Barcelona World Race - One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton returns

by Barcelona World Race on 8 Mar 2015 One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton has crossed the longitude of Cape Horn (67º 17' 35 W) at 03:01 UTC (04:01 in Barcelona, 00:01 in Chile). Aleix Gelabert and Didac Costa have spent 66 days, 15 hours and 01 minutes racing since the start in Barcelona on 31st December 2014.

For Gelabert 37 and Costa, 34, the passage of the famous Cape marks an important milestone in their sports career. After their experiences in the Mini Transat, Aleix has seen another side of the competition, as shore crew of GAES Centros Auditivos in the previous edition of the Barcelona World Race. Both have left temporarily their professional careers to achieve their ocean dream. Competing on board the boat with more history in the race, launched in 2000 as Kingfisher, the catalan duo have been very consistent throughout the round the world race so far.

Yesterday morning, Costa explained that One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton has got to this important northwards turn in good shape: 'The boat is fine. There is no significant problems. As for us, it is true that we are a little more tired, but we are fine and will keep up this pace'.

Gelabert acknowledged that crossing cape Horn was set to be a big moment for him: 'The Horn is the most important cape in the world of sailing. Over the centuries it has taken such a lot of effort to round it and it still does'.

Gelabert and Costa have rounded cape Horn with some 20 knots of wind from West.

One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton is therefore the fifth boat of this Barcelona World Race to leave the Pacific and return to the Atlantic, passing just 4 hours and 56 minutes behind the fourth, We Are Water, that passed at 22:06 UTC on seventh of March.

Leaders Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam on board Cheminées Poujoulat ;rounded cape Horn on 25th February at 00:53 UTC, while Guillermos Altadill and José Muñoz on Neutrogena and Anna Corbella and Gerard Marin on GAES Centros Auditivos made it on 28th February at 02:12 UTC and 12:32 UTC respectively.

Still in the Pacific, the next duo to cross will be Renault Captur, with Jörg Riechers and Sébastien Audigane, some two days from Horn, and some 1,800 miles behind, Nandor Fa and Conrad Colman on board Spirit of Hungary.