Hugo Boss. Image copyright Christophe Launay/www.sealaunay.com @SeaLaunay
by IMOCA media, Barcelona World Race
IMOCA will announce a set of resolutions following the General Assembly for the class, at the Barcelona World Race Interpretation Centre to coincide with the round table debate to be held on the 24th of April: Racing, athletes and machines. The debate's focus will be the different racing formats in the worlds of motor and ocean racing where a combination of one-design and open formats can be found. Representatives from IMOCA, Pierre Bojic, from Pen Duick, and Javier Alonso, from Dorna Sports, will be taking part alongside Guillermo Altadill, Joan Porcar, Joan Villadelprat, Santi Serrat and Víctor Lavagnini. The debate will be broadcast live via web streaming in Spanish, French and English.
Fundamental issues surrounding the class rules are on the table for the IMOCA Class Assembly to be held on the 18th-19th of April. Conclusions drawn following the most recent Vendée Globe have lead the Technical Committee to draw up new design and construction rules for the class which are likely to have an impact on the current box rule, the rules defining the limitations of the current open class in terms of safety and the reining in of pro-ject budgets.
Boat reliability, especially when it comes to keels, safety of the skippers and driving down costs for campaigns are the priority concerns on the Assembly's agenda as the class faces the challenge of striking the right balance between technological development and the po-tential for class expansion.
The upcoming round table discussion Racing, athletes and machines to be held at the Barcelona World Race Interpretation Centre will host debate on the resolutions announced following the IMOCA Class General Assembly which will be explained by the class repre-sentatives and the debate will be opened on the significance of one-design classes and their advantages and disadvantages compared with the open formats. To add to the dynamic of the discussion and offer an enriching perspective, representatives from the world of motor racing will also be taking part, as well as members of the motor racing press, whose competition format offers certain parallels in terms of the coexistence of open and one-design formats, both in the way competitions are organised and in terms of the career development of the athletes themselves.
From the world of sailing IMOCA will be there, joined by Pierre Bojic from Pen Duick, the French company responsible for organising regattas such as the Transat AG23 and the Generali Solo, in the Figaro Class, and the Route du Rhum for the IMOCA and multihill classes. Guillermo Altadill (see interview) will also be taking part in the debate; the Spain's most experienced ocean skipper who has come up through the ranks of dinghy sailing and the Olympic classes. The debate will also welcome experts from the specialist press such as journalist Víctor Lavagnini from Spain's TV3 channel and Santi Serrat the Barcelona World Race Editor in Chief.
The motor racing world will have Javier Alonso, representative of Dorna Sports, taking part, a company specialising in the organisation and promotion of motorcycling world championship competitions, such as the open Moto GP category or other partially single brand events such as Moto2 o Moto3. Joan Porcar a motor racing driver, skipper, adventurer, competition organiser, journalist and professional broadcaster, current President of INDESCAT, the Catalan cluster asso-ciation for the sporting industry and Joan Villadelprat a Spanish technician who has worked in the world of Formula 1 for over 30 years and has written and spoken on the sub-ject across radio, newspapers and TV during his long career.
The debate will be streamed live over www.barcelonaworldrace.org
