12:46 AM Fri 9 Apr 2010 GMT
The New York - Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record, a new oceanic test that will establish the first sailing record between New York and Barcelona, began today 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, To?o Piris and Peter B. Becker led an inaugural departure at 11am 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 Verrazzano Bridge to their starting point: the Ambrose Light Meridian that they crossed in unison at 2:33 pm local time when the World Sailing Speed 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 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 To?o 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 Pr?ncipe 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 Fundaci? Navegaci? Oce?nica Barcelona (FNOB) with the support of the New York City Sports Commission and the collaboration of the Real Club N?utico de Barcelona and the New York Yacht Club.
www.ny-bcn.org
by New York - Barcelona Event
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
|
Sailing
