Barcelona Race prologue

Open 60 crews are using the Rolex Fastnet Race as a warm-up for their non-stop round the world race later this year

The Barcelona World Race organisers have announced the participation of two new Spanish teams: Javier Sansó and Pachi Rivero will be lining up on board Mutua Madrileña (Mike Golding’s former Ecover 2), while Albert Bargués and Servane Escoffier are currently carrying out the last preparation phase of Ellen MacArthur’s former Kingfisher. Both teams will take the start of the Rolex Fastnet this Sunday, 12 August, off Cowes.

Mutua Madrileña - Sansó / Rivero

Spaniards Javier Sansó and Pachi Rivero have confirmed their entry in the Barcelona World Race. Javier Sanso Widmann, 38, is no stranger to the Open 60 class. He has competed in two Transat Jacques Vabre races - 2001 aboard SME Negoceane, finishing fourth and 2003 on board Objectif 3. Sanso was co-skipper of fourth-placed Gartmore in the EDS Atlantic Challenge in 2001, and also competed in the 2001/01 Vendée Globe but unfortunately was forced to retire. He has done 18 transatlantic crossings, and was the 2001 Spanish sailor of the year.

Pachi Rivero, aged 43 and father of two, is also one of Spain’s most accomplished sailors, with two America’s Cup under his belt as crew member in the Spanish team in 1992/1995 and having competed in more than 20 World Championship regattas in the Maxi and Swan classes. He was also part of the winning crew on board the Caja Madrid Open 60 in the Regata Cadiz-La Habana in 2000, and won this race in 2006 onboard the Volvo 60 Cantabria Infinita.

The two have completed the majority of their Barcelona World Race qualifying passage, on board the competitive Owen-Clarke designed Ecover (today Mutua Madrileña), which in the hands of former skipper and owner Mike Golding, finished 3rd in the 2005 Vendée Globe and won The Transat in 2004. After finishing the Rolex Fastnet Race they will have completed the total 2,800 miles required for qualification.

Educacion sin Fronteras – Bargués / Escoffier

Bargues and Escoffier will sail the ex- Kingfisher, now re-named Educacion sin Fronteras. While Educacion sin Fronteras will sail for the Calella de Palafurgell Yacht Club and the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNO), it has been agreed that if FNO attract other sponsors for the team, some of the funds will go towards the ‘NGO’ (Non-Government Organisation) programme which have among their priorities, creating schools and education programmes for children in developing countries.

Albert Bargués, aged 47, from Barcelona has an impressive sailing CV as an ocean sailor including the 1985/6 Whitbread Round the World Race on board Fortuna Light, the 1997 Transat Jacques Vabre on board Nandor Fa's Budapest Open 60, plus two Mini-Transats in 1987 and 1999. He has also worked on the shore team of several IMOCA Open 60 campaigns including PRB in 2000 and more recently Sill et Veolia last year, as project manager.

Female French sailor Servane Escoffier, aged 26 from the Saint-Malo-based dynasty of sailors, also has a very respectable list of accomplishments to her name including podium positions in her class in the 2006 Route du Rhum and 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre, and winning the 2006 Record SNSM onboard her previous boat, the Open 50 Vedettes de Bréhat. Servane has had some valuable experience working behind the scenes on IMOCA Open 60 campaigns including being part of Nick Moloney’s shore team for his 2004 Vendée Globe onboard Skandia.

These two new teams alongside six other Barcelona World Race IMOCA 60s will be taking part in the famous Rolex Fastnet Race, doubling as the official Barcelona World Race prologue.
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A major event on the IMOCA Class calendar, this year’s race will see several new-generation monohulls compete against each other for the first time. In addition to these two are the two brand new boats - Hugo Boss will be sailed by Alex Thomson and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Andrew Cape while Guillermo Altadill and Jonathan McKee will race Estrella Damm. At present though Vincent Riou and Seb Josse on the former's PRB are clearly the team to beat alongside sistership Delta Dore, sailed by Jeremie Beyou and Sidney Gavignet, while Roland Jourdain's Veolia Environnement has been thoroughly optimised this winter and is making her major comeback and the duo of Dominic Wavre and Michèle Paret on Temenos II are racing yet another new generation Open 60.

Unfortunately for Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall due to be competing in Paprec-Virbac will not be able to compete due to keel problems.

"All the great boats have sailed this course," commented Veolia Environnement skipper, Roland Jourdain. "It’s one of those races that has become mythical. We will of course observe the boats which will be our rivals on the Barcelona World Race, but most of all we’ll check out how Veolia Environnement behaves. The boat has been re-launched last week, and we’re not going to push her hard for the first outings. We have to learn her new subtleties."

Alex Thomson skipper of Hugo Boss added: "I look forward to lining up against some of the world's best sailors in a fiercely competitive fleet on Sunday. This will be my first race with Capey, my co-skipper for the Barcelona World Race, and our first offshore race on the new Hugo Boss. We want to learn as much as we can about this new boat in order to optimize her performance in preparation for the Barcelona World Race. The Rolex Fastnet Race will be an ideal training ground and we will certainly be keeping a close eye on the other competition."