Acciona 100% Ecopowered is the realisation of project that was many years in the pipeline, but which until now had been impossible to execute: a racing yacht deriving all of it's electricity from 'clean' generators, with no combustion engine involved, as had been the case up until now, to charge batteries on board. Acciona, a Spanish company specialising in the creation and use of sustainable and renewable energy and has put its support behind Bubi Sansó for this IMOCA and offshore sailing milestone: a combination of wind power, solar power and hydrodynamics to achieve total sustainability and a 100% energy self-sufficient modern offshore racing yacht. Acciona has remained true to the company's core philosophy throughout and has also offset 115 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions to compensate for the emissions unavoidably created though the boatbuilding process with Certified Reductions in Emissions (CREs) through the wind farms at Anabaru, Arasinagundi and Karnataka (India), which all belong to the company.

Thomson and Altadill are sailors with a global reputation for wearing their hearts on their sleeve, passionate, driven and fast. But there is little doubt that both were in need of a solid, strong result when they partnered up for the tenth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre.  As a duo, in theory, they ticked a lot of boxes – Thomson a naturally fast and gifted sailor whose history is a chequered one, with several high profile big race retirements. And Altadill’s reputation for his outspoken passionate views does not make him everyone’s perfect co-skipper.

 

But the duo teamed up with the original Estrella Damm, the Farr design which was built in Cowes, which went on to race in the Vendee Globe as BT with Seb Josse before winning last winter’s Route du Rhum as Roland Jourdain’s Veolia Environnment. It was, many thought an odd combination of variables, but one which worked brilliantly as Thomson, Altadill and Hugo Boss finished second, leaving everyone else standing, but third times winner Jean Pierre Dick, on Virbac-Paprec 3 with Jeremie Beyou:

 

Guillermo, you have been successful in crewed round the world racing and on round the world maxi multihulls, but this is your first good result in a high level IMOCA fleet race, what does it mean to you?

 

To be second in a race like the Jacques Vabre is a resut which is good, it is the IMOCA Circuit with a good level of boats and a good number of boats and looking at all the big races around the world the IMOCA class is the one which has sustained good numbers and so you make a good result in a good sized fleet like. I’ve been sailing in the IMOCA since 2007 and have made a good result in the Volvo, the Whitbread and I never made a good result in the IMOCA and so this is important for me.

 

You arrived in Costa Rica saying you and Alex had hardly slept and that you found it tough, how physically hard was it compared to what you’ve done before?

 

Being used to sailing with a crew, sailing two handed is more difficult. In effect when you are sailing fully crewed you can still have one day when you are strong and one day you are weaker, behind you are always 10 or 12 guys.Two handed you need to be on it all the time, you always have to be strong or it reflects directly in the performance of the boat.

 

That means you have to rationalise your effort every day and this is tough, some days you have really not had enough sleep and you still have to push the boat, so psychologically you have to push very hard to make yourself very strong and keep going, and so does the other guy. I think we did not sleep a lot, we got very little sleep, maybe because I am getting older but we had real sleep deprivation, I was really tired but it really, really hit about three days after the finish. I was really, really, really tired.

 

How did your partnership with Alex come about and what role did you have in choosing the Farr design over the Juan Kouyoumdjian design?

 

I knew Alex from before, from the first Barcelona World Race and he called me before the Giraglia to sail the Juan K boat and we trained a bit out from Valencia and did the Giraglia. After the Giraglia he proposed we did a period of training with the target of the TJV and that was including the Fastnet Race and the Channel Race. 

 

So we started training with one of the boats, and I found the boat really hard, and I think Alex kind of wanted a second opinion and I said I thought it would be hard for him to sail the boat around the world, the Juan K boat. It was a little bit difficult and I think he wanted a second opinion. So I think he wanted a second opinion to change his mind a little bit and that is why we tried to get this boat. 

 

From the time we took this boat I think it was more easy because I knew the boat from before, it was my first boat and I knew it had a lot of potential but was a very simple boat. It is exactly the opposite to the Juan K boat. But in saying that we did not sail this boat more than 200 miles before this race and we certainly had not raced it. But it was always going to be easier for the two of us to race this boat than the other one, always a bit more simple.

 

You put some new sails on the boat, what did you do and what was specifically for the Transat Jacques Vabre and what had a longer term objective? 

 

”The new sail inventory was much the same as before, with the sail limitation everybody does much the same things. And we took one sail which was more for the TJV which was an A1 which was more for light downwind. But in terms of developing sails it is long term for the Vendee. The big difference between how the boat was set up for Bilou and the way we have it is we have fractional kites and he did not. That is the only thing we changed, but we did not use it a lot, almost never. We used the reaching sails a lot and for downwind there was either too much wind or not enough. But that is a long term thing for the Vendee Globe.”

 

 

And how competitive do you think the boat was compared to the new ones?

 

We have to not forget that thisFarr boat is not a last generation boat and the new ones can be  are 10 maybe 15 per cent faster than this one, and you have to survive but this boat can be improved in some conditions. The important thing is to hit the potential of the boat but we can certainly also improve little things on the boat, rudders, daggerboards, the mast position so that it is even more competitive. But remember we are always thinking that there is a trade and you will lose something,somewhere.

 

What was it like sailing with Alex?

 

You can feel Alex is a very reactive sailor on the boat, he loves to be always quick with the boat and always working hard, and we are both like that. He loves to go fast reaching and surfing. I think we both have that feeling that we love the speed, but we also share the same feeling of satisfaction that the boat is always at or near 100%, we are both always looking for more.  It was good, we have a very similar character on the boat, and that worked really well, but he is always reactive, always trying to do things for speed.

 

Strategy? Was it a bold decision to stay north and when did you decide that was the way to go? 

 

We always knew that from the start the first week would be really important. But we did not test or really race the boat before and so we did want to be slightly conservative and go with the fleet. But to go with the fleet was an expectation to follow your routing. That is really what we did in the beginning for the first two or three days. 

 

What the fleet did after, in terms of strategy and tactics, did not do what we considered to be the conservative thing, The fleet changed its mind in terms of the Low, they did not want in an area with big winds and waves. But we took the conservative route, the routing that was shown to go more west. 

