History

Now into its third edition, the Barcelona World Race is a well-established regatta which has consistently pushed the bar up with every edition; a landmark achievement in times of world economic crisis. The regatta is also the global benchmark for double-handed ocean sailing, its success backed up by a truly impressive list of entries that has grown with every edition and a huge and ever-increasing following.

Over seven million individual internet users have visited the regatta website, with almost 37 million page views; 360,000 videos have been watched on the official YouTube channel; over 3,900 articles and news items have been published in the Spanish press alone, as well as 79 hours of news on TV, not counting programmes broadcast, according to the provisional tracking data for the competition on the 30th of April 2014. These are figures enjoyed by only the best international sporting events.

The development of grass-roots ocean sailing; the support made available for young sailors; the development of in-house technology; bringing the ocean adventure closer to the general public - through the regatta itself and the Educational Programme: these are some of the milestone achievements of the Barcelona World Race.

The pioneering sporting model of the Barcelona World Race is a framework for the values of industry and teamwork, which are inherent to ocean sailing. It has also established itself as an excellent visibility platform for company sponsorship, both in Spain and worldwide.

Barcelona World Race 2007/08
An account of the first edition
Final rankings
Barcelona World Race 2007/08 website
Barcelona World Race 2010/11
An account of the second edition
Final rankings
Rankings speed trophies
Edition milestones
News
Barcelona World Race 2010/11 website

Records

The fastest Barcelona World Race sailed to date was completed in the third edition (2014/15) by Swiss's Bernard Stamm and Frenchman Jean Le Cam on Cheminées Poujoulat, setting the bar at 84 days, 05 hours, 50 minutes and 25 seconds.

In the fisrt edition (2007/2008) Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick and Ireland's Damian Foxall on Paprec Virbac 2 won the race setting the bar at 92 days, 09 hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds.

In the second edition (2010/11) Jean-Pierre Dick took victory once again, this time with fellow Frenchman Loïck Peyron on Virbac-Paprec 3. The pair completed the circumnavigation of the globe in 93 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes and 36 seconds (one day and 13 hours more than the previous edition). The 24 hour distance record is held by Virbac-Paprec 3 with Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron, at 506.35 nautical miles at an average of 21.1 knots, and was set during the 2010/11 edition of the regatta.

Barcelona World Race 2007/08

For the first edition of the Barcelona World Race there were nine boats on the starting line, with 18 skippers, including some of the best solo and double-handed sailors in the world, from seven different countries: France (9), Spain (4), UK (1), Australia (1), USA (1), Ireland (1) and Switzerland (1).

The start was given at 13:00 (local time GMT+1) on the 11th of November 2007. Ten days earlier the Race Village opened at Barcelona's Moll de la Fusta, where the general public could take a look at the racing yachts close-up before they set off. This was an important event for the city, with the Village and start of the challenge receiving some 500,000 visits and with 650 boats on the water to watch the IMOCA Open 60s set off on their adventure.

Paprec Virbac 2 with France's Jean-Pierre Dick and Ireland's Damian Foxall became the first winner of the Barcelona World Race, crossing the finish line on the 11th of February 2008 at 21:49:00 local time, after 92 days, 9 hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds of sailing around the planet.

Filling the other sought-after podium spots were Britain's Alex Thomson and Australian Andrew Cape on Hugo Boss (94d 17h, 34m 57s) and Temenos II with Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre and French skipper Michèle Paret (98d 6h 9m 10s).

An account of the first edition

The regatta made a slow start before picking up pace just after the Canaries due to the absence of breeze in the Mediterranean and a no-show from the predicted trade winds after of Gibraltar. Once the yachts were past the Equator, speeds really climbed and an intense battle at the top of the fleet ensued, particularly between Paprec-Virbac 2 with Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall and PRB with Vincent Riou and Sébastien Josse onboard. In the southern Atlantic Ocean the sailors really showed what these yachts were capable of double-handed. Onboard Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape broke the 24 hour Speed Sailing Record by notching up 501 nautical miles (928.4 km) for the 24 hour run.

The first entry to abandon the race came before the Indian Ocean when Guillermo Altadill and Jonathan McKee were forced to retire to Cape Town on Estrella Damm following rudder damage. With the rest of the fleet in the Indian Ocean, the gruelling 'Raging Forties' (the howling westerly winds below 40ºS latitude) stopped three more entries in their tracks, ending their regatta hopes: PRB with Vincent Riou and Sébastien Josse; Delta Dore with Jérémie Beyou and Sydney Gavignet and Veolia Environnement with Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nélias. All of these were broken masts. Following this unfortunate chain of events, Paprec-Virbac 2 became outright leader, with Hugo Boss hot on her tail.

