Barcelona World Race

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by Doug Lord, Dec 31, 2014.

  1. Doug Lord
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    From the Race website and Scuttlebutt Europe:

    Last Hours On Land For The Barcelona World Race Skippers

    A perfect sunny Tuesday afternoon 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 Wednesday's 1300hrs (CET midday UTC) start.

    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)

    www.barcelonaworldrace.org

    TRACKER: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/race-live/barcelona-world-race-2014-15-tracker
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2015
  2. Doug Lord
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    Barcelona World Race-the boats

    Below are the stories of the boats competing in the Barcelona World Race 2014/15:
    Spirit of Hungary

    Nandor Fa / Conrad Colman is the fourth IMOCA 60 designed and built by Nandor Fa. Launched in 2014, the boat is the first model to be built according to the new class rules. The hull, which is carbon fibre, was built at the Pauger shipyard (well-known for RC44s) and Nandor himself undertook some of the work. Following a return to the shipyard due to technical issues, that also prevented the crew from taking part in the IMOCA Ocean Masters New York-Barcelona Race last summer, the Barcelona World Race will be the first great test for Nandor and Conrad’s yacht.
    ------------------
    Hugo Boss

    Alex Thomson / Pepe Ribes are sailing in the 2014/15 edition of the BWR is the former Virbac Paprec 3, winner of the previous edition of the race and a boat which stands out from the rest in terms of technical innovation. With Jean-Pierre Dick at the helm the boat finished in fourth place in the Vendée Globe 2012/13, despite sailing without a keel for 2,650 miles. Alex Thomson Racing purchased the boat and carried out a comprehensive refit, which included fitting a brand new keel. The IMOCA 60 was back on the water in April 2014 but en route to America for its first race, the IMOCA Ocean Masters New York to Barcelona Race, the yacht dismasted. However, following repairs the new Hugo Boss sealed a victory in the event, her first, with Pepe Ribes and Ryan Breymaier (in place of Alex, whose second child was due to be be born) on board.
    ----------------------
    Cheminées Poujoulat

    Bernard Stamm / Jean Le Cam After losing his JuanK IMOCA 60 to a storm on Christmas Eve in 2013, Bernard Stamm signed a lease/option to replace his Cheminees Poujoulat with Jörg Riechers’ former boat Mare.. This is a yacht from the Farr studio, launched in 2007, taken by Michel Desjoyeaux to Vendée Globe victory in 2008/09 and later sailed to second place in the Barcelona World Race 2010/11 by Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández. It later took the Vendée Globe 2012/13 start with Jérémie Beyou. The boat has been refitted a number of times to ensure it is up to date with the class rules. Bernard and Jean have also made some changes of their own.
    ----------------------------
    GAES Centros Auditivos

    Anna Corbella / Gerard Marín is the former SynerCiel skippered by Jean Le Cam, that finished the Vendée Globe 2012/13 in fifth place. Before that, as Renault Z.E., the yacht was sailed to third place in the Barcelona World Race 2010/11 by Pachi Rivero and Toño Piris. This yacht’s first round the world challenge was the Vendée Globe 2008/09 as Gitana Eighty with Loïck Peyron at the helm, when she incorporated a number of innovative features including a swiveling/tacking interior. Therefore GAES Centros Auditivos really has been performance-tested and was prepared for this edition of the regatta at the FNOB’s Ocean Sailing Base in Barcelona.
    -------------------------
    Neutrogena

    Guillermo Altadill / José Muñoz Built in 2007, Neutrogena is a solid vessel that has demonstrated its impressive potential on many occasions. Above all, this is a boat Guillermo knows well. The Spaniard took the yacht to the start of the first edition of the Barcelona World Race as Estrella Damm, although the crew were forced to abandon the race in South Africa due to rudder issues. The boat then took on the Vendée Globe 2008/09 as BT with Sébastien Josse at the helm. It later became Roland Jourdain’s Veolia Environnement, winning the 2010 Route du Rhum. A year later, the boat donned the colours of Hugo Boss and Guillermo Altadill stepped back on board, joining Alex Thomson for the Transat Jacques Vabre 2011, finishing in second place. The Briton also logged a west-east transatlantic record with this IMOCA 60 and third place in the Vendée Globe 2012/13. Guillermo has been training with what was his former yacht since 2013.
    -------------------------------
    One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton

    Aleix Gelabert / Dídac Costa will be racing on the formerKingfisher, the boat Ellen MacArthur famously smashed the Atlantic record from Plymouth to Newport with in 2000, taking second place in the Vendée Globe 2000/01 and later a Route du Rhum victory in 2002. It then became Educación Sin Fronteraswith Albert Bargués and Servane Escoffier making their first non-stop, circumnavigation of the planet in the Barcelona World Race 2007/08. In the second edition of the double-handed, round the world challenge Gerard Marín and Ludovic Aglaor raced the yacht re-christened as Fòrum Marítim Català. One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton is therefore one of the IMOCA 60 fleet with the highest mileage and number of circumnavigations under its belt. This is a solid and reliable yacht that has recently undergone a thorough inspection at the FNOB Ocean Sailing Base, with special attention paid to the keel and appendages, the steering and the electronic on-board systems .
    ------------------------------------
    Renault Captur

    Jörg Riechers / Sébastien Audigane is a Finot-Conq design launched in July 2007 that Armel Le Cléac’h took to second place in the Vendée Globe 2008/09 in 89 days and 9 hours. Le Cléac’h was also in the driving seat for the yacht’s second place Route du Rhum finish in 2010. The boat underwent a refit in July this year. Over the past few weeks the rigging and appendages have been inspected and work has also been done on the electronics and mast. For this preparation, the team has had an outstanding technical advisor: Bertrand de Broc, the last skipper to compete aboard this IMOCA 60.
    -------------------------------
    We Are Water

    Bruno Garcia / Willy Garcia IMOCA 60 won the 2007-08 Barcelona World Race as Paprec- Virbac 2 in the hands of Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall. It is a Farr design which was built in New Zealand by Southern Ocean Marine, launched in February 2007. Then in the 2010-11 Barcelona World Race it was sailed to fourth place as Estrella Damm by Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes.
     
  3. Doug Lord
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  4. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    It's going to be an interesting race to watch once again, good luck to all the competitors! My personal favorites are the Cheminees Poujoulat Stamm/Le Cam team. Bernard Stamm must be due for some good luck soon.
     
  5. Doug Lord
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    Bwr

    From Scuttlebut Europe/BWR site:

    A Sharp Exit From The Mediterranean


    Barcelona World Race After yesterday's light winds start, which tested the patience of the 16 skippers with a busy, if slightly slow motion, send off from the waters off the iconic Hotel Vela (W-Hotel), there has been a steady building of wind strength, and a smooth acceleration of pace for the transition into offshore racing mode for the eight boats competing in the Barcelona World Race.

    Alex Thomson (GBR) and Pepe Ribes (ESP) on Hugo Boss have made no secret of their desire to win this edition, and before departing yesterday Alex commented that for the initial stages: "The pressure is to be at the front of the pack and not to not lose too much is important. We feel fortunate that we've got a boat that can probably catch everybody up if we need to catch everybody up, but we don't really want to be in that position really!"

    The pair emphatically demonstrated the overtaking speed of their 2010 VPLP/Verdier design over the first 24 hours racing, accelerating through the fleet from fourth to first place to take the lead this morning.

    At just 26 hours after Wednesday's 1300hrs start the leaders were already 50 miles to the east of Cabo de Gata - the promontory by Almeria which marks the entrance to the Alboran Sea, some 175 miles to Gibraltar and the exit to the Atlantic. The race record for the 538 miles passage from Barcelona to Gibraltar was set at the start of the 2010-11 edition by Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron on Virbac-Paprec 3 at 3 days, 7 hours, 55 mins.

