Barcelona World Race/ Open 60's

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

The following is brought to you by Scuttlebutt Europe on April First, 2011( http://scuttlebutteurope.com/ ):

Virbac-Paprec 3 Dismasted at Gibraltar
Loick Peyron, photo by Virbac Paprec 3. Click on image to enlarge.

In a stunning development in the Barcelona World Race, Virbac-Paprec 3, skippered by Loick Peyron and Jean-Pierre Dick, has dismasted at the straits of Gibraltar, just after passing the Pillars of Hercules. Both crewmen are unharmed, but had to cut the rig free and have little left to create a jury rig for the final 600 miles to go to the finish.

Jean-Pierre Dick: "I'm just shattered by this. We were so close, and we've led this race since day one. But we're not done yet. We've got a bit of a stump of mast, and a lot of line, I swear if we have to sail naked to Barcelona and use all our clothing as sails we'll do it."

Loick Peyron was a bit more philosophical in a live radio interview with race HQ: "F*****g bloody god**** piece of s*** f*****g spar. I can't wait to get back to port and find the as***** engineer who f*****g built this thing. F*** if I will lose this to those Spaniards, I'll put a painter in my teeth and f*****g tow this piece of s*** 600 miles. I'll tear up the f*****g deck and turn pieces of it into oars god**** it. There's nothing in the rulebook that says we have to finish under sail. And I may have found a loophole in the rules about using the engine. It states that we cannot use the engine to make forward progress. I'll put the f*****g thing in reverse and back this craptacular floating piece of s*** all the way to Barcelona...

Closing in on the beleagured Frenchmen are Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez aboard MAPFRE, now within 200 miles of the leader.

"Our hearts go out to our friends Jean-Pierre and Loick", said Martinez. "Xabi and I both talked this over this morning, and we're prepared to just drop anchor and let the deserving winners of this race get to Barcelona under jury rig.... NOT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA.... Sweet revenge for Peninsular War of 1808, here's hoping that sawed-off frog Napoleon is turning in his grave. I've ALWAYS hated the French..."

Fernandez added "we'll be sure to sail right past them, literally and figuratively within spitting distance. I already know what I'll shout to them. It's from Monty Python... 'I fart in your general direction'.

Yes, it must be April First in England.... if in the mood,please direct your outrage to: http://scuttlebutteurope.com/
www.barcelonaworldrace.org

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site:

Less ahead, more behind.

In any race, any sport, one moment of security arrives when the leader is closer to the finish than the next rival is behind them. That point should arrive this morning for Virbac-Paprec 3. Light conditions now for Virbac-Paprec 3 as Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron diverge away from the coast of Almeria after their coastal hopping through the bays of yesterday afternoon and evening. The Barcelona World Race leaders twice tacked only two miles off the coast yesterday but today the French duo are pursuing the slightly stronger southerly breeze which is further offshore
This early morning Dick and Peyron look to only have a light NE’ly breeze but are still making 10 knots with 305 miles to sail to Barcelona’s finish line (at 0400hrs GMT). And so this morning the leaders should pass what some consider an important psychological milestone, when they will be closer to the finish than their nearest opposition MAPFRE are to them.

With 32 miles to Gibraltar this morning Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez on MAPFRE are making 9-10 knots and appear to be upwind in easterly breezes which will remain light until this afternoon or evening.

 

from the race site(12:36pm Eastern):

MAPFRE in the Mediterranean

MAPFRE crossed the longitude of Gibraltar this morning at 0740hrs, 1 day 6 hours and 5 minutes after Virbac-Paprec 3.
There is some discrepancy between the European and US models for the area of the western Mediterranean and the final routing for the race leaders as the easterly breeze diverges at the Balearics and so to some extent the question for Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron is how far they go east to find the additional pressure.
A very shallow low sets up over the Iberian peninsula later today and that will make for the SE’ly expiring a bit and very light, variable conditions overnight and then especially up from the Balearics, but as it stands just now the ETA for Virbac-Paprec 3 thus falls into the range between 1800hrs Sunday evening and 0700hrs Monday morning, with the likelihood being greater of mid to late Sunday evening.
The high pressure in the west of the peninsula does become increasingly established Sunday which will mean mainly upwind conditions tomorrow for Iker and Xabi
For now MAPFRE are looking at a residual squirt of Levant Easterly in their face, up to 20 knots for the Straits but then it is likely to be much lighter as they breach the Alboran and for much of today and this afternoon. And so through this morning and afternoon we will likely see the lead of Virbac-Paprec 3 mount up again.