Further on, three boats made pit-stops in Wellington (NZ) for repairs and stayed there for the penalty period of 48 hours, as stipulated in the Race Rules: Hugo Boss, Temenos II with Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret and Mutua Madrileña with Spaniards Bubi Sansó and Pachi Rivero.

The second half of the race featured two thrilling battles: between Paprec-Virbac 2 and Hugo Boss, who admirably made up the time lost at Wellington; the other was between Temenos II and Spanish boat Mutua Madrileña.

The climb up the South Atlantic was almost entirely against strong headwinds, which slowed down the regatta pace considerably but ramped up the excitement even further, with some of the crews forced to carefully ration food supplies for the final stretch. Paprec-Virbac 2 moved into a stronger lead in the North Atlantic, ahead of Hugo Boss. The passage through the Gibraltar Strait was particularly tough for the first four entries to go through, with some strong Levant winds and some big swell coming at them.

In the end Paprec-Virbac 2 crossed the finishing line at Barcelona's Port Olímpic on the 11th of February 2008 at 21:49:49 (local time GMT+1).

Final rankings

Paprec Virbac 2. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) and Damian Foxall (IR). Finish: 11th February at 21:49:00. 92 days, 09 hours, 49 minutes, 49 secs.   2. Hugo Boss. Alex Thomson (RU) and Andrew Cape (AUS). Finish: 14th February at 06:34:57. 94 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes, 57 secs. (2 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes, 08 seconds from leader)   3. Temenos II Dominique Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA). Finish: 17th February at 19:09:00. 98 days, 06 hours, 09 minutes, 10 secs. (5 days, 21 hours, 19 minutes, 21 seconds from leader)   4. Mutua Madrileña. Javier Sansó (ESP) and Pachi Rivero (ESP). Finish: 19th February at 01:18:40. 99 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes, 40 secs. (7 days, 03 hours, 28 minutes, 51 seconds from leader)   5. Educación Sin Fronteras. Albert Bargués (ESP) and Servane Escoffier (FRA). Finish: 28 th February at 07:55:02. 108 days, 18 hours, 55 minutes, 02 seconds. (16 days, 10 hours, 05 minutes, 13 seconds from leader)  Ret: Estrella Damm / Guillermo Altadill (ESP) and Jonathan McKee (EEUU)Ret: PRB Vincent Riou (FRA) and Sébastien Josse (FRA)Ret: Delta Dore Jérémie Beyou (FRA) and Sydney Gavignet (FRA)Ret: Veolia Environnement Roland Jourdain (FRA) and Jean-Luc Nélias (FRA)

Edition milestones

Maximum distance in 24 hours
Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape

501.3 nautical miles
20.9 knot average
Between the 6th and 7th of December 2007
WSSRC World Record for 60 foot monohull (record beaten by Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron in the second edition at 506.35 nautical miles and a 21.1 knot average).

Maximum distance in four hours
Paprec-Virbac 2 - Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall

110 nautical miles
On the 7th of December 2007

Top instant speed
Temenos II - Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret

27.4 knots
On the 14th of January 2008

Barcelona World Race 2010/11

The start of the second edition of the race was given in Barcelona on the 31st of December 2010. 14 boats were on the starting line with 28 skippers from eight different countries: Spain (12), France (10), Germany (1), USA (1), Holland (1), New Zealand (1), UK (1) and Switzerland (1).

The starting line opposite the Port of Barcelona on the 31st of December hosted the crème de la crème of double-handed offshore sailing. There was Jean-Pierre Dick, winner of the first edition of the race; Michel Desjoyeaux, the only skipper to have won the non-stop, round the world, solo regatta twice and other well-established names such as Loïck Peyron, Dee Caffari (the only woman to have sailed non-stop solo around the world in both directions), Jean Le Cam and Dominique Wavre.

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dick put his name firmly in the history books by defending his title of Barcelona World Race champion, although on this occasion he did so alongside Loïck Peyron on Virbac-Paprec 3.

The second edition of the Barcelona World Race is also remembered as the best ever round the world regatta for Spanish sailing. The fleet of Spanish skippers were a revelation, and stormed the podium with two of the top entries and took three of the top four spots in the race. Double Olympic medallists Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández finished in second place, just behind Dick and Peyron, and in doing so sealed their place among the ocean sailing greats. They were joined on the podium by Pachi Rivero and Toño Piris.

Finishing behind them were Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes. Another landmark for the country was set by Anna Corbella, who became the first Spanish woman to sail round the world non-stop an the first Spanish woman to round the three capes (Good Hope. Leeuwin and Horn).