 

The fleet tacked early and went south, so what we did from the beginning until the last low was the conservative thing for us. We did not make anything different from the routing and what it showed the others should have done. The others, in terms of safety for the their boats lets say, tried to avoid the worst part of the low by going more south. So that was the difference and the key of the race. In 24 hours or less, the fleet split in two groups. Well in fact the rest split south and Virbac-Paprec 3 and us were more conservative, all the routing parameters saying to go west. And for sure, we know that the guys who went south saw more waves and more wind than us.

 

We could have gone north and west earlier, but at the time we had decided we wanted to go that way, but we wanted to be with the fleet, but it was a little bit of a surprise they went south so early, they went because they wanted to be safe. In my opinion we were conservative in terms of strategy and tactics, but perhaps not in keeping the boat safe. In terms of tactics we were very conservative, doing what the fleet usually does, not taking a radical option.

 

Guillermo what are your plans for a future with the IMOCA Open 60’s 

 

My idea is to keep going with the IMOCA, to do crewed races, double handed and one day single handed. I would like to do the next Barcelona World Race with my son because he is the only person I would go with. So that is the plan, to do it with my son, but if Alex asks I would be happy to go with him. I would like to a Vendee Globe as a swansong, a race before I retire from round the world races. But I would only do that if I knew I could be competitive.

 

 

Alex, was there more pressure on you to perform, to deliver a result before the start of this race ?

 

I was really past the stage of worrying, but the pressure had gone up for me to perform ahead of the marketing and now, I feel for the boat that we have, we have over-performed compared with where the boat actually sits in this fleet.

 

Describe how you came to the change of strategy, pairing up with Guillermo and choosing this boat over your other boat?

 

There was not a change of strategy to go with Guillermo. Guillermo was fully on board with us since May this year after doing the Giraglia together. We decided to sail together and Guillermo really helped with helping us to rationalise the decision to go with another boat for this race, because we felt we would perform better in this race and in the single handed race back and so we are very grateful to Guillermo helping to make this decision.

He is no stranger to saying what he thinks, he is not afraid to say what he thinks, and that is one of his big strengths for sure. I am very grateful and the team are very grateful for his input this year.

 

Did you sail differently this time?

 

To be honest I don’t think we sailed any different to any other race I have done. Two years ago we took the strong option we went to the north and ended up with a broken boat. This time we looked at the option of going south and avoiding the storm. There was no gain there. The routing said go west and there was a small feeling or trepidation inside me, the worry of another broken boat. But at the end of the day you have got to go for it, we are trying to win a yacht race here, and if that means going through some hardship then you have to put a little bit of risk, then you go for it. This time was different from two years ago. Two years ago the low pressure was there for a long time and the waves were horrendous. This time the pressure system came so quickly it was really there a lot of wind, but the waves were not there. The passage to the north was not as bad as it was two years ago.

 

And what makes you able to sail an IMOCA Open 60 so quick, you both did a good job of holding on to what most would consider has proven the fastest IMOCA Open 60 over the course?

 

In this race there are two people on board the boat and I would say that Guillermo is better at making the boat go faster than I am, and so he works really hard on deck to make sure the boat was going fast. In the world records sense I used to have two, but Virbac-Paprec 3 have taken one, hopefully not the other, and I think that is about a consequence of opportunity, being in the right place with flat water. In this race having Guillermo on board was a good weapon. He worked really hard and he had the added benefit of knowing the boat well and making it go very fast, I was a bit outgunned a bit having probably sailed less than 300 miles on this boat before the start. And, amazingly, all these boats are so very different, the four IMOCA Open 60’s I have had, this is totally different to the others. So sailing with Guillermo I have learned what it likes and doesn’t like. And that makes a big difference.

 

And so was there a point when you yearned for the other boat?

 

Sailing downwind in breeze. Every boat has good points and bad points. This boat is very hard to sail downwind in breeze. You can’t leave it on the pilot, you have to drive, and there is no comfortable driving position. And it is really tough. To be honest we could not match the pace of Virbac-Paprec 3, but to be honest to stay as close as we did you have to be able to drive downwind 100% of the time. It is hard.

 

 

A total of eight skippers from editions one and two of the Barcelona World Race took the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre on the 2nd of November at the French port of Le Havre. The legendary two-crew Atlantic crossing takes place every two years and is an unmissable feature on the racing calendars of most of the skippers preparing for the two big IMOCA Class competitions: the Vendée Globe and the Barcelona World Race. Since the regatta began there has been a category for multihulls represented by the Multi 50s. This year, for the first time there were also 40 Class monohulls racing in the competition.

Barcelona's Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmartí complete their first circumnavigation on board one of the fleet's most experienced yachts. Mumbrú: “Any one who finishes the Barcelona World Race wins”. Sanmartí: “Finishing a round the world event at our city is a magical experience for us”.

The sporting aspect of the Barcelona World Race 2010 is now officially closed, with We Are Water crossing the finishing line in ninth place, the final entry to complete the 25,200 nautical miles around the planet. At 18:58:32 Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmartí stopped the chronometers at 132 days, 4 hours, 58 minutes and 32 seconds. Both skippers also realised a dream with this regatta, by completing their first round the world event. In doing so they also carried a message to raise awareness of the need to look after water resources for the We Are Water Foundation. Sanmartí and Mumbrú acheived success on board one of the oldest entries in the fleet, launched in 2000, with a CV boasting two round the world events and an Atlantic record.

The excitement on the skipper's faces was clear as the pair from Barcelona tied up at the busy Portal de la Pau, in their home city, to then finally be able to embrace their loved ones and to receive the warm and heartfelt welcome from the large crowds gathered to greet them.Jaume Mumbrú, a lawyer by profession, but with an extensive sailing CV, was grateful as he crossed the finishing line: “We are amateur skippers from Barcelona and we felt that we represented so, so many amateur skippers who love the sea and sailing, but are not able to reach the heights of competing in a competition like this. I feel like a 'chosen one', because sailing around the world is something usually reserved for a handful of privileged sailors, and many attempt this, but few actually succeed. This opportunity came up and we couldn't let it get away. The only thing that we can express now is our gratitude and our great sense of being incredibly privileged indeed”.

