The Spanish IMOCA Open 60s 1876 and W Hotels will set a milestone in Spanish sailing history this coming 8th of November, as they take to the starting line of the Transat Jacques Vabre regatta. The race will take the entries across the Atlantic from the port of Le Havre in France to the Costa Rican port of Puerto Limón. 1876, otherwise known as Estrella Damm, will compete in this regatta under this new name due to a law in France prohibiting sports sponsorship by alcoholic brands. The boat will be co-skippered by Pachi Rivero and Frenchman Yves Parlier who is filling the former boots of Guillermo Altadill who recently stepped down as skipper with the team. W Hotels will be co-skippered by Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes who will be driving the former Paprec Virbac 2, Jean Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall’s winning Barcelona World Race entry. The two skippers also recently sailed the boat in the Istanbul Europa Race.

Both Spanish crews, sailing with the FNOB (Barcelona’s offshore sailing foundation) sailing team will have marked their calendars with the next big event coming in April 2010, the New York – Barcelona sailing record. This event will also denote a landmark in Spanish offshore sailing, as it is the first time that a record will be established between an Atlantic and a Mediterranean city.

There’s also another piece of good news for Spain in the Transat Jacques Vabre: Bubi Sansó is back on board, joining Britain’s Mike Golding, one of the big sailors in the IMOCA world. He has announced his participation in the next edition of the Barcelona World Race. This will be the third time Bubi takes the starting line of this double-handed transoceanic race (Bubi competed in 2001 and 2003). Following a fourth place finish in the Barcelona World Race 2007/8 with Pachi Rivero and the boat Mutua Madrileña (in fact previously Golding’s Ecover), the Spanish skipper is excited about this project: “Although we have known each other for quite a long time, Mike and I have never sailed together before. I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved during his career and I am looking forward to getting in the 60-footer and learning and developing my sailing skills even further.” Mike Golding commented: “Bubi is an accomplished sailor with a Vendée behind him and two Transat Jaques Vabres’ under his belt. I hope we can share our experiences and I see this relationship very much as a two-way street”.

1876 and W Hotels

On 1876 Pachi Rivero’s co-skipper Yves Parlier is one off international offshore racing’s big players and his name is synonymous with technical innovation and the spirit of competition. Parlier’s extensive CV features not only two victories in the Transat Jaques Vabre in 1993 and 1997, but also victories such as the Mini Transat, the Solitaire du Figaro, the Fastnet Race, the Route du Café, the Route du Rhum and the record for a solitary 24 hour run, set in 2006.  He also has three Vendée Globes under his belt. His incorporation into the team is a real bonus to the team. The Frenchman will only sail with the team for this regatta and later on Pachi will take on the New York – Barcelona sailing record with another skipper who will be his co-skipper for the Barcelona World Race 2010/11. Yves Parlier hasn’t sailed on an IMOCA for seven years, but that doesn’t seem to bother him and he’s happy about sailing 1876, Loick Peyron’s former ‘Gitana Eighy’, one of the new generation IMOCA Open 60s: “Pachi knows the boat inside out. He is a great sailor and racer, we get on very well and I’m sure we’ll have a very good race together”. Pachi Rivero has also revealed that he is thrilled to welcome the Frenchman as co-skipper for the Transat Jaques Vabre: “Yves is a legend in the sailing world and a great person, as well as a fantastic sailor”.

With W Hotels Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes are making the jump into IMOCA skippering. Neither of the pair needs an introduction among their native fans, with CVs that prove that they are the crème of Spanish sailing. Alex has come from the Mini class and has had some great results in the Mini Transat (he was third in 2003 and second in 2005, were he also won the second leg). Pepe has competed in three editions of the Volvo Ocean Race and in as many America’s Cups. He has one of the highest mileages of any Spanish offshore sailor.

With the former Paprec Virbac 2 Alex and Pepe have managed to notch up a few miles together, sailing 2000 miles in the Istanbul Europa Race and another 1000 in training. After the guys have a go at the New York – Barcelona sailing record, this will be the boat they sail around the world with in the Barcelona World Race 2010/11. By then, they will have notched up over 10,000 nautical miles on the competition clock, similar to 1876’s (Estrella Damm’s) figure. Alex Pella pointed out: “This is a great challenge for us and a unique opportunity, as we’ll be sailing in a legendary race against the world’s best IMOCA Open 60s”. Pepe Ribes commented on the importance of the Transat Jacques Vabre in his training programme: “We can work and improve as a team for the Barcelona World Race, the aim we’ve had in our sights for months now”.

Top racing

The Transat Jacques Vabre is sailed in two categories: the Multi 50 (50 footers – 15.24 metre multihulls) and the monohulls, which are the IMOCA Open 60s, also used for the Vendée Globe and the Barcelona World Race. Also known as the Route du Café the regatta takes place every two years and has been running since 1993. Following the disappearance of Twostar, the regatta has become the only double-handed Atlantic crossing and along with the Barcelona World Race forms part of the two double-handed events in the official IMOCA calendar.

The crème de la crème of the IMOCA class will take part in this edition of the race. No one seems to be missing and the pairs will be fascinating and thrilling to follow: Michel Desjoyeaux  - Jérémie Beyou, Vincent Riou - Arnaud Broissères, Samantha Davies - Sidney Gavigent,  Roland Jourdain - Jean Luc Nélias, Sébastien Josse - Jean François Cuzon, Marc Thiercelin - Christopher Pratt, Kito de Pavant - François Gabart, Alex Thomson - Ross Daniel, Marc Guillemot - Charles Caudrelier Benac, Dee Caffari - Brian Thomson and Armel Le Cléac'h - Nicolas Troussel; a total of 14 IMOCA Open 60s to guarantee a spectacular and highly technical event.

The start signal will be fired on Sunday November 8th at 14:30 (local time) for the monohulls, whilst the multihulls will set off half an hour earlier. To try to ensure that the boats finish as close to each other as possible the organisers have set two different courses. The faster multihulls will leave Barbados to starboard, with a 5,050 mile course, whilst the monohulls will sail some 4,700 miles and must put the island of Hispaniola to the starboard side.

Tactical thrills guaranteed

The Transat Jacques Vabre is a highly tactically tricky regatta with various diverse and complicated weather zones. The first challenge is the Channel, with 200 miles of strong current and lots of maritime traffic. Winds tend to be easterly at this time of year, although they could well prove to come from in front, which could add and extra difficult element for the boats to negotiate.

Further ahead the boats will have to cross the Atlantic from 49ºNorth latitude to the Caribbean Ocean entrance. The monohulls are likely to enter through the Mona Canal, between the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico at latitude 19ºN. This will take some 3,500 miles (6,482km) and the boats will sail through many different weather systems.

The first objective after leaving the Channel will be to manage the westerly winds that dominate above the high pressure in the Azores. For this part of the race the tactics will depend very much on the position of the anticyclone and the possible forming of squalls situated around 45ºN. Once the boats have moved down to 30ºN the fight to reach the NE trade winds will begin, and the entrants will have to decide on their passage through the Antilles, the doorway to the Caribbean. The grand circle route (the shortest course from point to point) for the monohulls suggests going trough the Mona Canal, but some skippers may decide to go through other islands. Once they reach the Caribbean Ocean the situation will change. The 1,000 miles to Puerto Limón may throw up changeable winds, especially in the approach to Costa Rica, where the influence of the Pacific Ocean winds can be felt.

A race that guarantees tactical thrills. You can follow all of the action and follow the Spanish skippers’ progress at www.fnob.org