 

from the race site 3:00PM Eastern today:

scorchio!

Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron may be on track to win the second edition of the Barcelona World Race but the French duo this afternoon were experiencing the other extreme of the Mediterranean in Spring.

Only hours after slamming upwind through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea in a combination of sea and wind conditions which were considered by the skippers, and – from a distance – the co-designer of the successful IMOCA Open 60 – as potentially boat damaging.

“I have to say I was a bit stressed by the weather yesterday, and so were they apparently. It was perfect for breaking the boat at the last moment and that would have been so unfair.” Commented Guillaume Verdier, of the partnership between VPLP/Verdier which designed the Virbac-Paprec 3.

On what should be their penultimate afternoon together on board, with some 265 miles to go to the finish, in place of Friday’s final gale and the short slamming seas was an almost millpond like calm, gently slatting sails and fierce, warm sunshine. Some forty miles off Murcia’s Cartagena were truly scotched, or double scotched, stuck to the sea, polled at 0.4 of a knot (‘almost backwards according to Peyron).

The new sixty foot 24 hour world speed record holders made a sedentary 3.3 miles over the five hours to 1400hrs UTC this afternoon. Winning is as much about being able to cope with the extremes. With a lead of 217 miles over second placed MAPFRE and 263.4 miles to the finish Peyron – who should be in the throes of winning his first round the world race – took a cooling swim in the Med.

Virbac-Paprec 3 are expected in Barcelona between 1800hrs Sunday night and 0700hrs Monday morning.

Of his second Barcelona World Race Dick said:

“ The competition was tougher this time with a rival from the start in Foncia and then starting from New Zealand we tussled with MAPFRE and with them through to the end. This race was more difficult, I think. I had the feeling we could be beaten at any times. In the Indian we were isolated a little bit. As for the course it had changed a bit. What changed are the safety gates for the ice which were a bit high. And that changed the complexion of the race. The weather was warm in the Indian.

Loïck was bare chested at the helm at in the South at 46 deg S, with Damian we went down to 54 deg S. And the other difference was the presence of Loïck. Between the Latin character of Loïck and the Anglo-Saxon of Damian there are obviously differences, though both are very cool. They are two beautiful experiences.”

In fact it seems likely that the duo will still be struggling in light winds this evening when the race record of 92 days and 9 hours, which was set by Dick and Damian Foxall, passes around 1900hrs UTC. Other than the aggregate 66 hours which Virbac-Paprec 3 was stopped by technical issues in Recife and Wellington, the theoretical course for this second edition is 520 miles longer.

Second placed MAPFRE passed the longitude of Gibraltar at 0740hrs this morning ready to experience their own Med slow-down as they approached light winds in the Alboaran Sea, but despite the close to ideal course and 13 knots speed made today by Renault Z.E Sailing Team , which has held third place since passing Wellington on 21st February , Pachi Rivero and Toño Piris remain 728 miles behind the Spanish Olympic medallists.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site:

Sunday afternoon could shape arrival time?

For Virbac-Paprec 3 and their final miles to Barcelona today really the last of the SE;ly wind band is at the Balearics just now and then it more or less disappears. North of Mallorca it is really light so it seems Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron will be very slow through Sunday afternoon today.
As the high moves slowly across the new NE’ly Gregal which is always stronger in Girona and Cape Creus, building to the NE of Barcelona, but it often struggles to get as far down the coast as Barcelona.

But, according to the race’s meteo guru Marcel van Triest, the NE’ly will be what gets Virbac-Paprec 3 across the finish line and should prevent a driftathon 40 miles or so off the coast in absolutely nothing. But this NE’ly is still likely to diminish overnight and be killed more, perhaps, by the early morning drainage breeze.