    Ranking at 14:00 UTC December 31, 2014:

    1. Hugo Boss (A Thomson - Ribes P) 23,154.7 miles from the finish
    2. Cheminees Poujoulat (B Stamm - J Le Cam) 3.8 miles to leader
    3. GAES Centros Auditivos (A Corbella - G Marino) 5.8 miles to leader
    4. Neutrogena (G Altadill - Munoz J) 16 miles to leader
    5. Renault Captur (J Riechers - S Audigane) 41.5 miles to leader
    6. One Planet One Ocean & Pharmaton (A Gelabert - Costa D) 44.2 miles to leader
    7. We Are Water (B Garcia - Garcia W) 63 miles to leader
    8. Spirit of Hungary (N F - C Colman) 75.9 miles to leader

    www.barcelonaworldrace.org
     
  6. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Bwr

    from the BWR site:

    A new record for the 538-mile opening passage from Barcelona to Gibraltar was set by Alex Thomson and Pepe Ribes when they exited the Mediterranean on Hugo Boss on Thursday evening, leading the Barcelona World Race. But their passage into the Atlantic proved problematic when they then hit two unidentified objects and hooked a net around their keel in strong winds and muscular seas.
    NEWS JAN 3, 2015 16:42
    The English-Spanish duo had no choice but to sail through the hours of darkness, at speeds which they reported to their technical team were 30 per cent less than they should have been.
    Early this morning, once the seas had eased slightly, Thomson and Ribes completed a more satisfactory back-up and shook off the debris. Having lost some hard-earned miles they dropped to fourth on this morning’s leaderboard, in part because they held on to a more northerly position diverging from the direct course. But by afternoon today – rather ominously for their opposition *– the silver-hulled Hugo Boss is back up to second place, some five miles behind Franco-Swiss duo Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam on Cheminées Poujoulat, who still lead.
     
  7. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  8. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Bwr

    Update from Scuttlebutt Europe and the BWR site:

    Barcelona World Race: Cheminees Poujoulat On The Prowl

    All of the leading group are going west as expected. GAES Centros Auditivos were first to gybe around 1300hrs this afternoon, hence losing initial miles to the leaders. Hugo Boss and Neutrogena gybed west at almost the same time some two hours later and then Cheminees Poujoulat were last to go. In reality Hugo Boss are still some 18 or 19 miles directly in front of Cheminees Poujoulat, the evening ranking skewed by the proximity to the rhumb line and the distance south, but in reality little will have changed since the last position report. Hugo Boss has still covered the greatest distance.

    That said GAES Centros Auditivos do seem to have been more lifted on their angle back to the west. And for sure Cheminees Pojoulat are on the march, putting Hugo Boss under pressure on the most optimised Farr design which should be improved in these conditions.

    Breezes are still solid, good trade winds and the pace relentless.

    Next up are the Cape Verde islands, and another decision, through or round the west or east?

    Rankings 07/01/2015 at 19:00:00 UTC
    1. Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson / Pepe Ribes
    2. Cheminees Poujoulat, Bernard Stamm / Jean Le Cam
    3. Neutrogena, Guillermo Altadill / Jose Munoz
    4. GAES Centros Auditivos, Anna Corbella / Gerard Marín
    5. Renault Captur, Jorg Riechers / Sebastien Audigane
    6. One Planet, One Ocean / Pharmaton, Aleix Gelabert / Dídac Costa
    7. We Are Water, Bruno Garcia / Willy Garcia
    8. Spirit of Hungary, Nandor Fa / Conrad Colman

    www.barcelonaworldrace.org
     
  9. Corley
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    Hugo Boss dismasted, no injuries onboard.

    https://www.facebook.com/AlexThomsonRacing/posts/1028039043876814

    HUGO BOSS DISMASTED IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC

    HUGO BOSS lost their rig this evening at 21.02 GMT, 370 nautical miles off the coast of Brazil

    Alex Thomson and Pepe Ribes, skippers of yacht HUGO BOSS in the Barcelona World Race this evening lost their mast at 21.02 GMT. The yacht was reaching in moderate conditions when there was a rigging failure and the mast fell overboard and broke.
    This means they will now cease racing in the Barcelona World Race 2014 -2015. The skippers and the shore team are currently evaluating how to get the boat to the nearest landfall, which is likely to be Salvador in Brazil which is a significant distance from the boat’s current position.

    Stewart Hosford Managing Director of Alex Thomson Racing said this evening ‘After such a promising start to the 2014-2015 edition of the Barcelona World Race- this has come as a great shock. We have been preparing for this race for over a year, but unfortunately in offshore racing this type of failure sometimes happens. I now just want the skippers to get to safety and to recognise that they, and the team are very upset that this has happened, and to thank our team and our partners for their support. Alex and Pepe were doing a superb job in this race and having spoken to both of them – they are devastated that this rig failure has ended their race.’