Cali Sanmartí, an industrial engineer with thousands of regattas behind him beamed with satisfaction as he returned to his home city having completed the circumnavigation of the globe: “It is difficult to speak, seeing so many friends and with Barcelona here in front of us, finishing this round the world race, a truly immense regatta. Jaume are so lucky to have a regatta like this which departs from home and finishes at home, which is incredible. It's a magic moment”.

Once in port, with the crowds behind them, Jaume Mumbrú highlighted the importance of taking the We Are Water Foundation message to raise awareness of water resource issues around the world: “Flying the colours of an organisation based on a message and values that fit in perfectly with the spirit of the regatta and our own stories has helped”.

Both skippers admitted that they had felt humbled at sea on board a 60 foot yacht as they faced the immensity and sheer force of the sea. “A symbiosis is naturally created between the boat and nature. However much technology and equipment you have, out there you feel small and you realise that if you allow yourself to integrate with them, the seas will stay there in your mind. I will never forget nature and what we have been through ever”,saidSanmartí.

To combat the setbacks encountered during four months at sea, We Are Water has taken things step by step, keeping the end game in mind. Jaume Mumbrú says: “One of the things that we are happiest with and one of the secrets to our success is that we never lost sight of our objectives. We focussed on the, listened to the boat and didn't cross over the red line, because we knew we'd pay for it. Our commitment to the project was to finish the regatta, which is a difficult task. Anyone who finishes wins”.

Following this long circumnavigation, the We Are Water skippers thought only of spending time with loved ones. “Now it's time to experience the human side of life, warmth, skin. Everything else will come later”, concluded Sanmartí.

Barcelona's Councillor for Sport and President of the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona, Pere Alcober, welcomed the We Are Water team to the city alongside the deputy to the President of the Port of Barcelona, Joan Colldecarrera.

Today at 21 hours, 17 minutes and 24 seconds, Gerard Marín (29 years old) and Ludovic Aglaor (44 years old) crossed the finishing line of the Barcelona World Race and were the eighth crew to complete the regatta.

Wouter Verbraak (NED) Hugo Boss: It is great to be back. It has been a while. I was meant to step off at the Cape Verde Islands but I had to make the phone call home and say I was going to be 90 days late. So now here we are, it has been a fantastic challenge and I have to thank Andy for letting me in and teaching me a few tricks in the Med before we got out into the Atlantic, it was an amazing trip. We could not have done it without the support of our team.”

Andy Meiklejohn (NZL): It was not easy at the start in the Mediterranean. We were hoping for some light winds to learn the boat but that was a bit extreme. We would have liked to get going and be a bit more competitive, but we worked our way up through the fleet, and there were a lot of challenges after that and I think we dealt with all of those challenges.  For both of the first goal was to get around the world and that was what drove us. We wanted to finish the race. We wanted to finish it non stop. And that is why when stopped in the Falklands we tried to fix everything ourselves, that was about the first goal. And then after that it was to just finish the race. Every boat faces challenges and we were no exception.

Wouter Verbraak (NED): £This was a great personal journey, you get to use all of your skills as well as all that the weather and the sea can throw at you. So it is a big character building thing. We have been great as a team. That has struck me, of you want to face these challenges it is better to do it as a team, as two, than alone."

Wouter Verbraak (NED) Hugo Boss: “It was an amazing challenge, without doubt the toughest racing I have done physically and mentally, and what it boiled down to was team work. You cannot do this by yourself. It is much better to be two. It was a great race with Andy.

The race is a really all about managing the ups and downs, like life. Our tough moments were when we really could not race the boat as hard as we wanted to. When we had to stop in the Falklands was a really tough time for us, because our goal was always to make this a non stop race. By Doyle Sails sailmakers came in, fixed up the sails, and the goal after that was really to sail the boat really well to the end and we did that.

The best moment for us was really rounding Cape Horn. After such a tough time in the Southern Ocean and breaking sails, to turn the corner and know we were going back home to our families was an amazing moment. And now, here we are back with our families.”

“With the mainsail breaking like it did and being a real race stopper, very early and in a key moment of the race, we were really happy after a while that we had managed to do the repair with virtually no materials on the boat, we had to be very, very creative, things which had not been done before and it is now the strongest part of the mainsail.  It never caused any problems, and that shows if you think well you don’t just fix things but you improve things. That was before Cape of Good Hope, and so to sail in the south with a repair like that is an amazing thing on its own. The generator repair just proved how you have to be on top of these things. If you don’t have energy you are out of the race. We had to work really hard to fix that and continue racing, and Andy did an outstanding job there. We managed it.”

“As a navigator I was a real specialist before. Now having done this I have seen a lot of other sides of myself as a sailor. It took me back to my dinghy sailing days, just the pleasure or tuning a boat perfectly and steering down those big waves in the Southern Ocean, so it is definitely something I am keen to do more of, and mainly to use more of the overall big picture that you get sailing these boats double handed. And so absolutely it was also be great to do this with a full crew.

Andy Meiklejohn (NZL): "The southern ocean is what you do these things for. It took us a bit longer than we hoped for to get there. But it was exciting, it was exhilarating. It was great sailing. The second half of it we were behind a system and that made for some cold, windy sailing, big seas, ice on the rig, ice on the deck, snowstorms. Those are the stories which you come back with which you don’t get anywhere else. That is probably the highlight, the tough times in the south.

The big goal really was to learn about the boat for the Vendée Globe and that was Alex’s goal from the beginning. And that was what I was there for and as a team we have worked through this problem. It is a very physical boat to sail and now we have some ideas how to make it easier, and making the boat even faster."

And highlights from the race:

Announced as substitute skipper Wouter Verbraak, said: “The Barcelona World Race was a goal of mine, so I’m looking forward to this amazing opportunity to sail with long-time friend Andy Meiklejohn as Alex’s substitute until he can join the race.

“The HUGO BOSS yacht is great to sail and Andy and I compliment each other well on board. The preparation for the race by the team has been amazing so we’re well equipped for the task ahead.”