The key period which will really define what the finish time window actually is will be through the early and middle part of this afternoon. If they can keep moving north at even small knots that could be enough to bring them in during the early part of the ETA range, whereas if they are scotched again, stuck to the spot, for any length of time then it will be later in the forecasted range.

In second place MAPFRE are really no quicker than the leaders and are still at least 48 hours out from finishing. It will be light for Iker and Xabi through the morning but then the new NE’ly gets down to them, but really for them no big chance for the Spanish Olympians to get in at speed. When they do get the breeze it will be upwind for them.

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site:

For One Night Only

Just as tomorrow morning should be just part of the reward for a job well done, so their last night at sea together will be one to savour and reflect for Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron.

In terms of the total course distance, 25,200 miles and their 93 days since leaving Barcelona, the final 89 miles which the French duo had to still complete at 1400hrs UTC is but the blink of an eye, but Dick and Peyron with a lead of 247 miles to second place will enjoy a serene final night at sea anticipating the huge release the finish line will bring and the frenzy which inevitably follows.

Nicoise skipper Dick has a better idea of what awaits having enjoyed the warm welcome from the Catalan capital which he received in February 2008 when he won the first edition of the race with Damian Foxall, but for Peyron – despite dozens of accolades and honours offshore and inshore – it will be his first round-the-world triumph in an ocean racing career spanning more than 30 years.

He claimed today that one of his plans for the final 24 hours was to sleep as much as he can, while Dick – who has admitted in the past that he is something of a hard driving perfectionist who struggles to ease off – looked much more relaxed today, knowing that their three month marathon is all but over with the main goal nearly completed.

“ MAPFRE is a respectable distance behind and so I think we can say we have almost won. We can touch victory!” smiled Dick.

After a slow passage north of the Balearics this afternoon the duo are now expected to break the finish line at around breakfast time Monday morning
==========================
==========================
UPDATE: 12:57AM EDT Monday

Barcelona waits......

Making their final miles north towards glory Virbac-Paprec 3 have had a slow but steady final night at sea, averaging aroind 5-7kts, but latest reports had the boat slowing down progressively. Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron reported this morning that they have a very light NE'ly breeze and at 0430hrs UTC/0630hrs local Barcelona were still 25 miles from the finish.



LIVE COVERAGE OF THE FINISH OF THE FIRST BOAT INTO BARCELONA WILL BEGIN AT +30 MINS BEFORE THE FINISH LINE.

Check the site here: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/index.php

Earliest finish about 5AM Monday-likely finish between 5AM-7AM Monday EDT

 

Congratulations to V3 !

The first monohull keelboat using curved lifting foils to win a round the world race is Virbac-Paprec 3! From the race site:

to victory

Breaking the finish line this Monday morning at 10hrs 20mins 36 seconds (UTC) Jean-Pierre Dick (45) and Loïck Peyron (51) have won the second edition of the Barcelona World Race on Virbac-Paprec 3, completing the 25,200 miles round the world race in 93 days, 22 hours, 20 mins and 36 seconds at an average speed of 11.18 knots.

For Jean-Pierre Dick the victory repeats his 2007-08 triumph in the inaugural edition of the round the world race for crews of two, when he won with Irish co-skipper Damian Foxall. Today’s win also adds an elusive round the world victory to Peyron’s two previous podium finishes, each ten years apart - second in 1989-90 in the inaugural Vendée Globe solo round the world race, and second in The Race in 2000, for fully crewed giant multihulls.

The French duo highlighted their drive and pace when they set a new 24-hour speed record for IMOCA Open 60-footers of 506.33 miles on January 22nd (average speed 21.1kts)

Without doubt the success of their proven partnership amounts to more than the sum of its parts, even given Peyron’s 30 years of ocean racing successes and Dick’s incredible durability, his appetite for short handed and solo racing, his meticulous, scientific approach and delivery, and his remarkable trajectory towards the top of this exacting and demanding sailing discipline.

Their partnership has never been beaten on the oceans, winning the Transat Jacques Vabre together in 2005 when Dick defended the title he won with Nicolas Abiven. Dick, previously a full time business director who only really turned ‘professional’ in 2002, has joined the elite ranks of Michel Desjoyeaux and Bernard Stamm as the only skippers to have won two solo or two-handed round the world races.

