French sailor Jean-Pierre Dick, winner of the inaugural around-the-world Barcelona World Race, has confirmed his participation in the second edition. Jean-Pierre Dick is among the elite of skippers with wins in several of the world’s great oceanic races. The start of the next Barcelona World Race will be on 31 December, 2010.Jean-Pierre Dick will be at the helm of the next Paprec-Virbac, which is presently under construction in New Zealand. It was aboard Paprec Virbac 2 that he secured his sensational victory at Barcelona, establishing the record the skippers will be aiming to beat in eighteen months time: 92 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds.
Last winter Jean-Pierre Dick took part in the Vendée Globe, once again sailing aboard Paprec Virbac 2. On this occasion he was forced to retire from the race after hitting an unidentified floating object in the Southern Ocean, at which time he was leading the fleet.
Since registration for entries opened on 18th June last, the Barcelona World Race organizers have been working closely with those skippers who have expressed an interest in racing in the next edition. Nine boats took part in the first race, and it is expected that there will be between 10 and 12 on the start line on the last day of 2010, of which at least three should be Spanish entries.
