Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam win Barcelona World Race

(March 25, 2015; Day 85) – The vastly experienced duo, Bernard Stamm (SUI) and Jean Le Cam (FRA) have won the Barcelona World Race 2014-15 and set the reference time for the two crew round the world race: 84 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes and 25 seconds to complete the 23,321.76 miles of the theoretical course.

Cheminées Poujoulat, co-skippered by Stamm (51) and Le Cam (55), sailed to victory today, winning the third edition of the non-stop, round the world race for two crew, crossing the finish line at 17:50:25hrs UTC (18:50:25hrs CET/Barcelona). The Swiss-French IMOCA 60 completed the theoretical course at an average of 11.53kts. The actual distance over ground sailed by them is 27,950 miles, at an average speed of 13.82 knots.

Since the start from Barcelona on 31st December 2014 at midday UTC, Stamm and Le Cam have established the reference time for the race, which followed a different course for this edition: from Barcelona to Barcelona, passing all three great capes Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, leaving Antarctica to starboard. But for the first time the course went direct under New Zealand rather than diverting north to pass through the Cook Straits between North and South Island. This reduced the course distance by about 1280 miles compared with previous editions.

Theirs has proven a remarkable partnership of close equals, a pair who have delivered victory thanks to their many, many years experiences, good and bad. They had never sailed together as a duo before this race, but had both achieved notable successes, racing two-handed.

The IMOCA 60 Cheminées Poujoulat is a monohull designed by the Farr design office, launched in 2007. With it, Michel Desjoyeaux won the Vendée Globe 2008/09, with an elapsed time of 84 days, 3 hours and 9 minutes. Stamm and Le Cam have made a very similar time including two Gibraltar Straits crossings and two Mediterranean legs. In the Barcelona World Race 2010/2011, this IMOCA 60 was second with Spain’s Íker Martínez and Xabi Fernandez as co-skippers. It made the start of Vendée Globe 2012/2013 with Jérémie Beyou. The boat has been modified several times to adjust to the rules evolution and improve its performance in big waves. With two victories and a second place in round the world races, this boat is established as a legend of he IMOCA class.

Cheminées Poujoulat took the first place of the race on the 17th of January, when they overtook Guillermo Altadill (Spain) and José Muñoz (Chile) on Neutrogena in an intense head to head battle, approximately off Rio de Janeiro. Before Neutrogena, Alex Thomson (United Kingdom) and Pepe Ribes (Spain) had lead the race until they lost the mast on the 14th of January. Stamm and Le Cam’s rivalry with Neutrogena went on until Altadill and Muñoz had to pit stop for 24 hours in Bluff New Zealand on 12th February to repair an issue with their generator.

The arrivals of provisional second and third, Neutrogena and GAES Centros Auditivos, is expected between 30th of March and 2nd of April.

Ranking at 18:00 UTC:
1. Cheminées Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm – Jean Le Cam) finished Mar 25 (84:05:50:25)
2. Neutrogena (Guillermo Altadill – Jose Muñoz) 960.5 nm Distance to Finish
3. GAES Centros Auditivos (Anna Corbella – Gerard Marin) 314.6 nm Distance to Lead
4. One Planet One Ocean / Pharmaton (Aleix Gelabert – Didac Costa) 1731.9 nm DTL
5. We Are Water (Bruno Garcia – Willy Garcia) 1825.1 nm DTL
6. Renault Captur (Jörg Riechers – Sebastien Audigane) 2688.0 nm DTL
7. Spirit of Hungary (Nandor Fa – Conrad Colman) 3459.7 nm DTL
Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson – Pepe Ribes) Abandon

Tracker – Event details

Report by event media.

Background: The third edition of the Barcelona World Race is the only double-handed, non-stop, round the world race. Eight IMOCA 60 teams started December 31, 2014, with the intent to cover 23,450 nautical miles in a circumnavigation from Barcelona to Barcelona, putting the capes of Good Hope (South Africa), Leeuwin (Australia) and Horn (Chile) to port and the Antarctic to starboard.