A night of celebration, next stop 2010...

The 18 skippers were applauded on stage by a 2,500-strong audience to receive their unique trophies designed by Basque artist Martin Azua and their share of the €411,000 prize fund. Catalonian skipper Albert Bargues, Educacion Sin Fronteras, received a standing ovation from the home crowd after he dedicated their race to the 80 million children worldwide who still do not receive any formal education. Pre-race favourites Vincent Riou and Sébastien Josse received a big cheer, some small compensation for being forced to retire from the race just before Cape of Good Hope, and looked genuinely pleased by the audience’s appreciation. The Spanish pairing of Javier Sansó and Pachi Rivero naturally received the biggest cheer of the evening as this popular duo took to the stage to receive their trophies.

The prizegiving ceremony brings to a close the first edition of the double-handed Barcelona World Race. The second edition of the race starts winter 2010.

Paprec-Virbac 2 skipper, Jean-Pierre Dick:
From the first day this race was announced the concept appealed for Damian and me. It is a great race – physically hard, demanding teamwork – these are the two big qualities of this race. We are very happy to put our names to the first edition of the race. Thanks to Damian for being by my side, thanks to Barcelona, thanks to OC Events and Mark Turner and Ellen MacArthur – a lot of work to make this race happen, and thanks Paprec-Virbac.

Paprec-Virbac 2 co-skipper, Damian Foxall:
Huge thanks to a team that I was privileged to join last year. Thanks very much to all the other boats – very hard competition and we’re happy to win. Thanks to everyone who followed us from all around the world – it was an amazing experience.

Hugo Boss skipper, Alex Thomson:
Thank you very much to Barcelona for hosting the event and congratulations to the organisers. This has been the hardest race I’ve done but also fun as well. Thank you to my sponsor Hugo Boss but my biggest thanks goes to my partner Andrew Cape.

Temenos II skipper, Dominique Wavre:
I would like to thank Barcelona and especially Mark Turner who contacted me and Michele 2 years ago saying that he had exactly the race for us, and I have to tell you he was 100% right! It has been a great, great race.

Delta Dore skipper, Jéremie Beyou:
Thank you to Sidney (Gavignet, co-skipper) for the few weeks we were together in this race. Thank you to the organisation for this beautiful race and congratulations to Jean-Pierre and Damian for their victory.

Veolia Environnement skipper, Roland Jourdain:
Mucho gracias Barcelona, mucho gracias Jean-Luc, viva la Barcelona World Race!

FINAL RESULTS – BARCELONA WORLD RACE
Pstn/boat/skippers/elapsed time
1st / Paprec-Virbac 2 / Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA) & Damian Foxall (IRE) / 92d 9h 49m 49s
2nd / Hugo Boss / Alex Thomson (GBR) & Andrew Cape (AUS) / 94d 17h 34m 57s
3rd / Temenos II / Dominique Wavre (SUI) & Michèle Paret (FRA) / 98d 6h 9m 10s
4th / Mutua Madrilena / Javier Sanso (ESP) & Pachi Rivero (ESP) / 99d 12h 18m 40s
5th / Educacion Sin Fronteras / Servane Escoffier (FRA) & Albert Bargués (ESP) / 108d 18h 55m 2s

RET / PRB / Vincent Riou (FRA) & Sébastien Josse (FRA) / 8.12.07 after 28 days of racing loses top 3 metres of mast
RET / Delta Dore / Jéremie Beyou (FRA) & Sidney Gavignet (FRA) / 11.12.07 after 31 days of racing dismasts
RET / Estrella Damm / Guillermo Altadill (ESP) & Jonathan McKee (USA) / 14.12.07 on day 34 citing rudder and technical problems
RET / Veolia Environnement / Roland Jourdain (FRA) & Jean-Luc Nélias (FRA) / 17.12.07 after 37 days of racing dismasts

STAGE WINNERS – BARCELONA WORLD RACE
Gate / winning boat
Gate 1 – Start to Gibraltar: Paprec-Virbac 2
Gate 2 – Gibraltar to Canary Islands : Delta Dore
Gate 3 – Canary Islands to Fernando de Noronha : PRB
Gate 4 – Fernando de Noronha to Cape of Good Hope : Hugo Boss
Gate 5 – Cape of Good Hope to Cook Strait (NZ) : Paprec-Virbac 2
Gate 6 – Cook Strait to Cape Horn : Mutua Madrilena
Gate 7 – Cape Horn to Fernando de Noronha : Temenos II
Gate 8 – Fernando de Noronha to Gibraltar : Temenos II
Gate 9 – Gibraltar to Barcelona : Temenos II

MEDIA PRIZES – BARCELONA WORLD RACE
Leg 1 : PRB for the quality of their image archive
Leg 2 : Delta Dore for the quality of their written messages and special mention for their ‘no wind’ video
Leg 3 : Estrella Damm for the quality of their written messages
Leg 4 : Hugo Boss for the quality of their images on deck and the joy of achievement they transmitted at the video conference for their 24hr record
Leg 5 : Veolia Environnement for the quality of their videos providing high entertainment value and the stunning images of ‘Veolia at the Kerguelen Islands’
Leg 6 : Paprec Virbac 2 for the quality of their videos ‘Icebergs’ and ‘Repairing the rudder’
Leg 7 : Mutua Madrileña for their joy and emotion at the video conference when crossing Cape Horn
Leg 8 : Educación Sin Fronteras for their very clear, sincere and articulate explanations on all the aspects of their adventure, and particularly in this final stages of the race
Leg 9 : Temenos II for the outstanding quality and quantity of their photo material