Barcelona World Race - Estrella Damm's team director Jan Santana

by Barcelona World Race on 5 Dec 2010 Barcelona World Race - Eighteen months of detailed planning and preparation, delivering a competitive IMOCA Open 60 programme for the home based Barcelona boat Estrella Damm along with skippers Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes brings a certain amount of added pressure as start day draws ever closer.

Without a doubt home hopes ride with Pella and Ribes but in fact the duo might hardly notice any added pressure as they are two of the most focussed, experienced and professional sailors who have been entirely driven by this project since they were selected as co-skippers.

The Estrella Damm team have sailed more than 32,000 miles with their Farr designed IMOCA Open 60, including setting the inaugural record from New York to Barcelona earlier this year.

Jan Santana (ESP) is the team’s technical director, one of Spain’s most sought after and successful project managers, who as well as three Whitbread Round the World race circumnavigations, has prepared many IMS programmes as well as working on two Spanish America’s Cup programmes.

Estrella Damm is all but ready to race, just finessing the little details after a tough final sailing test up to Galicia and back.

' We went to Galicia just to check that everything on board was OK and we are very satisfied because during the trip there was 30-35 knots of wind, upwind all the way to Sanxenxo. And the boat was perfect and they arrived there without problems.' Opens Santana, ' We also sailed out from there and did some work there and then came back downwind. Up there we sailed with Simon Fisher – the navigator who has been helping with some of our electronics and navigation, and Laurent Delage the sail designer who both went to Sanxenxo just to help with some tuning up. They were offshore for three days off Galicia sailing with the skippers. And so the boat is in good condition.'

What have been the main improvements you have made since the summer’s Vuelta España a Vela?

' We changed the keel, improving with a new keel. The keel is the same weight but the centre of gravity is a little bit lower but with a completely different shape of bulb, the bulb is shallower and longer just to have more weight lower down. And the skippers are very satisfied. One of the reasons to go to Galicia was that over 2500 miles we could check if everything is good and the boat has improved a little bit and everything is working very well. This is probably the best advantage we have changed since the Veulta Espana a Vela in the summer, and also a new set of sails.'

What are the key changes you have made to the sails to improve or enhance the performance?

' We made a new set of sails, but we wanted to check them all before the start, making sure of the shapes and the strength of the cloth and all these things, and after sailing in 35 knots we broke nothing. We have made a new, bigger A3 spinnaker, we wanted it closer to the A2 and to the A5. The new A3 is more adaptable but it is made in cuben fibre. Before it was a little bit too small and we had to use the A2 a little bit too much, and then the problem as well is that if the A2 breaks then the A3 is too small for lighter winds. Now, it has a bigger range. The genoa is new which is much the same shape, but perhaps a bit more twist, and the Code Zero is much bigger because our boat is a little bit heavy, we needed a lot of power and sail area to go faster in lighter winds.'

And there are other changes and improvements you have managed to make to keep the boat competitive with the newer generation?

'The rest of the boat we have improved by making it lighter and we have taken some systems out of the boat. The satellite has gone. We have changed the nav station which is now very small and very light. Overall we probably saved 500 kilos.

You have changed or modified the power generation systems?

' We have lithium battery system, a generator and a hydro generator already. The system works really well. Originally this boat had an aero generator good for 6-7 amperes and solar panels which gave 5-6 amperes. With this system we get to 30 amperes easily when the boat goes 8-9 knots and we could save carrying 100 litres of diesel over the course of the Barcelona World Race which has to be a good thing.'

The strength and conditioning programme for Alex and Pepe has been very detailed and long term?

' The guys have been physical training hard for the last 18 months, consistently. At the moment they are still working with their trainer to their own specific schedule, maybe with special exercises, some cycling and weights but on specific programmes.

We do specific testing before every offshore race or training and after, just to evaluate how much weight they have lost, and on top that they have both been tested to see what their calorific intake needs to be each day. We arrived at the conclusion that Alex needs 3500 calories per day and Pepe 4200 calories. They have 15 kilos difference in body weight, and different rates of metabolism.'

What else is there to be done in terms of skippers’ preparation?

' Fifteen days ago they just did a meteo session with Jean-Yves Bernot and 15 days before the start they will do another, just to focus directly on the race and race conditions.
Between now and the start it is about checking the last details, just to be sure that the boat is in perfect condition, just to make sure that the boat is in perfect condition. It will be completed between the ninth and the 12th and then after the 12th we prepare the boat specially to go to the race village, and when the boat is in the village the skippers take five days off over Christmas, maybe a little sailing with sponsors.

But we want to be very calm before the start, that is very important. We have worked very hard over the last 18 months and it is important to be calm.

We are very young in this class, our team has a lot of experience with other projects but we like to be here, properly prepared one month before the start. That is something we learned a long time ago because the last days are so frenetic. Time just runs away with everyone wanting to do things, and you are left thinking about sails, engines, and so it is very important to be very calm and available for sponsors, for the media. This is the reason why in our team we say: ‘OK we have already started, we are in race mode now, because the start was last week.’'

This final month is going to be tough on the guys, managing time and stress, how do you help with that side of it?

' I coordinate all the different areas, and I am here to find whatever it is they need if it is a normal, logical accessible thing. We did a programme with our needs one and half years ago with our needs and my job here is to find the budget, to find good suppliers, to build a good team around the guys, to arrive today in the best conditions, and that was my job. But they are such professional guys they don’t need me as a teacher, telling them what to do and when. Probably over these next weeks I have to work harder now, just to make sure they are able to be very relaxed. It is not easy because they are so professional and focused, they are racers. So I try to take the pressure off. They need to only think about their programmes, meteo, navigation, electronics, they only need to think about boat speed, that is all they need to think about and work on. That is all. I do everything else.'

http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/actualite/news/detail/estrella-damms-team-director-jan-santana-we-say-we-have-already-started-we-are-in-race-mode-0-4576