THE NEW YORK-BARCELONA RECORD The Estrella Damm and W Hotels will sail the 3,750 nautical miles that separate New York and Barcelona

The New York – Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record, a new oceanic test that will establish the first sailing record between New York and Barcelona, began April 8 at 14:33 local time with the departure of the Imoca Open 60 Estrella Damm at 14:33:18, followed by W Hotels at 14:35:48, from Ambrose Light, 25 miles south of New York’s port. With southwest winds between 25 and 30 knots, the boats have departed to cover the approximately 3,750 nautical miles that separate them from their final destination: Barcelona.

The Estrella Damm, co-skipped by Alex Pella, Pepe Ribes and Stan Schreyer, and the W Hotels, with Pachi Rivero, Toño Piris and Peter B. Becker led an inaugural departure at 11:00h local time in front of the North Cove Marina, where the boats were located since their arrival in New York two weeks ago. From there, they sailed through the Lower Bay and towards the Verrazano Bridge to their starting point: the Ambrose Light Meridian that they crossed in unison at 14:33h local time when the World Sailing Speed Record Council judges set the official chronometers that will record each boat’s time.

The improvement of the weather conditions, with southwest winds between 25 and 30 knots, has determined the departure date in order to achieve the best conditions to complete the record in the best possible time. According to Marcel Van Triest, official meteorologist of the New York–Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record, the conditions are ideal for the boats to sail at very high speeds during the first few hours. 

“Winds from the SW and SWW at 25 to 30 knots have helped the IMOCA Open 60 depart from Ambrose Light quickly – stated Van Triest – the key for the next 48 to 60 hours will be the ability to overtake the front that is moving from the American to the Atlantic Continent.” And he added: “They will have to work hard to overtake the front as they depart towards the end of an ideal meteorological window.”

The Estrella Damm and the W Hotels now have a distance of 3,750 nautical miles to complete and they are expected to do so within 14 to 16 days, in order to arrive at the finish line located in front of the W Hotels in Barcelona between April 22th and the 24th.

“We have the ocean ahead and many of miles to sail. I hope this wind will hold up, we’re having a great sunny day. We are all really motivated on board and we can’t wait to embark on this crossing.” Alex Pella with Estrella Damm remarked. “We will work in 3 hour turns so that each skipper will work for 3 hours, sleep for 3 hours and will spend the other 3 on stand-by. During all sail changes, turns or major efforts, we’ll all be awake and working,” Stan Schreyer with Estrella Damm said.

“We are really happy. At the beginning we had a lot of pressure and it has been an exciting moment. Now that we are sailing with favorable winds and in this great weather, we are more relaxed.” Said Toño Piris, with W Hotels.

This record will be recognized by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC), an international organization associated with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) which regulates sailing speed records all over the world. The WSSRC will hand out the WSSR Performance Certificate to the skippers with the winning boat; they will also receive the Príncipe de Asturias y Girona Trophy.

On April 3rd the Estrella Damm and W Hotels measured their strength in an exciting, two-handed hard-fought in-shore regatta in New York, facing the Statue of Liberty and preceding the NY-BCN Record. The boats proved their equality of strength, the W Hotels won the first in-shore race, Estrella Damm the second. The equality strengthens the excitement around the record organized by Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) with the support of the New York City Sports Commission and the collaboration of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona and the New York Yacht Club. 

About the NY-BCN Transoceanic Sailing Record

NY-BCN Transoceanic Sailing Record is a sailing competition between New York and Barcelona which will be held in April 2010 with two identical IMOCA Open 60 yachts, the Estrella Damm and the W Hotels. The aim of the race is to set a sailing record between New York and Barcelona, as well as to strengthen bonds between both cities with socio-cultural, educational and sporting programs. It is an initiative of the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) with the support of the New York City Sports Commission, Real Club Náutico de Barcelona and the New York Yacht Club. The Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) is the organizer of the Barcelona World Race and this new sailing event is part of the campaign that will culminate in the start of the second two-handed non-stop edition of the world race, on December 31st, 2010.

About the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB)

The Fundació Navegació Oceánica de Barcelona (FNOB) was established in 2005 with the aim of enhancing awareness of the culture of the sea and to help raise ocean sailing to the appropriate level in a country of great maritime tradition. To achieve this objective, the FNOB, an entity whose partners are the Barcelona City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce, the Port and the Fira de Barcelona, created the Barcelona World Race, an around the world non-stop two crew sailing regatta, which had its first edition in 2007 and whose second edition will start on December  31st, 2010. It has set the FNOB Sailing Team, which manages projects of ocean racing from a business approach, and now organizes the establishment of the New York-Barcelona record for spring 2010.