#barcelonaworldrace – Tuesday allowed the sixteen skippers who will start the 22,500 miles two handed Barcelona World Race to fully enjoy their final hours on dry land before taking this afternoon's 1300hrs (CET midday UTC) start. At least one of the competing skippers has a connection to Ireland thanks to a pit–stop taken on the south coast last April.
The fleet includes British sailor Alex Thomson who visited Cork twice in 2014. He sailed here first in April in his Open 60 Hugo Boss and stopped off at Cork Harbour Marina for some running repairs prior to a Transatlantic passage. Such was his positive experience in the harbour he returned in October to talk about his sailing plans at a public lecture at Cork's Millennium Hall as part of Cork Innovation Week. At that lecture he said he believed Cork harbour had the 'potential to be a global yacht racing hub'.
Thomson and his co-Skipper Pepe Ribes will sail HUGO BOSS an IMOCA 60 racing yacht 26,000 Nautical Miles, non-stop, unassisted around the globe.
The Barcelona World Race is the only double-handed (two crew per boat), non-stop, round the world regatta. The race takes the sailors on a course that started and will finish in Barcelona. The course will take HUGO BOSS via the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn. The race is a highlight in the IMOCA circuit and part of the prestigious Ocean Masters World Championships.
The last time Thomson competed in The Barcelona World Race was back in 2007-2008, when he and his co-skipper at the time, Andrew Cape, finished the race in second place.
This time around, Thomson is competing alongside co-skipper, Pepe Ribes; one of Spain's most experienced and well respected sailors. Thomson and Ribes have over 35 years offshore racing experience between them, and are competing onboard a new generation IMOCA 60.
Thomson made headlines in 2013 when he successfully completed the gruelling Vendee Globe - a solo, unassisted round-the-world race - breaking a British record along the way. Comparing the challenges of the Vendee Globe and the BWR, Thomson said;
"The Barcelona World Race is mentally easier than the Vendee Globe because you have another person there with you. But the Barcelona World Race is a more difficult race physically than the Vendee. It's a double handed race, so while there are two of you onboard, you are racing the boat to its full potential so it requires more physically."
Speaking about his co-skipper, Thomson said; "I met Pepe about four years ago when he was another skipper in the race. He has been working with us for about a year and we have got to know each other well. We've done thousands of miles together. We are quite different characters, we look at things in very different ways. But that's a positive thing. Because we are less likely to let a detail slip."
The Barcelona World Race will take up to 90 days to complete
The start will be given by Barcelona's Mayor Xavier Trias with the line set in front of the iconic 90m tall Hotel Vela (W-Hotel). The mayor will signal the start with a traditional sound as well as the emblematic lowering of the 'flags' on a new sculpture on the Placa del Mar on the Barcelona sea-front.
The onshore activity will begin at 10 am when the IMOCA 60s bid their farewells and dock-out from the pontoons at the base of the Columbus statue. From 12.30 pm on the beachfront a starting ceremony will begin with a live performance by the Fura del Baus musicians at the Dona del Milleni sculpture. Xavier Trias, will drive the mechanism that moves the arms, waving a flag signal, which will start the circumnavigation of the globe.
After the gun there are two options for a circuit along the beach before heading south towards the exit from the Med. The most likely is a two miles reach to a turning mark where the fleet will pass before heading for the Strait of Gibraltar, 535 miles down the track. Winds are forecast to be light around start time.
The meteo situation suggests there will be a variety of options after that final turning mark, and hence the fleet could possibly spread. Initially there might be the choice to go east to hook into the existing stronger breeze or wait until it is filled across to the Spanish coast. Essentially Barcelona lies in no-go zone, between the winds. The brisk NE'ly will carry the leaders down to the Balearics by between 2200hrs and midnight (about 90 miles) where the routing suggests passing just to the east of Ibiza. The winds through this first night will peak at just over 20kts but after the Balearics through the early hours the winds will ease, receding from the shore.
Barcelona World Race 2014-15 entries:
Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm (SUI) and Jean Le Cam (FRA)
GAES Centros Auditivos, Anna Corbella (ESP) and Gerard Marin (ESP)
Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson (GBR) and Pepe Ribes (ESP)
Neutrogena, Guillermo Altadill (ESP) and Jose Munoz (CHI)
One Planet One Ocean Pharmaton, Aleix Gelabert (ESP) and Didac Costa (ESP)
Renault Captur, Jorge Riechers (GER) and Seb Audigane (FRA)
Spirit of Hungary, Nandor Fa (HUN) and Conrad Colman (NZL)
We Are Water, Bruno Garcia (ESP) and Willy Garcia (ESP)
