GOR - Desafio Mallorca completes all Class40 measurement requirements

by Jaime Darder on 8 Aug 2011 Global Ocean race entry Desafio Mallorca, of Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramón, passed all official Class40 measurement tests last week at the STP shipyard in Palma. Colman and Ramón will begin their double-handed, 2,000 mile qualifying voyage this week.

Launched at the MC-TEC yard in April, the yacht – then named Jasmine Flyer – was sailed to her pre-GOR base in Palma and the Kiwi-Spanish duo has been busy training and preparing for the start in Mallorca on Sunday 25 September. Early last week in a break from training, Colman and Ramón spent two days undergoing the official Class40 measurement process, including weighing and self-righting moment and AVS (Angle of Vanishing Stability) assessment involving the fully-rigged, 90 degree test. Following 48 hours of detailed and complex measurement and scrutiny by the Class40-appointed International Measurer, Stephanie Merry, with the weighing process overseen by local International Measurer, Tacha Montaner, Class40 sail number GBR112, Desafio Mallorca, was officially certified to compete in Class40 events including the GOR.

This week, Colman and Ramón will leave Palma for their 2,000 mile, double-handed, qualifying voyage sailing Desafio Mallorca out of the Mediterranean, around the Canary Islands and returning to Mallorca. For Hugo Ramón this first taste of the North Atlantic on board the new boat is a valuable exercise. 'The qualifier will enable us to find out more about the boat’s behaviour in different conditions and experiment with sail combinations,' says the Mallorcan sailor. 'We can also use the voyage to check all our electronic systems and evaluate our navigation software.'

The forthcoming voyage is of great importance for Conrad Colman: 'It’s one more step towards the start line and now we can concentrate even more on the boat’s performance and on continued training for the race,' says the New Zealand co-skipper. 'The qualifier will improve our coordination when sailing together and we can explore trimming solutions,' he continues. 'It’s also an opportunity to examine a tactically important part of Leg 1 – the exit of the Mediterranean and the descent to the Canary Islands,' adds Colman. 'This knowledge can be of critical importance once the race has started.'

Colman, aged 27, and Ramón, aged 26, are the youngest team in the GOR, but the duo already have considerable offshore racing experience: Colman in the Mini 6.50 class and with Class40’s in the 2010 Route du Rhum, while Ramón has raced in three Mini Transat events. Furthermore, both of the yachtsmen are from islands on opposite sides of the world, joining forces for a round the world race which includes both of their birthplaces on the route; Palma and Wellington. Global Ocean Race website