An account of the second edition

The Barcelona World Race 2010/11 set off on the 31st of December 2010 at 13:00 GMT+1, with a fleet of 450 spectator boats out on the water to wave the skippers off. Thousands of people on the water and thousands more lined the seafront at the Moll de la Expo, the W Barcelona hotel and the city's beaches from the Barceloneta to the Fòrum, taking part in the grand festival of ocean sailing.

The Mediterranean forgave no errors. The Alboran Sea was merciless and as the last boat in the fleet formation, Hugo Boss, passed through the Gibraltar Strait, the regatta leader, Virbac-Paprec 3 was already 330 miles away.

The first leg was slow, with the anticyclone at the Azores positioned lower than usual. Virbac-Paprec 3 and Foncia were the first entries to catch the northeastern trades as the fleet stretched further apart. At Cape Verde the regatta came to a halt for Jean Le Cam and Bruno García when Président dismasted.

The fleet of IMOCA 60s got through the zone of lulls at the Equator relatively quickly, and both Foncia and Virbac-Paprec 3 made pit-stops at the Brazilian port of Recife for repairs, but only for a few hours. They returned to the race with a spectacular run in 25 to 30 knot northeasterly winds, which finished on the 22nd of January when Virbac-Paprec 3 broke the 24 Speed Sailing Record for a 60 foot monohull: 506.33 miles (21.1 knot average).

At the boundary with the Indian Ocean Foncia dismasted and was forced to retire to Cape Town (South Africa), handing over second place to Spanish yacht MAPFRE, some 540 miles behind fleet leader Virbac-Paprec 3.

Ice warnings featured heavily in the feared Indian Ocean leg of the race. The number of ice gates multiplied and their latitude bumped up, making for a warmer, more upwind leg than usual. MAPFRE made incredible headway in the hunt for Virbac-Paprec 3, which had been enjoying a comfortable lead. However, Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández lost ground when they stopped to repair a broken piece of centreboard after a collision with an object. Virbac-Paprec 3 pushed some 780 miles away before Cape Leeuwin (the biggest ever lead in this regatta). The rest of the fleet seemed to be match racing behind them with Neutrogena overtaking Mirabaud in the Tasman Sea and Hugo Boss chasing GAES Centros Auditivos in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Further behind, Central Lechera Asturiana, which had stopped off at Cape Town to repair the keel ram, overtook We Are Water, but later broke its mast in the Tasman, sailing to Wellington on a jury rig.

Cook Strait shook up the rankings once more, with pit-stops at Wellington. The race leaders made a stop to repair the main sheet track and once back in the race MAPFRE was just 150 miles away. Estrella Damm and Groupe Bel also made stops,and were overtaken by Renault Z.E., Mirabaud and Neutrogena. The next team to moor at Wellington was Fòrum Marítim Català, followed by Central Lechera Asturiana and We Are Water.

In the first half of the Pacific Ocean, MAPFRE clawed back the miles to just 8.3 miles from the French boat, which managed to get away from the Spaniards once more. Behind the two frontrunners the Atu cyclone brushed past Renault Z.E. and hit Groupe Bel and Estrella Damm full on. After that We Are Water came across the worst storm of the regatta, 800 miles from Cape Horn (Chile) and their boom broke. Central Lechera Asturiana set off from Wellington on the 31st of March, 4,700 miles behind We Are Water but suffered hull damage and were forced to retire from the race in New Zealand.

The approach to Cape Horn was tough for all of the boats. The frontrunners reached Cape Horn with MAPFRE at less than 70 miles away, but the Spaniards were forced to drop anchor at Isla Nueva with halyard issues, and Virbac-Paprec 3 got away once more. Renault Z.E. rounded the Horn in third place with Neutrogena hot on its tail, but the latter had keel ram issues after a gruelling storm. Groupe Bel, in fifth, detected some unusual movement with their keel and announced a pit-stop at Ushuaia. Mirabaud made it through a tough storm with Michèle Paret unwell and entered the Atlantic to an arm wrestle with Estrella Damm. Behind them GAES Centros Auditivos trapped Hugo Boss, who were having problems with the mast track and the sails. The next entry to round the Cape was Fòrum Marítim Català, and the last was We Are Water, some 5,700 miles from the leader, with a broken boom and sailing with an ORC (a heavy weather jib) and a storm jib fastened to the mast which the crew had adapted as a mainsail rig.

In the Atlantic, Virbac-Paprec 3 gave a magnificent lesson in strategy when the crew took on the St Helena anticyclone and put over 540 miles between their stern and the bow of Spanish boat MAPFRE. In the doldrums that gap was reduced by 110 miles, but back in the Northern Hemisphere the frontrunner got away again and hit Gibraltar with a 280 mile lead. After Renault Z.E., the struggle for the fourth spot on the podium was a close one between Estrella Damm and Neutrogena, who found themselves alone when Groupe Bel announced its retirement from Ushuaia and Mirabaud's regatta hopes were dashed when their mast broke, forcing the crew to retire at Mar del Plata.

