The safety of our competitors is always our primary concern and is at the root cause of everything that we do.
Since the end of the NOMAN Race to End HPV from Barcelona to Ibiza, the support team of rowing operations at New Ocean Wave have been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast ahead of the race to Barcelona. Although some elements were frequently changing the forecast was routinely calling for a mistral wind to start forming on Tuesday with it expanding out from its origin in southern France. This powerful wind will gradually envelop the whole of the Mediterranean by Wednesday with winds in excess of 25kts forecast in some areas. Clearly in these conditions it would be dangerous and unprofessional for us to allow the race to start knowing what the weather would be so soon after the race start.
Furthermore, the same weather system will also cause a Mistral to develop on Tuesday emanating from the area of southern Spain, just to the west of Barcelona, which would have made it simply impossible for the crews to make it to anywhere on the mainland. So we started to look at opportunities to host the race over an alternate route. After studying the charts, weather forecasts and seeking local knowledge our team with more than 475 days of ocean rowing experience between them, we settled upon a plan which would provide the opportunity for our teams to race head to head against each other on the Mediterranean, just over a slightly altered route.
The NOMAN race will start on Monday at 09:30 cet and the six crews from around the world will set out to race the Mediterranean from Ibiza and arriving into Palma, Majorca expected in sometime on Tuesday.
We are very aware that this is far from the ideal situation, but all the teams have shown tremendous dedication and competitive spirt and remain resolutely focussed on the race ahead.
We wish them the best of luck for the race ahead.