Andy Meiklejohn, after the start: “It has been a tough week with Alex’s sudden illness, but having Wouter as the substitute skipper is the best possible solution to the situation. Having sailed together before we have a strong bond, which will help us overcome the initial challenge. We’re fully focused on the task ahead and look forward to Alex stepping on board the HUGO BOSS boat as soon as he’s fit to sail.”

Wouter Verbraak....on team spirit evident after 48 hours racing

“ We have been good at cheering each other up. This is a team game and you have to make use of your partner. I think one thing in this race just now is to remind each other of the extreme length of the race.

This boat was designed, built and developed to reach its potential in reaching in stronger winds in the major types of weather systems all around the globe. We always knew this is the light winds part of the race and the boat is not liking it, so we remind each other of that and keep the course distance clear in our heads, that is very important.

There is not much positive about being behind. But the tradewinds south of the Canaries are well established and we have options there and from Gibraltar to the Canaries there are two options.

The first 48 hours were tough. There were a lot of corners, changes and transitions. And then the last one and a half days have been hand steering, now we are trucking under pilot, so the routine is to make sure everything is ready for the stronger winds outside.

Wouter races on round the world: 14^th Jan

From on board the boat, Wouter Verbraak reported to audio conference
“There have been 24 hours of mixed emotions. On the one hand we are very happy that the decision has been made. We are very happy that we can go on, but at same time we can see that Alex is going through a very tough time at home, and so our thoughts are with him. And we hope that it is all resolved for the best.

"We have discussed this a lot. We always had the focus on Alex joining the boat in Cape Verde. We have had to make a mental switch, and I have had to inform my family that I won’t be home but will probably be home in another 70 days. So it is all a bit surreal really.”

"We got the message from our team yesterday around midday. And at that stage it came as a bit of a surprise to us. We have been taking this whole trip so far just living in the moment and doing the best we can, but we said ‘ well actually this has been working quite well, let us continue doing what we have been doing, and let us concentrate on being fast to the equator, and try to catch up with the group ahead of us.”

Andy Meiklejohn 26^th Jan (sail repair time) “And true to it all, the jobs are finished, we share a cup of tea, look at the weather that shows wind is coming. We know we have speed and skill, we know we have a dedicated and strong team willing us along from the shore, and our friends and families supporting us all the way.”

Wouter Verbraak: “When Andy gets up he proves himself again to be the best man you can have around you when things are tough. Somehow he has wrestled up the energy to make us each dinner! Exhausted, I sit myself down on the floor in the pod. I am dripping wet, but I don’t care. Gratefully I scoop in spoon after spoon of the best dinner you will ever have, and then fall immediately asleep again.”

Andy Meiklejohn: on not stopping at Wellington : “This race has long been one of my ambitions and sailing towards Wellington and God’s own country has to be a highlight for me. I will be passing my mother’s birthplace and look forward to seeing some friends and family cheer me through.”

Today however, despite being unable to fix the damaged track, the skippers have made the decision to carry on through the Strait without stopping.: “We know that we are currently disadvantaged without the ability to race under full sail, however we have weighed that up against the penalty for stopping.  It’s a tough call to make but we have decided to continue in the hope that we can make the repair later.   Each day in the competition brings new challenges, and with boats stopping and positions changing daily, anything can happen still.”

Andy Meiklejohn at Cook Strait

“......So it’s with real sadness that I sail up cook strait, in sight of home, its hard to feel excited when there are so many people feeling so much pain.  Its great to celebrate what we do and getting to the halfway stage is an achievement in itself but it pales in comparison to what happens in the real world.  It’s a real mix of emotions that’s hard to contain and harder to put down in words.  Kiwi’s are brought up to be hard to tragedy and sadness but sometimes it doesn’t feel right, sometimes there’s a bigger picture.

Christchurch, our thoughts are with you.  Look after each other, give those you don’t know a hug or a helping hand, it’s with that bond that you will once again pull through and, like the phoenix, rise again from the ashes.

 I’ll be wearing a black arm band for you as I sail past New Zealand and will be thinking of you all the way.”

11^th March after Cape Horn

Wouter Verbraak:“ Andy and I myself are in good shape. One thing that has been really strong on our boat is that we’re a great team, we’re very balanced between ourselves and we have complementary skills that we learn from each other. And so we’re good in that sense, and I think that’s going to be a player in the way up the Atlantic.

[Fuel] 'The fuel situation is not that great, so we’ve had generator problems where a coolant part of the generator has stopped working. This happened well before New Zealand, and thanks to the support and creativity of our shore crew we have managed to find a solution using another part on the boat and plumbing that in, which wasn’t straightforward but we managed to do it. But that was a big up, and means we don’t have to stop for fuel, but we do have strict strict rations so unfortunately we haven’t been able to go into the videoconference, which is big shame but it’s good to be talking now.
[Rounding Horn] 'I was never meant to go past the Cape Verde island, here I am Cape Hor! Normally there would be a bottle of strong liquor on the boat, but I think on this occasion there will be a lot of candy, maybe an extra delve into the supplies of chocolate!”

16 March Falklands

Wouter Verbraak Exhausted and gutted, we have to face facts: we don't have enough materials to make seaworthy sail repairs - technical stop tomorrow
Difficult things take a long tim to solve,impossible things take a while longer! We R NOT racing-still working on repairs!Doing our v.best!

Wouter Verbraak: Over the last 75 days we have been fighting for every mile, and giving it our everything even when things looked very bleak and conditions were  difficult, and so we are now overwhelmed with a feeling of unfairness that it was impossible to achieve the one objective we have held very high throughout the race: to finish without a technical stop.
 Today we have to face facts and go back to basics: we are not racing with light winds in the Mediterranean, ahead of us are 6000 nm through the Atlantic with already several strong low pressure systems forecasted to be on our way. It comes down to good seamanship, we have to do a proper job to make sure we are in good shape for the rest of the journey. This is not child play.
Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands is only 50 miles away, but we will have to stay out for tonight as winds are too strong for a safe approach. Tomorrow afternoon winds are forecasted to drop, and through our support team, we have local guys ready to help us in. We are looking forward to a shave, dry warm bed and a beer!
So recover and catching up with sleep until then, we so desperately need it! Suppress the thoughts of what could have been, the disappointment, and jet another hurdle on our way. Focus on making this stop as efficient as possible. Not just fix and repair, but improve and set ourselves up for a good run to the finish in the Barcelona World Race. Keep focusing on our values of precision and perfection, finding pride in every job we do, being creative at finding new faster ways, and work as a team, because that is our best strength!

