By chairman Newsletter Social Life 12 January 2023

Another Great CBYA Tour of the Ocean Race Start

The CBYA arranged a VIP tour of the 2023 Ocean Race Village and Race Control Centre in Alicante on Wednesday 11th January.

The visit was hosted by Clotilde Lafont, the 2023 Ocean Race Commercial Coordinator, ably assisted by Electra and Rudy.

Thirteen CBYA members joined the trip, and were transported by coach to the Ocean Race Village in Alicante, where we were met on arrival by Clotilde and Electra, and taken to the the Sailors Terrace for a VIP CBYA briefing reception with coffee, juice and cookies.

We then enjoyed a special 2-hour group tour of the Ocean Race Village led by Clotilde, which included visits to the 11th Hour Racing Pavilion which featured a chance to experience virtual reality ocean racing, the One Blue Voice Audio-visual Immersive Experience (an excellent educational display in support of saving our oceans), the Genoa Pavilion (where the race ends), the Race Control Room, and a special dockside briefing by Rudy (one of the yacht support team) of the IMOCA Biotherm.

A highlight of the visit was a chance to chat with Charlie Enright, skipper of the 11th Hour Racing IMOCA, who patiently answered all of our questions, despite being very busy preparing for the start of the race! Many thanks to Tim Fawle for setting up this meeting.

After completiing the tour, we enjoyed some free time touring the rest of the Ocean Race Village, before reconvening at the main entrance, and walking to the nearby Bodegón Del Mar Restaurant for an excellent lunch.