    Alex Thomson Racing are grateful to all the support from their fans and we will keep everyone updated here on on Facebook and on our website & Twitter
     
  10. Doug Lord
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    Bwr

    What a shame! Seems incredible on such a well funded program.... Glad everybody is ok.
     
  11. Doug Lord
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    BWR--on board Neutrogena

    From the BWR site and from Neutrogena:

    This is what we came for
    Neutrogena

    "A small southern dawning light appears between the clouds and let you see how big waves are, how small Neutrogena is and how insignificant we are” Guillermo Altadill describes the incredible experience of night sailing in the deep south
    Sailing in an IMOCA 60 such as Neutrogena has two sides. And those sides are set by the wind, the waves and the boat speed. Previous nights in this edition of the Barcelona World Race, when we were in the tropics, when the moon let you see the waves and take horizon as a reference point, are really unforgettable. Travelling sometimes at a speed of more than 25 knots, surfing some waves that you can feel at the same time that you can see them, under such a starry night so bright you could read outdoors.
    Those nights are wonderful and you feel like the king of the world. You are moving fast, you have everything under control, the boat reacts at every small movement you order from behind the helm and the trail after your stern is a thin foam line drawn using a tracer.
    There are nights – and they are exactly the ones we will face from now on here in the Great South – when the boat moves very fast in the southern ocean –sometimes more than we would like – and darkness fills the sky. You can only feel, between the foam and the waves that sweep Neutrogena’s deck, the tiny electronic lights with numbers that change every second in front of your eyes. Those eyes that you could hardly keep opened when a wave hits your face even more strongly than the previous one and, occasionally, a small gush of water comes out of your mouth. It just coincided that you opened your mouth to take some fresh air to release your tension with the same moment when several tons of water submerged the boat’s bow, after a surf that you know when it starts but never know when it will end.
    Your expressions become uncontrollable and your concentration is focused on helming to the wind angle. If you make any mistake, everything ends up in a disaster. There’s no place for little mistakes. It is like driving blindfolded at 70kmph knowing that if you come out of an unprotected narrow road you could end up without a car and, possibly, you could get hurt as well.
    Here Neutrogena cannot break up because, apart from racing in it, the boat is our only chance to survive in the ocean. It is both our home and our shelter. The only habitable space in more than 2,000 miles here in the middle of the coldest and inhospitable ocean.
    These nights that I’m talking about finish when a small southern dawning light appears between the clouds and let you see how big waves are, how small Neutrogena is and how insignificant we are. You can distinguish a curious and majestic albatross flying around the boat and you catch your breath, inhale deeply and think that... Well, the worst part is almost gone and daylight is back, which is not a small step! You feel that you’ve won a battle against someone very superior to you and a small triumphant smile appears on your lips and tells you... THIS IS WHAT WE CAME FOR.
     

  12. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Bwr

    From race headquarters and Scuttlebutt tonight: (read whole article here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2...m=Barcelona World Race faces most severe test )

    Barcelona World Race faces most severe test

    (February 3, 2015; Day 35) – Together with Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam on Cheminées Poujoulat, Guillermo Altadill and Jose Munoz on Neutrogena were today battling the most testing conditions the Barcelona World Race fleet has yet faced, with 40-45 knots of wind and severe sea states of 6-8m waves generated by a south-moving low pressure system made up of two merged tropical cyclones.

    “The waves have increased in height, wind in intensity and the noise in decibels. The Indian Ocean reminds us who’s really in charge here,” reports Altadill from Neutrogena.

    The duo on Cheminées Poujoulat, around 150 miles further east, have switched into defensive mode, last night sailing with three reefs in the main and dropping their headsail in order to slow the IMOCA 60 down in the face of the storm, hoping the depression will pass rapidly to the south of them. This has also allowed second-placed Neutrogena to gain nearly 60 miles on the leaders.

    “It’s the first time I have had to stop a boat racing, but it was the only solution to avoid getting into a survival situation,” explains Stamm. “So we do not have a lot of speed and we are a little exposed to the waves but it’s fine. We can take this opportunity to do a little maintenance, preparing the boat, and eating and sleeping because when we set off again, we will still be in the depression and it may even have strengthened for a while.”
     
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