Recent political turmoil in Catalonia has been cited by race organisers in their decision to cancel next year’s Barcelona World Race.
The fourth edition of the double-handed round-the-world race for IMOCAs was due to start on 12 January 2019, and the notice of race was published earlier this year.
Eight teams had already announced their intention to race – and the IMOCA class is now looking at the possibility of creating “a major new international ocean race” to take its place on the calendar.
“It was only late last week that the IMOCA class was informed of this bad news,” said the class in a statement. “It was a massive blow, as the IMOCA class has been working hard for more than 10 years to develop this race and make it a fantastic sporting event.
“The disappointment is that much bigger because this fourth edition of the Barcelona World Race looked extremely promising. Eight crews were already interested in competing and others were seriously considering that. For the first time, a stopover was scheduled in Sydney, with the possibility for the skippers to change their crewman.
“This stopover in Australia would have been a huge benefit in terms of the internationalisation of the IMOCA class. And for the racers, it would have been a great opportunity to race double-handed in the Southern Ocean and to prepare in the best way possible for the 2020 Vendée Globe.”
The class is now turning its attentions to organising a replacement event between the 2018 Route du Rhum and the 2019 Transat Jacques Vabre for teams that have already expended efforts on the Barcelona World Race, although it acknowledges that this “is a major challenge, as the timing is tight.”