The climb back into the Mediterranean was straightforward but tiring for Virbac-Paprec 3 and MAPFRE, whilst Renault Z.E. and Estrella Damm suffered during a terrible storm from the east. From Cabo de la Nao at Barcelona almost all of the boats hit calms.

Final rankings

1. Virbac-Paprec 3. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) and Loïck Peyron (FRA). Finish: 4th of April 2011 at 10:20:36
93 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 36 seconds

2. MAPFRE. Iker Martínez (ESP) and Xabier Fernández (ESP). Finish: 5th April 2011 at 09:17:35
94 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes, 35 seconds

3. Renault Z.E. Pachi Rivero (ESP) and Antonio Piris (ESP). Finish: 8th April 2011 at 06:47:36
97 days, 18 hours, 47 minutes, 36 seconds

4.Est rella Damm. Alex Pella (ESP) and Pepe Ribes (ESP). Finish: 8th April 2011 at 08:45:59
98 days, 20 hours, 45 minutes

5. Neutrogena. Boris Herrmann (GER) and Ryan Breymaier (USA). Finish: 10th April 2011 at 15:13:25
100 days, 03 hours, 13 minutes

6. GAES Centros Auditivos. Dee Caffari (GBR) and Anna Corbella (ESP). Finish: 13th April 2011 at 07:17:18
102 days, 19 hours, 17 minutes

7. Hugo Boss. Vouter Werbraak (NED) and Andy Meiklejohn (NZL). Finish: 21st April 2011 at 22:49:23
111 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes

8. Fòrum Marítim Català. Gerard Marín (ESP) and Ludovic Aglaor (FRA). Finish: 22nd April 2011 at 19:17:24
112 days, 07 hours, 17 minutes

9. We Are Water. Jaume Mumbrú (ESP) and Cali Sanmartí (ESP). Finish: 12 May 2011 at 18:58:32

132 days, 04 hours, 58 minutes

Ret: Président – Jean Le Cam (FRA) and Bruno García (ESP): dismasted in the North Atlantic-Cape Verde Islands
Ret: Foncia – Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) and François Gabart (FRA): broken topmast in the South Atlantic-Cape of Good Hope
Ret: Groupe Bel – Kito de Pavant (FRA) and Sébastien Audigane (FRA): Keel damage at Cape Horn
Ret: Mirabaud – Dominique Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA): dismasted in the South Atlantic-Argentina
Ret: Central Lechera Asturiana – Juan Merediz (ESP) and Fran Palacio (ESP): Structural damage to the hull in the South Pacific-New Zealand

Rankings speed trophies

For this edition of the regatta was divided into legs following the natural and obligatory routing. For each of these legs a 'Speed Trophy' was set, meaning that the boats were ranked according to the time they took to cover that stretch of water, regardless of their position in the overall rankings.
North to South Mediterranean Trophy: Barcelona – Gibraltar: 538 nautical miles

1. Virbac-Paprec 3 (3d 7h 55m)

North to South Atlantic Trophy: Gibraltar – Cape of Good Hope: 6,023 nautical miles

1. Virbac-Paprec 3 (23d 5h 40m)

Indian Ocean Trophy: Cape of Good Hope – Cook Strait: 6,599 nautical miles

1. Virbac-Paprec 3 (20d 7h 10m)

Pacific Trophy: Cook Strait – Cape Horn: 4,720 nautical miles

1. MAPFRE (12d 08h 20m)

South to North Atlantic Trophy: Cape Horn – Gibraltar: 6,391 nautical miles

1. Estrella Damm (27d 11h 55m)

South to North Mediterranean Trophy: Gibraltar – Barcelona: 538 nautical miles

1. Neutrogena (2d 21h 13m)

Edition milestones

Distance for a 24 hour run
Virbac-Paprec 3 – Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron

506.35 nautical miles
21.1 knot average
Between 11:00 on the 21/01/2011 and 11:00 on the 22/01/2011
From 39º15.79' S / 18º 16.63' W to 36º 43.51' S / 28º 29.83' W
Ratified by the World Speed Sailing Records Council (WSSRC) as the greatest distance covered in a 24 hour run by a 60 foot monohull. Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron officially top the record set by Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape during the Barcelona World Race 2007/08 (501.3 miles at a 20.9 knot average.

Maximum average speed fpr 30 minute period

Mirabaud - Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret