The start of the next Barcelona World Race will take place on 12th January 2019, but the Notice of Race has already been published. It was presented on 26th April 2017 in Paris, by Xosé-Carlos Fernández, Director General of the FNOB (Barcelona Oceanic Navigation Foundation), member of the General Assembly and Board of Directors of the IMOCA Class, during the General Assembly of the IMOCA Class. And it turns out that the race is taking on a new format.
As in previous editions, the Barcelona World Race (organised by the Barcelona Oceanic Navigation Foundation) is part of the IMOCA World Championship, coefficient 8 and the ISAF Major Event category.
An obligatory stopover in Sydney
Originally, it was a double-handed race around the world non-stop. Now it has new rules, including the number of stages. The Barcelona World Race will consist of two legs: Barcelona - Sydney, Sydney - Barcelona. The sum of the times of the two legs will determine the final ranking. The stopover in the Australian city will be compulsory. It will allow the crews to take a complete check-up, repair the boats if necessary and change co-skipper if they wish.
Responding to skippers' requests
For the past six months, the FNOB technical team has been working with the IMOCA class and the Vendée Globe organising team to agree on the new race format. The aim of these working sessions was to achieve better coordination between the two organisations, but also to take into account the suggestions and comments from the IMOCA class teams regarding the ideal format of the Spanish race.
The FNOB wished to respond as much as possible to the requests of the skippers who have declared their desire to participate in the next BWR. The aim is to achieve a higher participation and reach new sponsors. The Notice of Race was very well received. In the next few days, the FNOB General Manager will speak with interested skippers.
Information on the Foundation for Ocean Navigation in Barcelona (FNOB)
The Barcelona Foundation for Ocean Sailing (FNOB) is a public institution created in 2005 with the aim of developing, in the territory and through ocean sailing, valuable projects around four strategic axes: Sport, Training, Science and Business/Industry. The Foundation can count on the involvement and collaboration of Barcelona's university, institutional and business fabric.
The entity - made up of Barcelona City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Fira de Barcelona, the Port of Barcelona - has organised several ocean races, among them the Barcelona World Race. After three editions (the first one took place in 2007), this round-the-world race has become one of the pillars, along with the Vendée Globe, of the IMOCA OCEAN MASTERS World Championship. The FNOB has also organised the New York - Barcelona record, the IMOCA Round Spain Sailing Race and the Europa Warm'Up.
