Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

The Real Club Marítimo de Santander hosted the official presentation of the city as the first stopover in the Sailing Tour of Spain, in the first ever edition with IMOCA Open 60 yachts. The regatta is organised by the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV) and the Fundació per la Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB), in close collaboration with, among others, the Government of Cantabria, Santander Council, the Cantabrian Sailing Federation, the Santander Port Authority and the Real Club Marítimo de Santander yacht club.

The presentation was attended by Miguel Ángel Revilla, President of the Government of Cantabria, who, along with Luis Morante, Sports Councillor for Santander, hosted the top table, Gerardo Pombo, President of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV), Javier López-Vázquez, President of the Cantabria Sailing Federation, Pedro Labat, President of the Real Club Marítimo de Santander (RCMS) yacht club, Alfonso Pascual, first Vice President of the RCMS, Christian Manrique, President of the Santander Port Authority and Toño Piris, co-skipper of the other Cantabrian sailor Pachi Rivero on W Hotels-Nova Bocana, one of the regatta entries.

Closing the ceremony, Revilla praised the talents of the Cantabrian sailors, “truly exceptional international athletes”. Revilla expressed his “tremendous pride” as President of the Government of Cantabria, in hosting this event, which will: “contribute to the promotion of the Cantabria region, especially as sailing is a 'sector' where we excel at a national and international level”. This shows, he said “that the size of the region doesn't matter”. Revilla wished Piris and Rivero the best for the Sailing Tour of Spain and the Barcelona World Race: “We hope that it goes really well for you, that you  catch the best winds and that we can enjoy further successes here”.

Spectacular surroundings

The starting line and finishing line for the IMOCA Open 60s in Santander will be positioned between a marker buoy in the bay and the club mast; a perfect opportunity to witness these spectacular yachts in action. Depending on weather conditions, a number of buoys will be positioned to mark out the start opposite the Paseo Marítimo and the Sardinero beach,so that it may be followed from the coast. Both Toño Piris and co-skipper Pachi Rivero are very pleased to be able to bring the regatta to their native Santander and they emphasised the calibre of their fellow sailors and rivals: “The participants are going to be of a very high level. I am very excited about this new project with my friend Pachi. This regatta is a great idea and it will also give us the chance to first sail from Barcelona to here alone together, which will be great preparation for the Barcelona World Race, that sets off in December. Then the Sailing Tour of Spain itself with members of our shore crew. We are going to learn a lot about the boat. I am also very happy that the Sailing Tour of Spain is stopping off at Santander because for myself and the other three Cantabros in the team, it's very special.

Alfonso Pascual, Vice President of the RCMS, who hosted the ceremony, said he was “excited and satisfied” with the fact that the Sailing Tour of Spain organisers, the RFEV and the FNOB have “remembered Santander and our Club for this competition”.

Gerardo Pombo, President of the RFEV, went through the technical aspects of the regatta and expressed his excitement as a Cantabro at unveiling this event in Santander.

Javier López-Vázquez, President of the Cantabria Sailing Federation, thanked the organisers for this initiative, which, while it is not the first ever Sailing Tour of Spain, it is the first to boast this incredible international level of competition”.

Luis Morante, Sports Councillor for Santander, highlighted the importance of these sorts of events for the city, and offered the council's full support for the project.

Christian Manrique, President of the Santander Port Authority, explained “that part of the social responsibility of the port is to support these important activities (…) which encourage a new generation of sailors in this sport(…) one that has given Spain so many moments of joy”.

A round tour

With six scored legs, the Sailing Tour of Spain will depart from Hondarribia on 12th June and will stop off at six of the country's ports. Santander will host the arrival of the first leg of the regatta and the start of the second leg to Gijón. Following these two ports, Sanxenxo, Calpe, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona round up the list of stopovers in this competition, with a total course length of some 1,730 nautical miles (3,204 km) around the Iberian peninsula.

This is the first time that a Sailing Tour of Spain will be sailed onboard IMOCA Open 60 yachts. These monohulls are at the cutting edge of sailing technology and have been specially designed for the harsh conditions faced in round the world solo or double-handed races, such as the Barcelona World Race.

For this regatta, the yachts will have a crew of five; a format that will allow these sailing thoroughbreds to be pushed to maximum performance levels, which has only been seen so far in the Istanbul Europa Race, the European Sailing Tour.

The Sailing Tour of Spain fleet brings together some of the best Spanish and international sailors. As well as Cantabros Piris and Rivero, the fleet has four other Spanish entries. Barcelona's Alex Pella and Alicante's Pepe Ribes recently set the first New York-Barcelona Record, and will be sailing Estrella Damm. Basque sailors Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández, World Champions and Olympic medallists in the 49er class head up another Spanish crew. Juan Merediz and Fran Palacio are the well-known faces in the team from the region of Asturias.

Britain's Dee Caffari, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in both directions and Spaniard Anna Corbella, the first Spanish woman to race solo across the Atlantic, are leading the GAES Solidaria team.

Frenchman Vincent Riou, winner of the Vendée Globe 2004 and the Rolex Fastnet Race 2007 is also on the entry list with his brand new PRB, launched just a few days 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, Jeff Couzon, Jérémie Béyou among others.