One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton

Aleix Gelabert and Didac Costa completed in fourth place their first circumnavigation, non-stop, having covered the 23,321-mile theoretical course in 98 days, 9 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds.

For both Aleix Gelabert and Didac Costa Barcelona is home – Didac was born here - and to complete their first ever circumnavigation in a Spanish-flagged yacht, sailing in and out of their home port, is a particularly special moment. To do so finishing fourth in an IMOCA 60 round the world race, having completed the course non-stop, is an inspirational achievement for the duo.

Both Gelabert and Costa began their solo racing careers in the Mini 6.50 class, competing in the 2011 Mini Transat to finish 18th in the Proto and 21st in the Series divisions respectively. Both moved up to the IMOCA 60s through the FNOB, Gelabert racing onboard GAES Centros Auditivos and sailing doublehanded with Anna Corbella, as well as working as perparateur for Anna and Gerard Marín on their doublehanded Figaro campaign.

Gelabert’s first taste of the Barcelona World Race was as shore crew for Corbella and Dee Caffari in the previous edition of the race, in 2010. Costa, meanwhile, is relatively new to the IMOCA class, although the pair sailed some 8,000 miles together in training to prepare for the race. To follow Corbella and Marín home in fourth place will be a dream come true for both of them, having commented before the race that their ambition was to complete the course. Aleix, aged 37, is an architect by profesion and Didac, 34, a firefighter.

The Catalan pairing onboard One Planet One Ocean & Pharmaton were the undisputed ‘rookies’ of the race – this was their first attempt at a round the world voyage, neither had ever sailed in the Southern Oceans, and yet they not only finished fourth, but were the third team to complete the course non-stop.

ON BOARD

Aleix Gelabert

  • Place and date of birth: Blanes, Girona (Spain), 30th June 1977
  • Residence: Barcelona (Spain)
  • Marital status: married, 1 child
  • Age at start: 37
  • Previous BWR entries:  No
Track Record
Transats
  • Transat 650 (Mini Transat) 2011 (18th, 1st Spaniard) (Mini Class, Prototypes)
Other offshore racing
  • Tour of Spain 2010, on GAES Centros Auditivos (IMOCA 60), crew of five
  • Mare Nostrum 2003, with Anna Corbella, double-handed
  • Mare Nostrum 2001, with Anna Corbella, double-handed
Other racing
  • Winner of Copa del Rey Spain 2011 and 2012, on Powerplate (IR2 class), fully-crewed
  • Part of Spanish Olympic training squad for Athens 2004 Olympic Games
Other
  • Preparation of Figaro 2 with Anna Corbella and Gerard Marín for the Transat AG2R 2012
  • Shore crew on IMOCA 60 GAES Centros Auditivos with Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari for the Barcelona World Race 2010/11

ON BOARD

Didac Costa

  • Place and date of birth:  Barcelona, (Spain) 22nd December 1980
  • Residence: Barcelona (Spain)
  • Marital status: Single
  • Age at start: 34
  • Previous BWR entries:  No

Track Record

Transats
  • Transat 650 (Mini Transat) 2011 (21st) (Mini Class, Series)
Other offshore racing
  • Gran Premio Italia Mini 650 2013 (3rd), with Bruno Garcia, double-handed
  • Sanremo Mini Solo 2013 (1st)

One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton

One of the highest mileages...

The crew will be racing on the former Kingfisher, 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 Fronteras with 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.

Technical details

  • Designer: Owen-Clarke Design
  • Construction: Marten Yachts (New Zealand)
  • Launched: 2000
  • Former names: Kingfisher, Educación Sin Fronteras, Fòrum Marítim Català
  • Length: 18.28 m
  • Beam: 5.30 m
  • Draught: 4.50 m
  • Displacement: 8,900 kg
  • Centreboards: 2 straight
  • Keel fin material: Steel
  • Bulb material: Lead
  • Height of mast: 26 m.
  • Rigging: N.P.
  • Upwind sail area: 240 m2
  • Downwind sail area: 470 m2
  • Number of sails on board: 10
  • Steering: 2 tillers
  • Rudder blades: 2 under the hull
  • Autopilots on board: 2
  • On-board energy source: wind generator, hydro generator and motor