Marina Coruña welcomes the first Global Solo Challenge boat
by Dave Proctor 25 Oct 2022 06:47 PDT
Roaring Forty - Open40 - Kevin Le Poidevin © Global Solo Challenge
The first boat that will compete in the 2023 Global Solo Challenge has arrived in the departure marina of A Coruña in Galicia, Spain.
Roaring Forty is a Lutra BOC Open 40, designed by Adrian Konijnendijk, of Lutra Yacht Design, and was built in 1997 by Akton Yachts, Estonia. It will compete in the 'Super Zero' category of the challenge, meaning, that she will be amongst the faster boats in the event and will be in one of the final groups of challengers to depart from A Coruña.
She will be skippered by her owner Australian Kevin Le Poidevin, who arrived in the marina in August. Roaring Forty, is now safely out of the water in the Marina Coruna boatyard (Varadero, in Spanish).
During the winter, the expert workers from the yard will be attending to a list of jobs that need to be done in preparation for the challenge.
Kevin has since rejoined his family in Australia and I spoke to him to get his impressions of the city, the marina and the boatyard.
He told me that this attractive city was small enough that he did not need a car or a bike whilst he was there. The locals were friendly, and there is a vast array of excellent restaurants in the town, with many specialising in the local fresh seafood that Galicia is renowned for.
The marina is large, and there were a large number of berths available at the time that he was there. He also reports that the facilities were of a high standard.
One thing that really impressed Kevin was, that the large and well organised boatyard, which, under the watchful eye of Director Roberto 'Chuny' Bermudez de Castro, is kept absolutely immaculate and the team clearly take pride in their work-
Kevin reported that he has scheduled work packages with the boatyard so that he can closely manage his budget.. Kevin said the bonus of having the work done at Marina Coruna is tapping into Chuny's experience and knowledge as he is Spain's most famous offshore racer having competed in six Volvo Ocean Races.
The major work like fitting in the watertight bulkheads has already been completed on this yacht, as it has been in numerous offshore events, including having completed a solo circumnavigation in the first Global Ocean Race before he bought her.
Kevin plans to return to Spain, after ANZAC day next April (he is an Australian Air Force Veteran), and he then hopes to undertake a trip down to the Azores to test everything on board before completing his qualifying 2,000 miles, non-stop solo sail.
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