for the Balearic Port Authorities; Gerardo Pombo, President of the Spanish Royal Sailing Federation (RFEV); Santiago Fiol, President of the Balearic Sailing Federation, and Javier Sanz, Vice President of the Real Club Náutico de Palma yacht club.

Speaking for the Real Club Naútico de Palma, Javier Sanz said he was “very proud” that the Sailing Tour of Spain was making a stopover in Palma, especially since the institution puts “much effort and hard work into ensuring that Palma, Mallorca and the Balearic Islands remain a reference in world sailing”.

The President of the Balearic Sailing Federation, Santiago Fiol expressed his gratitude to the Spanish Royal Sailing Federation (RFEV) and the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) for “taking the Sailing Tour of Spain to the Balearics” and he went on to say that “a Sailing Tour of Spain that didn't go to the Balearics wouldn't have made sense, because the region, its sailors and its events are an essential part of national sailing”.

Sports Councillor for the Illes Balears Government, Diego González Carrasco also thanked the organisers for bringing the 'Vuelta' to the Balearics, something which contributes to the fact that “ocean sailing is growing daily, and the fact that we get a sporting return out of that is great for society, as well as the economic return”.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers, the RFEV and the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona, Gerardo Pombo expressed appreciation of the collaboration and support from all of the local institutions; the Balear Government, Palma Council, the Balearic Port Authority and the Real Club Naútico de Palma yacht club and he said that it was “a great satisfaction for the Sailing Federation and the Fundació to have brought back the Sailing Tour of Spain, a Tour which goes from one extreme of the country to the other, a shared project, in which everyone has taken part, territorial federations, clubs and local institutions”.

“The legs of the Sailing Tour of Spain have been selected in homage to the sailors competing, so for example, here in Palma we have Pachi Rivero, who is from Cantabria originally, but is an adopted Mallorcan”, added the President of the RFEV, who also said that it hadn't been possible to get Hugo Ramón, one of Mallorca's most talented ocean sailors involved due to the lack of a boat and funds.

Right around the peninsula

The Sailing Tour of Spain is made up of six scored legs and will set off from Hondarribia on 12th June, stopping off at six Spanish ports. Palma will host the finish of the 5th leg from Calpe and the start of the sixth leg towards Barcelona. Santander, Gijón, and Sanxenxo round off the list of ports in the competition, with a total of 1,730 nautical miles around the peninsula (3,204 km).

The yachts will leave Calpe on 27th June and their arrival at Palma is forecasted for that evening or the early hours of the next morning. The start of the final leg in the competition towards Barcelona will be on Tuesday 29th at midday (GMT+2). The yachts will sail a course marked out with buoys, allowing the public to enjoy the starting display by the eight IMOCA Open 60s from the coast, before the boats set course for Cap de Creus, one of the obligatory waypoints on the leg.

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.