Their winning course displays all the polished hallmarks of a near perfect execution. Their meteo and navigation strategy in each sea and each ocean, around the classic course, which takes in the three great Capes – Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn but which, uniquely for the genre, climbs from the south Pacific through the Cook Strait before descending just as quickly back to the hostile ocean – has been almost faultless.

The raw speed of Dick’s newest generation VPLP/designed IMOCA Open 60, launched in May last year in Auckland and with which he plans to challenge for the 2012 Vendée Globe, is now proven. As is the duo’s skill to sail it at the limit for long periods when pressed, but so too is their ability to sail defensively, maintaining high averages to preserve themselves and the boat in more extreme conditions.

Such attributes are underpinned by both skippers sharing the same bitter experience of retiring from the 2008-09 Vendée Globe with damage, both leading at different stages. Peyron spent more time in the lead than anyone before his mast broke, and Dick led in the Indian Ocean before sustaining rudder damage.

Though they made two technical stops for repairs, amounting to a time-out total of 63 hours in Brazil and Wellington, New Zealand, the Virbac-Paprec 3 pair stayed the course to fulfil their ranking as one of the pre-race favourites. Of the 14 IMOCA Open 60s which started off Barcelona on 31st December, four of which were otherwise considered potential winners or podium contenders, Président, Foncia, Groupe Bel and Mirabuad all retired with mast or keel failures.

Dick and Peyron led the race out through the Straits of Gibraltar on January 3rd and after re-taking the lead on January 23rd were never passed. The thrilling duel with Michel Desjoyeaux and Francois Gabart, which forced the red line higher and higher, came to an end when Foncia broke their topmast early on the morning of 25th January.

But Spain’s double Olympic 49er medallists Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez in their first ever IMOCA Open 60 race as a duo had been second since Foncia withdrew. From Virbac-Paprec 3’s largest lead of 781 miles over MAPFRE on February 7, the Spanish pair pressed the leaders relentlessly, getting to within 8.3 miles of Dick and Peyron in the Pacific on 25th February. But, with a beautifully precise 30-mile hitch to the east to set up early in the South Atlantic high pressure system, the winners avoided the very worst of the light winds and made the better passage of the dominant anticyclone.

Though their difficult return through the Doldrums was as long, slow and challenging as either Dick or Peyron could recall over their careers, Virbac-Paprec 3 emerged with an advantage to build on over a final 16-day marathon upwind slog to lead back into Gibraltar.

Speaking on the boat immediately after the finish, Jean-Pierre Dick commented: “This round the world race has been a mixture of lots of little things. We already knew each other a little and it was the joint experience of both of us skippers as individuals which was key to winning.

“There are a number of different images that will stay with me from the race. Cape Horn in particular, I have never been that close to it and we could really experience it directly being so close to land. Patagonia is magical – that is my most special moment.

“We are in good shape after the whole three months, and adapted to Loick’s pace. With Damian it was a lot stricter – in Anglo Saxon style!”

Co-skipper Loïck Peyron added: “It has been exceptional. My third round the world race. The first time was solo, the second with a team and this third time double-handed. And we have won – we led the race in spite of some tough competition. It was a fantastic experience and it is a fabulous feeling to finish and finish so well.

“Success comes from true cohesion – and we are both complementary. The savoir – faire of the solo sailing world means you really trust the other person. Success is also about having a good machine at your feet. We made a mistake last night – it was probably us relaxing a little before the arrival, but we did a good job.

“My most important memories are of the albatross – they are quite unique in the world and that part of the planet and we were lucky enough to see them.

“It has been a real example of team work by the ‘family’. It is a beautiful example of unity and I am delighted to have had the chance to experience it.”

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from the race site:

word from the winners


First quotes from Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron as Virbac-Paprec 3 cross the finish line and arrive on the dock as Barcelona World Race winners...

Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA):

"[I feel] a lot of emotions, quite indescribable, I am so happy to be here. I had my objective and today it has been satisfied. It is magical the way we won it together. Thanks Loïck for doing this race with me and putting up with me, magical to live three months among nature around the world, living our passion, and technologically it’s quite special. Thank-you and thank-you Barcelona for this race, it is ideal. Double handed around the world is fantastic. Thank-you also to my sponsors, I am very proud to have these people with me.”

