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With not long to go now to the start of the Barcelona World Race, the technical teams are busy working on the final details. The fourteen boats taking part in this second edition of the round the world race are a great tourist attraction down on the pontoon in the Catalan city. On Wednesday morning, the skippers attended the usual question and answer session with journalists at the press conference organised before the start of the race on Friday at 1300hrs.

Crédit photos: Paul Bessereau

The skippers can’t wait to get going

At this final meeting with the journalists, the sailors could not hide their desire to set sail from Port Vell on this adventure around the world in spite of the huge challenge that faces them. Michel Desjoyeaux, in particular, pointed out with his usual humour, that his New Year’s resolution was to sail. “It’s going to be easy enough after one on the 31st December, when we can finally get underway”, confirmed François Gabart, his co-skipper on Foncia. The New-Zealander Andy Meiklejohn, who is supposed to be setting out with Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, also said he was ready to start (more information tomorrow about the health of the British sailor, who was operated on today after suffering from appendicitis). His words summed up what the whole fleet was feeling.

Safety gates

Another subject that was raised during this final press conference: the six safety gates put in place by the race directors to stop the competitors from going down too far to the south, in order to avoid the areas, where ice has been detected. These arrangements will also enable the racers to stay within reach of rescue teams. Looking beyond the obvious safety goals, these gates narrow the opportunities for the competitors and mean that the speed of the boats will count more than strategic choices, added Dominique Wavre, skipper of Mirabaud alongside Michèle Paret.

Pit stops

Unlike the Vendée Globe, pit stops are allowed, if boats suffer damage. The goal being to allow as many competitors as possible to compete the race around the world. “There will be more boats finishing,” forecast Jean Le Cam, who will be racing on Président with the Spaniard, Bruno Garcia. According to Jean-Pierre Dick, “This will not really change things.” But the title-holder reminded everyone that “the goal will be to complete the race without making any stopovers.”

Stealth mode

Stealth mode will allow the crews who so wish to vanish from the rankings and the tracker for a little over 24 hours. Each boat can request this four times. François Gabart gave his opinion about these arrangements: "That doesn’t really make any major changes to the race. It’s a sort of gadget we can play around with out on the water for you back ashore. On the other hand, it could cause some upsets along the way.”

Paul BESSEREAU, with Olivier BOURBON

Photo credits: Paul Bessereau