22^nd March Leaving Falklands

Wouter Verbraak: “What we also didn’t count on was the help of the locals, most of whom just happened to walk down the dock for a look and ask if they could help!  We had Shane and Bobby the Tow boat drivers from FIC turning up at all hours to ferry us to the boat, tow us to a mooring or back again, Chris from Town taxi’s gave up two nights work to flake sails,  Peter from the FIDF (Falkland Islands Defense Force) gave us the use of their Hall, 30m x 14m which meant we could unroll every sail and work efficiently.  Diane Freeman rented us her sewing machine which was in-valuable and Jenny, known to everyone as “Mother” put us up in her house for the first two nights while there were no hotel rooms.

 These guys live on a barren flatland where they are born with the sea in their blood.  Their usual work is servicing the fishing fleets who run the local quota, the Oil exploration vessels and the Antarctic research vessels.  Ours was somewhat of a novelty! Their normal visitor has been Graham Dalton with his previous Velux entries and the odd Vendee competitor trying to find shelter to effect repairs and continue racing.  It now seems that with the increase in bureaucracy in Ushuaia that Port Stanley is your most realistic choice for stopping in these round the world races.

Hugo Boss' elapsed time for the 25,200 miles course is  111 days 10 hours  49 mins computed to have sailed at a theoretical average of 9,42 knots.

Hugo Boss sailed 29.246 actual miles at an average speed of 10,93 knots.

For the Kiwi-Dutch duo who were only teamed up 24 hours before the start, Verbraak as substitute for Alex Thomson who needed immediate surgery on his appendix with two days to the race start, seventh is an excellent result. They had never sailed alone on the fleet’s most powerful IMOCA 60 before starting, and struggled out of the Mediterranean and by the Canary Islands were in 14^th place.

Having fought their way up to seventh, the Hugo Boss pair had to stop in the Falkland Islands to make essential sail repairs which cost them eight days.

The Race of Hugo Boss

Cruelly for Alex Thomson (GBR), his second challenge to win the Barcelona World Race was over before it started. Admitted for surgery to remove his appendix less than 48 hours before the start gun, substitute skipper Wouter Verbraak (NED) had to step into Thomson’s shoes at the 11^th hour.

When he took to the start line alongside  Andy Meiklejohn (NZL) - who had prepared for the best part of a year with Thomson and was looking to better Thomson’s second place in 2007-8 and had sailed more than 15,000 training miles on the boat - Verbraak had only previously been on board the powerful IMOCA Open 60 for two hours.

Of that time 15 minutes had been spent on deck.

For the duo, who had sailed many times before in the past on various maxi and offshore programmes, the learning curve on Hugo Boss was extremely steep.

And the combination of their inexperience together, the powerful boat which is design optimised for strong winds and reaching conditions(they did not know how best to set up the autopilots, according to Thomson) and the light winds down the Mediterranean to Gibraltar really exacerbated their weaknesses. While the leaders sprinted away the duo were still taking babysteps together: five days after the start they were in 14^th, 345 miles behind the leading boat and struggling to get clear of the Mediterranean.

“Recent days have been frustrating and a mix of emotions.”Reported Verbraak, who had had to say goodbye to his wife Kristine and six year old son, for what were expected to be just 10-12 days.

Four days later Thomson was declared medically fit to race after tests in the UK and a plan to have him join the boat in the Cabo Verde Islands was accepted.  

But the changeover never happened.

Thomson’s baby son, who was only born on January 7^th, was diagnosed with a heart problem, and the British skipper stayed home to be with his son and partner Kate. It was something of a shock for trained meteorologist Verbraak, a weather router, navigator who had sailed sections of the last Volvo Race on Team Russia and Team Delta Lloyd but who had been hand picked because his meteo and nav skills complemented Meiklejohn’s hands-on speed and all round skills.

And Verbraak had to call home and say that he did not now expect to be back for at least another 70 days.

“It really has been 24 hours of conflicting emotions. On the one hand we are both very pleased the decision has been taken and the uncertainty that has been hanging over us is removed, and we are happy to continue together. But on the other hand we know that Alex is having a tough time at home and our thoughts really are with him. We hope everything works out for him and our objective is to finish.” Said Meiklejohn at the time.

Verbraak reveals that so sudden was his substitution that he has only Thomson’s technical sailing clothing on board to wear, which is at least a size too big!

But progressively they fight back.

A rearguard action, see them initially tussling with Central Lechera Asturiana and FMC past the Canary Islands, 655 miles behind the leaders, and at the Cabo Verdes.

And on 17^th January they are the fastest in the fleet and then with Central Lechera Asturiana stopping in Cape Town and, by 26^th January on the retirement into Cape Town of Foncia, Hugo Boss is up to ninth.

After making mainsail repairs during which they have no mainsail for four days, they roll into great spell, sending the Juan Kouyoumdjian design close to the speeds expected of it. Fastest of the fleet at times again they start to hunt down Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella on GAES Centros Auditivos, the start of a duel which carries on to Cape Horn.

The high ice gates enforce a high percentage of upwind sailing early in the Indian Ocean, but thereafter Hugo Boss gradually pulls in GAES Centros Auditivos and Meiklejohn and Verbraak pass the female duo on 11^th February to move up to eighth place.

Both are quick on the approach to and under Australia, making fast, direct miles, but on 16^th February they confirm that they have been missing 1.5 metres of the top of their mainsail mast track since 28^th January. They pass very close to the south of Tasmania seeking a solution, but go on to pass Wellington in eighth place.

The passage of Cook Strait, for the Barcelona World Race’s only New Zealander, Andy Meiklejohn was also suffused with different and difficult emotions as Hugo Boss traversed in between his native lands immediately after the devastating Christchurch earthquake.

After passing an area where Meiklejohn’s mother had grown up, there was the triumph of sailing past Wellington and electing not to stop, of seeing Alex Thomson and Operations Manager Ross Daniel rendezvous, but also the tough Kiwi admitted to a feeling of raw helplessness, being at sea when part of his home country was in trauma and he was so close to them.  

No sooner had Hugo Boss emerged from the passage between New Zealand’s North and South Islands than Meiklejohn and Verbraak had to deal with the ex tropical cyclone ATU. Their southerly routing took them through some tough conditions, big unruly, disorganised seas and 50-60 knot winds.

The remainder of the Pacific was a mix of strong, fast sailing but with extremely limited outside contact with the world. An electrical charging issue left them running on absolutely minimum power. Different innovative solutions for the faulty fresh water pump even saw their technical team mock up different plumbing ideas at their Gosport, England base to try and present them with a fix.

Their passage of Cape Horn was marked by the deterioration of their sails, a difficult mix of weather conditions and an approach from the south which saw them losing hard won miles to GAES Centros Auditivos. And between the 11^th-12^th March they passed Cape Horn locked together in a mini-match race only 1.5 miles apart, the two boats which are usually berthed in Gosport reunited at the most rugged outpost of round the world racing.

But one day later Meiklejohn and Verbraak had to take and deal with a decision which was to end their ascent of the leaderboard. Because of the decay of several key sails, not least their mainsail, the duo decided to stop in the Falkland Islands. At first their determination was to make the stop as short as possible and unaided, so as not to incur the 48 hours minimum duration. So they anchored in Adventure Bay in the east of East Falklands Island and set to work between 13^th and 15^th March on a soul destroying non-stop 36 hours marathon trying to repair the sails themselves. But it became clear that the magnitude and technical requirements were beyond their resources, and so they left and headed to Stanley, the Islands’ capital. Having called for help from Doyle Sails New Zealand’s representatives Hugo Boss was halted from 16^th to 21^st March.

After a stopover which through costly in time and distance proved memorable for the warmth of the Islanders’ hospitality and their willingness to help, eighth placed Forum Maritim Catala have caught up from being around 2100 miles behind before the first stop, to being just 120 miles behind.

Up the Atlantic the pleasure at having a boat ‘at close to 99%’ sustains Meiklejohn and Verbraak for many days, especially in the fast reaching conditions up the South American continent when they reel miles away from their pursuers. The north Atlantic offers them few strategic options after they cross the Equator on the same day that Virbac-Paprec 3 win the Barcelona World Race. Upwind for 3000 miles on starboard tack the duo ruminate over endless cups of afternoon tea. Unfortunate timing, for the Hugo Boss duo, sees FMC slash the lead of the British boat as the ride a low pressure system for five days and at Gibraltar there is just 140 miles between seventh and eighth.

But the duo’s incredible adventure ends with a highly creditable seventh place, half way up the fleet of 14 starters, a very commendable result for a duo thrown together at the last minute and which were resolutely last for the first weeks of the race.

Race of Hugo Boss (Timeline)

29/12/2010 Alex Thomson is admitted for emergency appendectomy

30/12/2010 Wouter Verbraak (NED) announced as replacement skipper to sail until Alex is declared fit. Verbraak sailed sections of 2008-9 Volvo Ocean Race on Team Russia and Team Delta Lloyd

31/12/2010 Slow start for Hugo Boss initially +9 miles behind leaders

01/01/2011 Bring in 2011 in 11th place

02/01 13th place +105m behind leader

04/01 Alboran 14th +165 miles

05/01 NO WIND making less than 3 knots sailing N-S in Straits! +345 miles from leader

06/01 Pass Gibraltar at 3.7kts boatspeed, +328 miles behind leader

07/01 on E’ly routing relative to fleet, 14th

09/01 chasing close with FMC at Canaries + 1 mile behind them in terms of DTF

09/01 pass very close to Tenerife, Hierro and La Gomera Canaries seeking thermal acceleration +655 miles behind leaders. Alex Thomson declared medically fit to race, plan develops for him to join in Cabo Verde Islands

11/01 never quite getting same Trade Winds strengths as leaders

12-3/01 Hugo Boss races on at Cabo Verde after Alex’ infant son diagnosed with heart problem.

14/01 Wouter says 24 hours of mixed emotions, racing on wearing Alex’s clothes

14/01 Making miles on leaders,

17/01 fastest in fleet. 9th place +366 miles from leader.

19/01 Entering St Helena high pressure, easterly routing 8th Foncia are 40 miles ahead in terms of DTF…..but 770 miles to the SSW of Hugo Boss!

22/01 +125 miles behind GAES Centros Auditivos, the duel is on.

24/01 -27-01 Mainsail repairs for Hugo Boss –take four days. Combination of that and high pressure zone c/w leaders rapid low system ride means Hugo Boss lose 1000 miles in four days to the leaders. Virbac-Paprec 3 sets new 24 hours record, breaking Alex and Andrew Cape’s mark.

28/01 Fastest of fleet….

31/01 Upwind approach to longitude of Cape of Good Hope – same line as GAES who are 210 miles ahead.

08/02 +76 miles behind GAES

09/02 +27 miles behind GAES

16/02 +6 miles behind GAES

11/02 Pass GAES Centros Auditivos up to 8th place

11-12/02 Fastest in fleet making 453 miles (their best 24h run of the race)

16/02 Reveal mast track issue which has plagued them for nearly 21 days, one and half metres if track has pulled away at top of mast

18/02 seek shelter close to Tasmania only 9 miles off and slowed – trying mast track repair?

24/02 Pass Wellington in 8th place.  Manage to get by without stopping, emotional time for Andy passing his home waters at time of Christchurch

25/02 GAES Centros Auditiovos come out of Cook Strait with breeze and catch to +51 miles

26/02 Dealing with strong low, ex cyclone ATU, GAES Centros Auditivos go north, Hugo Boss go more direct southerly routing. GAES gain initially.

Charging issue means running on absolutely minimum power, faulty water pump means different solutions sought, constant work for Wouter and Andy, team at Gosport base mock up pump system.  

03/03 +211 miles ahead of GAES Centros Auditivos

09/03 setting up for Cape Horn, mixed conditions high pressure ridge and sail damage, then low mean very compromised approach

11/03 GAES catch miles

12/03 Pass Cape Horn together, in sight of each other around 1.5 miles apart, Caffari and Corbella lead away up the South Atlantic.

12-13/03 Pass Ushuaia where Kito de Pavant and Seb Audigane are stopped and subsequently abandon. Hugo Boss up to seventh.

13/03 Make first stop in Adventure Sound to east of East Falkland island to try and make sail repairs. Slowed or stopped for 33 hours. Hits the duo hard that they cannot repair effectively and head to Stanley, arriving after holding pattern,

16/03 Start stopover in Stanley, await Doyle Sails reps from NZ, repairs to sails, generator and mast track.

21/03 Leave Falklands, 22/03 back in full race mode

“If you look at where the guys where way back when they passed out of Gibraltar and just after that, and said to us then they would be seventh I’d have taken it there and then, and here we are. Andy and Wouter have done a really great job getting to where they have and hats off to them for that. When you consider what even the first two weeks must have been like, there are many, many things that only I know how to do on the boat, practical things and I was not even around really to help them with that, so overall I think they have done really well.”Said Hugo Boss’ ‘usual’ skipper Alex Thomson this evening.

While the Hugo Boss duo have taken every chance to get east fast to set up for what promises to be a brisk sprint finish, in gusty, strong ENE’lies and NE’lies which could top the high 20’s knots at Thursday evening’s finish off Barcelona, the FMC duo Gerard Marin and Ludovic Aglaor were pinned closer to the Spanish coast, close to Almeria with the Levant easterly due to build for them, and a low pressure off Algeria due to track NE, their final miles to Barcelona look set to be all the tougher, upwind on the west side of the low. While Hugo Boss is due in to Barcelona middle of Thursday evening it looks like FMC will take eighth place some 24 hours or more later.

In essence though the catch up for Marin and Aglaor – making more than 600 miles in six days – just redresses their losses in the South Atlantic to Hugo Boss, who left their Falklands stopover with lead of 120 miles on FMC who became mired on the South American coast in light upwind conditions for several days.

Speaking on today’s live Visio-Conference with Barcelona Marin, speaking with Anna Corbella said:

"I have reserves of stamina and drive still to come, but I'm counting the hours. Here, now it feels kind of like started yesterday but then you realise it’s already been four months and here we are going back home. I really want to be there and share the magic moments with you all. "
"We are quite tight on food, I still have some things but as usual ..., the good things are finished and I have the things I don’t like left. But I have one dessert left but on Friday I hope I can eat the “buñuelos” (typical Easter pastry) that someone will bring me. A tortilla (potato omelette) would not be bad either. I miss homemade food a lot... I’m a bit tired of so much freeze dried and dehydrated stuff.”
"This thing of going to the gym two days after finishing?....Well, we will have to negotiate I think that three or four days of holiday are in order first. Okay, I did notice that my body is not working very much and you lose a lot of muscle tone but that was more or less clear before leaving, but in two or three months it will be like before ".
"We're doing 11 knots on course 60. Up the course we have 20 knots of wind and we are more or less 50 miles from Cabo de Gata. I believe that in 5-6 hours we can be there. Let’s see if the Levante holds a few hours more. "
"The navigation routing says we will arrive on Friday at 4 am, but for sure we'll be delayed. If we arrive during the day on Friday ... I’d take that immediately, where do I sign!! "
"We've really had a relatively easy passage through Gibraltar. We went in with Levante that shifted to the stern until half the Strait and then went forward and we sailed more in the south of the Strait, off the merchants channel. It was pretty easy, all the crossing of the Straits to Cabo de Gata. It is always stressful because the merchants are all lined up and go very fast, but this aspect it was easier than when we left. "
“ The last few days have been very good. The last four days before Gibraltar we were reaching pretty fast, it was a very good farewell to the Atlantic. The last surfs of 20 knots were great. And now we have a Mediterranean that seems to be OK. Easterly wind and if in two days we are in Barcelona it will be just great.”
"The forecast says the wind will go up 25 to 35 knots this evening. Let’s see if it’s true. At first it will be levante, hopefully we will have an upwind a bit more open to Cabo de Palos. It can be fast and from the Nao and Ibiza it will drop again with a direct reach so it will be very quick. But in the Mediterranean you never know, things change fast. "
"With Ludovic we had some intense days but I learned many things from him because he spent many years sailing and that's always such a big plus. Yes, there has been tension and hard times, as in all professional and amateur relationships, but the outcome for me is is a very positive one"
"To finish a round the world race is something to always celebrate. It is always an important moment and we must enjoy it. "
"The comeback has been so intense, every day we saw him closer. But you have to be realistic. In the same way they got away 600 miles on the Falklands with a different system and with more pressure, in this case it is reversed. With a depression and downwind we were able to recover what they took in two days. "

Andy Meiklejohn has an expectant young son’s birthday Friday while Gerard Marin would like to be in for Saturday, returning from his first circumnavigation to give his girlfriend her traditional rose on St Jordi’s (Saint George’s Day).

Marin, from Girona, was wearing probably the biggest smile yet of his 108 days at sea – save perhaps the big grin that he wore for his Cape Horn rounding – today when he was linked with Barcelona. The combination of fast reaching towards home, making easy miles towards the target on the former Kingfisher, and knowing that by tomorrow night or Wednesday morning they should be back in the Med, are reasons enough to be happy especially after many tense, difficult days.

Speaking on this morning’s Visio-Conference he said:

“ These are great farewell times for our round the world race. The Med is very difficult to predict and forecast, so it could take up to four days from the Straits, but I think between Saturday night and Monday morning. I am not sure that I will be back in time for St Jordi’s day (Saint George’s Day) to give my girlfriend a rose.”

Forum Maritim Catala has made a further 100 miles on Hugo Boss over the 24 hours to mid morning today, and were 380 miles behind Andy Meiklejohn and Wouter Verbraak this morning.

Hugo Boss were well into the stiff easterly Levante conditions by this morning, expecting up to 30knots with difficult seas which will require the Kiwi-Dutch pairing to take care of their boat before what looks like a relativey straightforward upwind passage to Barcelona.

This morning the duo had 605 miles to the finish – some 80 miles of upwind sailing to get to Tarifa – where they were expected to pass around midnight tonight. Both will enjoy the moment this morning knowing they have less than one Fastnet or one Sydney-Hobart to go, but a short sprint compared to their ultra-marathon. But the difficult conditions and heavy shipping traffic meant they could not join Barcelona for the visio-conference this morning.

Gerard Marin (ESP) Forum Maritim Catala:“We are happy, sailing on a beam reach at 15knots with 400 miles from the Straits of Gibraltar and we hope to get there tomorrow night. The wind is a bit more than forecast and there are some squalls coming in. We are sailing with the low pressure buyt once we get to the Straits we will get to headwinds, beating and it will be difficult to make more miles on Hugo Boss after that. At the moment we can catch a few more miles, but I think it is impossible to catch them. It is down to the meteorology now but I don’t think we can. It is just part of the game.

For me sailing back into the Med after the whole circumnavigation is very important. It is an important stage in my career as a sportsperson, but of course I have to finish it. But it will take a few days to discover how it really feels. It is a good thing for the future. And hopefully it will lead to other things in the future. The D4 and D3 diagonals have stretched a bit and are too long, so with the wind as it is just now with a reef and a genoa it does not affect us too much. We cant set the full main and usually we have to take in the reef two or three knots before we would usually do so.

These are great farewell times for our round the world race. The Med is very difficult to predict and forecast, so it could take up to four days from the Straits, but I think between Saturday night and Monday morning. I am not sure that I will be back in time for St Jordi’s day (Saint George’s Day) to give my girlfriend a rose.”

This last night will be one which could be long and drawn out as they have a transition zone to negotiate, which will see the wind clock round to the east, rather than the useful SW and SE’lies which have continued to let Hugo Boss make speeds between 11 and 12 knots through Sunday.

Mid-afternoon Sunday they had around 188 miles to Tarifa, and for sure will also be seeing the end of their final weekend at sea. Present indications have Andy and Wouter arriving Barcelona on Thursday evening, possibly into Friday depending on their Med weather.

Predictions have them in the Straits of Gibraltar late tomorrow afternoon in a brisk Levant.

On the other hand, Gerard Marin and Ludovic Aglaor on Fòrum Marítim to the west of the Canary Islands have been making 12-13kts in 20 to 25 knots SW’lies. The predictions suggest they can hold the more direct  course to Gibraltar, passing with a deficit of around one day behind Hugo Boss.

In the South Atlantic, the We Are Water have good easterly tradewinds near the Brazilian coast. Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmartí have a good rhythm going, making 10 knots of average speed towards the Equator which was 720 miles ahead this morning. Their passage of the Doldrums will start tomorrow evening and threatens to be quite complicated with a fair amount of stormy cloud activity.

The low is what is known as a cut off low - such as we have seen quite regularly in this corner - it becomes cut off from the jet stream, its energy source and end up aimlessly meandering around until it eventually dissipates or moves off. In this case over the next 48 hours it tracks south, east and then north. And only really by tomorrow does the flow on the eastern side of it starts to organise into a more regular flow which is when Hugo Boss's Meiklejohn and Verbraak will start to see some more constant breeze. Otherwise today they have a trough developing which leaves them with headwinds to the north of the latitude of Gibraltar and to their south and east light SW'lies, SE'lies.

And the more that they track to the SE just now then the more they end up in the worst of the light, variable breezes - especially tonight. So it is looking quite complicated still, and doubtless very, very frustrating for the duo who really just want to be finished. "Light winds this morning. lots of focussed helming to keep her moving east. new wind tomorrow." reported Wouter from the boat.

They are certainly going to see their margin to FMC reduce considerably, but have no reason to panic, but they will certainly have to keep working hard all the way into the Mediterranean. With 440 miles to go to Gibraltar they should be there by Monday, but by then it is possible FMC will be just over a day behind them.

Meantime for We Are Water they are still in the SE'ly trades making 10 to 11 knots and are four days from the Doldrums.

In New Zealand Juan Merediz and Fran Palacio confirm their retirement from the Barcelona World Race. Central Lechera Asturiana has confirmed today that they have retired from the Barcelona World Race  because of safety fears if they were to repair and carry on. The damage to the ring frame 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.

Ten days ago Central Lechera Asturiana reported a damage to the ring frame which supports the engine box. The first reaction of Juan Merediz and Fran Palacio was to contact their management team and the sponsor to decide what to do. Both agreed that the best course of action was to head to New Zealand.
Merediz and Palacio today stated: "In this difficult moments is when we are most grateful for the support that Central Lechera Asturiana and our team always have given us. It is never easy to make decisions like this. But safety is the first requirement that we put together and the southern winter is upon us. That really is the fact which we cannot get round or ignore.

Andy Meiklejohnand Wouter Verbraak have less than 1400 miles to go on Hugo Boss to and this midday are under 120 miles almost due west of Madeira. They are still sailing upwind in NE’ly breeze but the weather scenario for them and FMC is changing quite significantly. The dominant Azores high pressure is getting weaker and a cold front is pushing in from the west. That is entirely decaying the Portuguese trades and the trade winds all the way down to the Canaries . For Meiklejohn and Verbraak they will likely have another day to in the remnants of the trades then it will be lighter, and so at the moment they will carry on the same course just east of north, but maybe hitch north again if there is an opportunity. And then there is the little low pressure on the Moroccan coast which will give them something to get upwind all the way to Gibraltar but it will not be as easy as it previously looked and they are still four days from the Med.

But the situation for FMC is less clear as the trades decay for them, ending up in a light W’ly. So they can either point for Gibraltar and take what comes to them, or can sail a longer W’ly route for an uncertain long term future and certainly windier, bumpier conditions.

Meantime We Are Waterare now starting to make good progress having got to the east and getting into better trade winds, to the point that after tacking to the NW again five or six hours ago they should go a little further today and then finally start to get the lift they want which will finally allow Jaume and Cali to bring the bow up on port tack and head in a much more northerly direction and reel off some good miles towards the Equator.