Offshore Challenges goes Barcelona

- Farr has already received the first order on a new Open 60 for the Barcelona World Race. We don't know who the owner is yet, said Mark Turner, the business brain behind Offshore Challenges during the launch of the new double handed race Wednesday.

There are no doubt that this race will attract both high profiled skippers and navigators from fully crewed racing, but also more Corinthian spirited sailors will try to get a name in this ever expanding business through Barcelona World Race. With just two sailors on board there is no telling what the winning formula for 90 days sprint in a 60 footer will be.

The commercial side of this regatta should be very interesting. With a four year campaign including all the IMOCA regattas a competitive program with a new boat will be 5-7 million Euros. With such a number and so many regattas there are a lot of potential companies out there that have the marketing budget to capitalize on such an investment. The bang for the buck will be much louder than a typical VOR campaign, for instance.