“This round the world race has been a mixture of lots of little things. We already knew each other and it was the joint experience of both of us skippers as individuals which was key to winning.

“We have a really good team, mutual understanding and great respect. We have known each other for a long time and it is for me a huge privilege to have been able to sail around the world with Loïck. A wonderful experience. We both wanted to win of course and our cohesion was focused on this victory.”

Asked if he would consider a third race: “I love Barcelona but I want to celebrate this first and then we will see. The Barcelona World Race is a magical race, it is a wonderful concept: double handed, with sunsets, whales, albatross – to be able to share this natural experience when you are passionate about the sea and can live this passion it is amazing."

The (winning) difference: a new boat, the return delivery from New Zealand. The boat is very new but it is very powerful and reliable. The timings, the schedule was good, and that is the key. We also had a bit of luck it should be said.”

“It is a great moment for me after three years of not winning; it was quite frustrating having to abandon the Vendée Globe when ahead, and then there was a year and a half wait whilst the boat was being built. To be successful and have fulfilled my objective iswonderful.

“There are a number of different images that will stay with me from the race. Cape Horn in particular, I have never been that close to it and we could really experience it directly being so close to land. Patagonia is magical – that is my most special moment.”

Loïck Peyron (FRA):

“It has been exceptional. My third round the world race. The first time was solo, the second with a team and this third time double-handed. And we have won – we led the race in spite of some tough competition. It was a fantastic experience and it is a fabulous feeling to finish and finish so well.

“Success comes from true cohesion – and we are both complementary. The savoir-faire of the solo sailing world means you really trust the other person. Success is also about having a good machine at your feet. We made a mistake last night – it was probably us relaxing a little before the arrival, but we did a good job.

“My most important memories are of the albatross – they are quite unique in the world and that part of the planet and we were lucky enough to see them.

“It has been a real example of teamwork by the ‘family’. It is a beautiful example of unity and I am delighted to have had the chance to experience it.

“It is magical to be in Barcelona again. The last time was with The Race and it is wonderful to be back again and this time with another beautiful story.”

click on image:

 

Barcelona World Race

from Scuttlebutt Europe this morning:

Are the Barcelona Rules a Threat to Safety?

As the leaders of the Barcelona World Race finish their circumnavigation, the tail end yacht is half the world behind and perilously isolated in the Southern Ocean. It has highlighted a serious loophole in the race rules that threatens to undermine the event's safety, one the race director agrees needs to be changed.

Yesterday Fran Palacio and Juan Merediz on Central Lechera Asturiana reported 60 knots of wind and a huge sea state as they battled their way back to New Zealand with a broken ring frame. It follows 25 days in port in Wellington in March as the pair had their broken mast rebuilt by Southern Spars and made other major repairs.

This lengthy stop left them nearly 5,000 miles behind the next placed boat and saw them returning to the Southern Ocean dangerously late in its autumn season.

Renewed pressure is being put on the pair to retire from the race. Race director Denis Horeau told me: "It's a nonsense. It puts everybody in a bad situation: the competitors and the organisers."

The rules of the Barcelona World Race state that yachts making a stop for repairs after Tasmania must take a 48-hour time penalty, but nowhere do they refer to a maximum time in port. It was simply never envisaged that a crew would spend almost a month carrying out a mini refit, although in hindsight the option was going to appeal most to tailenders whose victory is in finishing the course.

This situation underlines several serious anomalies in the race rules, and a continued blurring of the concept of self-sufficiency. Asked if he thinks the rules need to be changed, Denis Horeau replies: "Yes, they must change, absolutely. It is very bad."

He takes out a ring binder with the Notice of Race and points to rule number 1.2, which clearly states that the Barcelona World Race is 'a non-stop round the world race, without assistance'. Yet elsewhere, stops are allowed for and assistance permitted...

... Quite apart from the obvious safety implications, this is puzzling to the public and appears to put commercial considerations above safety.

