The race
The Barcelona World Race is a non-stop, round-the-world, two-man race (two members per boat). Starting and finishing in Barcelona, it allows outside help, but within the framework of strict regulations which we will come back to below.
Organized by the Barcelona Foundation for Ocean Sailing (FNOB), it is part of the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship.
The course
The start of the next edition will be given on December 31 at 1 pm and the first participants will be expected in March 2015. The 8 boats will have to sail 23,000 nautical miles around the world, leaving the Capes of Good Hope (Africa), Leeuwin (Australia) and Horn (Chile) to port and Antarctica to starboard. The race, which will last about 3 months, will take place on three oceans, plus the Mediterranean Sea, and the duos will cross 12 different climatic zones.
In the 2 previous editions, the participants had to pass through the Cook Strait, from now on, they are free to go through the south of the Kiwi archipelago.
The boat
The teams are sailing on board Imoca boats ( All the Imoca news ) designed specifically for offshore sailing. These light and robust boats allow for great speed performance and resistance to sometimes difficult weather conditions.
Technical stops
The Barcelona World Race 2014/15 allows a maximum of three technical stops to carry out technical repairs with outside help.
The reference time
It is the French sailor Jean-Pierre Dick, alongside the Irishman Damian Foxall, on board Paprec Virbac 2 who has held the reference time since the first edition (2007/2008) in 92 days, 9 hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds.
He also won the 2 ème edition (2010/2011) alongside Loïck Peyron on Virbac-Paprec 3 after 93 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes and 36 seconds.
The teams
8 teams will participate in the 2014/2015 edition of the Barcelona World Race, with 16 skippers:
Poujoulat Chimneys the Swiss Bernard Stamm and the Frenchman Jean Le Cam.
This will be their first time sailing as a duo, but they have six Vendée Globe participations, nine circumnavigations and 60 transatlantic races between them. This will be Bernard Stamm's first participation, but the duo is nevertheless one of the most experienced crews.
GAES Centros Auditivos the Spanish Anna Corbella and Gerard Marín.
One of the youngest crews in the race, but not the first to participate. First boat to register, they were able to train at leisure.
Hugo Boss the British Alex Thomson and the Iberian Pepe Ribes.
Hugo Boss is a regular in the regatta, having participated in all the editions, even if its main skipper, Alex, could not take the start in 2010/2011 due to a family problem. His teammate is one of the most experienced Spanish ocean racers, with 4 participations in the Volvo Ocean Race, a 4 ème place in the Barcelona World Race and a transoceanic record between New York and Barcelona with Alex Pella and Stan Schreyer. This duo is already announced as the favorites of the race.
Neutrogena the Spanish Guillermo Altadill and the South American José Munoz.
Altadill is the most successful Spanish ocean racer, the one who has sailed the most miles (400,000) and circumnavigated the world (6), and who also holds 2 round-the-world records. José Munoz will be racing for the first time in the Imoca class. He is the most experienced Chilean ocean racer and has a solid track record in high-level sailing.
One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton the Spanish Aleix Gelabert and Didac Costa.
Coming from the MINI class, this round-the-world race is a real personal and professional challenge but not onlyâ?¦ They will also take advantage of it to collaborate on many oceanographic research projects during their navigation.
Renault Captur the German Jörg Riechers and the French Sebastien Audigane.
This will be Jörg's first participation in the Barcelona World Race. Coming from the Mini and Figaro circuit, he is the first German to win a transatlantic race and to obtain victories on the Class 40 and Mini circuits. Sebastien had already participated in the previous edition with Kito de Pavant but had to withdraw from the race due to technical problems.
Spirit of Hungary the Hungarian Nandor Fa and the New Zealander Conrad Colman.
Nador Fa is a legend in his country! A professional wrestler, he turned to canoeing and kayaking before becoming the first Hungarian to complete a round-the-world race. He then participated in numerous offshore races. After 17 years of absence, he returned to the Barcelona World Race.
We Are Water the Spanish brothers Bruno and Willy García.
The two brothers are not professionals and will be sailing together for the first time on a non-stop round the world race without assistance. Nevertheless, they have a great experience of ocean racing, solo or double-handed. Bruno has already participated in the race in 2010/2011, alongside Jean Le Cam.
