The New York-Barcelona Record Began Today

NEW YORK, April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 2:33pm (ET) with the departure of the Imoca Open 60 Estrella Damm at 2:33:18pm, followed by W Hotels at 2:35:48pm, 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, Tono Piris and Peter B. Becker led an inaugural departure at 11:00am (ET) 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.

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.

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 Principe de Asturias y Girona Trophy.

For more information please visit www.ny-bcn.org. The site will have a live streaming of the record, with daily updates.

Press contact: Carolina Rincon at 646-367-3371 or [email protected]

SOURCE Fundacio Navegacio Oceanica Barcelona

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