Full editorial by Elaine Bunting on her blog:
www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/

 

Barcelona World Race

From Scuttlebutt Europe today:

History Made For Two

Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella sailed into the record books this morning when their Owen Clarke designed IMOCA Open 60 GAES Centros Auditivos broke the finish line of the Barcelona World Race in sixth place, stopping the clock at 07.17.18hrs UTC for an elapsed time of 102 days, 19 hours, 17 minutes and 18 seconds.

The morning was chill with dark grey clouds hanging low over the Barcelona skyline as the GAES Chicas sailed their final miles upwind, but their smiles radiated their sheer happiness from several miles before the line: "We were unable to sleep last night because of the nerves and emotions." Confessed Anna Corbella this morning, jubilant to have completed the Barcelona World Race.

Caffari,who has more experience of such race and record finishes, was nonetheless rendered almost speechless by the warmth of the welcome offered her by Corbella's home city.

Corbella becomes the first Spanish woman ever to sail and race non stop around the world, while the unstoppable Caffari maintains her remarkable record in the extreme discipline of short-handed and solo ocean racing, by completing her fourth circumnavigation since she first went all the way around the globe in 2004-5. No other sailor in the world has sailed around the world more often in the last six years!

Dee Caffari extends her world record to become the only woman ever to have completed four circumnavigations, adding a second non-stop eastabouts racing passage to her sixth place in the epic 2008-9 Vendee Globe. And she returns to Barcelona a much more balanced individual having sailed twice westabouts, upwind against the prevailing winds and current, and now twice ' the right way' eastbouts - Cape of Good Hope to Cape Leeuwin to Cape Horn and back to Barcelona. And Caffari has her sights absolutely set on a fifth, as she targets the 2012-13 Vendee Globe.

Since her 2004-5 Global Challenge race, Caffari's record has been incredible especially considering she made a quick transition to the IMOCA Open 60 only in 2007, a complete culture change from her 178 days solo against the winds and current record of 2005-6.

GAES Centros Auditivos crossed the finish line to complete their Barcelona World Race at 07.17.18hrs UTC on Monday April 13th. Their elapsed time for the course was 102 days, 19 hours, 17 minutes and 18 seconds, an average speed for the course of 10.219kts for the 25,200 miles theoretical course. They sailed an actual course of 28,653 miles, at an average 11.61 knots.
www.barcelonaworldrace.org

 

Barcelona World Race

From Scuttlebutt tonight:

CLOSURE


A story in Scuttlebutt 3318 by Elaine Bunting (Don't Leave The Lights On
For Tailenders) noted how the rules of the Barcelona World Race make note
of minimum time penalties for teams that stop for repairs, but not maximum
time penalties. It was simply never envisaged that a crew would spend
almost a month carrying out a mini refit, although in hindsight the option
was going to appeal most to tailenders whose victory is in finishing the
course.

But that's what happened when the last place team of Fran Palacio and Juan
Merediz on Central Lechera went to port in Wellington (NZL) to have their
broken mast rebuilt and major hull structure repairs made. Other than the
race officials seeking to conclude a race that saw its first finisher on
April 4th, there was nothing to keep this team from sailing two more months
toward the finish. But then Mother Nature spoke.

In New Zealand, the Spanish team now confirms their retirement because of
safety fears if they were to repair and carry on. While their damage could
be repaired by the team, the onset of Southern winter in the Pacific
crossing and especially for a Cape Horn passage would be extremely tough
and is considered much too risky. -- http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en

INTERESTING: It should be noted that an experienced doublehanded team
decided this stretch of ocean was too dangerous, while nearly a year ago
the young solo sailor Abby Sunderland did not. Sunderland, who was seeking
to be the youngest person to complete a circumnavigation, needed to be
rescued last June when winter storms in the Indian Ocean broke her mast and
required the abandonment of her boat. Did I mention that this week Abby is
now promoting her book on the adventure? -- Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt
editor

 

Barcelona World Race / Open 60's

from Scuttlebutt tonight:

* With the completion of the Barcelona World Race, the 2010 rankings in the
IMOCA Open 60 class find Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) on top. Each
year, the IMOCA class draws up its rankings based on the results of the
previous two years, with these rankings using the results from the 2009
Istanbul Europa Race, the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre, the 2010 Route du
Rhum and the 2010 Barcelona World Race. Full report:
http://tinyurl.com/IMOCA-042811