Three days to go until IMOCA Ocean Masters New York to Barcelona Race

Hugo Boss arrives in New York City after repairing their mast © Th.Martinez / Sea&Co / OSM

Three days remain until the start of the inaugural IMOCA Ocean Masters New York to Barcelona Race. On Thursday, New York will get a taste of what is to come on Sunday with the Hugo Boss Watches Manhattan Charity Race, for the four boats that have arrived so far in Manhattan's North Cove Marina.

Racing starts at 1200 for Safran, GAES centros auditivos, Neutrogena and Hugo Boss, on a line in the Hudson River, directly off North Cove Marina. Depending on the wind conditions the IMOCA 60s will sail one of two courses. The longer takes the boats south into Upper Bay, past the Statue of Liberty and down to a turning mark just short of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn, before return back up to a mark off Governors Island on the east side of Upper Bay and back to the start. The shorter course will be the same, but without the most southerly mark, near the Bridge. Racing is expected to last no longer than two hours.

In addition to their doublehanded crews, who will be setting out across the North Atlantic on Sunday, the Hugo Boss Watches Manhattan Charity Race will provide an opportunity for corporate guests and members of the press to gain a small taste of life on board these powerful state of the art, shorthanded offshore racing yachts. Among Hugo Boss' guests will be one NFL player and several stars of the New York fashion world.

Each of the boats will be racing for a charity of their choice. The winner's boat will see their charity receive a US$ 10,000 donation from Hugo Boss Watches, to be awarded at the post-race prize giving, to be held in North Cove Marina tomorrow mid-afternoon.

Meanwhile Nandor Fa and Marcell Moszleth on Spirit of Hungary are expected into Manhattan on Friday morning.

Yesterday Spirit of Hungary met some brutal conditions forcing the boat north. Fa reported: "It's been pretty tough. We were upwind in 40-45 knots, gusting to 50 at times, combined with monsoon-strength rain and only 100m visibility. The boat was constantly being smashed and beaten by the waves... We were literally sailing for our lives. "Since then, the wind has calmed but the waves still made our lives miserable this morning.

"Ahead we have strong reaching winds ahead of us, of about 30 knots, fortunately we'll be reaching which is the reason why we sailed north yesterday. We also have to take the Gulf Stream into account, so as not to end up in Newfoundland..."

Hugo Boss joins the fleet in New York

With downtown Manhattan shrouded in fog, obscuring the top third of the new One World Trade Centre nearby, early morning joggers around North Cove Marina, were able to witness the arrival of Hugo Boss into the start port of the IMOCA Ocean Masters New York to Barcelona Race, with four days now to go now until the beginning of the race itself on Sunday.

Hugo Boss arrives in New York City after repairing their mast - photo © Th.Martinez / Sea&Co / OSM

Following her dismasting on 8th May, as she was being delivered to Newport, Rhode Island, Hugo Boss has been undergoing major repair work. The shore team and Hall Spars in Rhode Island have been busy sleeving and re-joining the two parts of their broken 29m tall mast, which was finally restepped just two days ago. The silver IMOCA 60 was able to leave Newport yesterday morning at 1100 local time, bound for New York.

"It was a very easy one, but a very successful one," said Ryan Breymaier of the delivery down. "Other than just going out sailing on Monday a little bit, it was our first real test of the boat since we repaired it, and it all went very well. We were able to look at all the sails. We had some decent breeze during the night so we got here pretty quickly. Most importantly we didn't add anything to the job list!"

Close examination of the black carbon fibre mast shows a just visible repair towards the top of the spar, above its second spreader. "If anything the tube seems a little stiffer in that section now, which is nice. We know that it is well repaired," continued Breymaier.

Being the sole American skipper in the Ocean Masters New York to Barcelona race, arriving in the 'Big Apple' is special for Breymaier. "With all the trials and tribulations that we've had, it is a success just to get here, so I am very happy we've made it. I have been here three times in the last three years with different boats – MOD70, Class40 and Maserati - so I am getting used to being in North Cove Marina. It is always cool to see the skyline when you come in, if you can see it – this morning it is a bit foggy, but just to see the foots of all these buildings is incredible."

For Spain's Pepe Ribes, who will co-skipper Hugo Boss in Sunday's New York to Barcelona Race, this is his third time arriving into New York. He was here for the Volvo Ocean Race pitstop in 2005 and prior to the record attempt from New York to Barcelona aboard Estrella Damm in 2010.

Upon his arrival, Ribes paid tribute to the Hugo Boss team: "We've been working very hard to make the start of this race and the team has put in a really big effort in terms of hours and people and money for us to be here. We are very happy. We did a couple of gybes in 23 knots with no runners and it was all good. We just need to give it some final tuning and check the pressures."

Maite Fandos visits the event

This afternoon, Maite Fandos, Barcelona Deputy Mayor and Director for Quality of Life, Equality and Sports, and President of FNOB (Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona), visited in New York the Spanish skippers in the IMOCA Ocean Masters New York to Barcelona race event.

During her visit to New York, Maite asked questions about the preparations by the skippers, who next Sunday will be starting the transatlantic race departing from New York headed for their destination of Barcelona. Accompanied by Gerard Esteva (President of the Catalan Sailing Federation), Damián Ribas (Commodore of the Real Club Nautico de Barcelona) and Joan Fontsera (Director of CAR San Cugat) she shared her first impressions with Anna Corbella and Gerard Marín (Skippers of Gaes Auditory Centers), Guillermo Altadill and José Muñoz (Skippers of Neutrogena) and Pepe Ribes, co-skipper of the British team Hugo Boss.

During their conversations, the skippers explained their emotions on arriving into New York, as well as their expectations for the race event which will take them to Barcelona.

Maite Fandós added her thoughts on the symbolism of the event, "It is a really important event for us, New York and Barcelona share a common objective," explained Maite Fandia. "They are two iconic cities, known worldwide, neither of them are state capitals, but they both have a sea port and they both have a significant maritime hirtory, they are two dynamic cities, with a sporting heritage and a young spirit with a strong vision for the future. Barcelona can learn a lot from New York, and New York can learn a few things from Barcelona."

About the race event, the Barcelona Deputy Mayor and Director for Quality of Life, Equality and Sports, and President of FNOB, explained, "This New York to Barcelona event is a thermometer, a warm-up for the Barcelona World Race, it enables us to start our engines, and its really important for us as it enables us to raise the profile of our city."

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