GAES Solidaria Sponsors Anna Corbella And Dee Caffari For The Barcelona World Race 2010

Following the company’s successful experience with the sponsorship of Anna Corbella in the Transat 6.50 2009, GAES takes a step further into the world of ocean racing sponsorship.

Barcelona, 16th March 2010.- Britain’s Dee Caffari and Spain’s Anna Corbella have confirmed their entry in the Barcelona World Race as the GAES Solidaria Team and will join the fleet on the start line on the 31st December 2010. Following the successful sponsorship of the Spanish Mini Class sailor in the recent Transat 6.50/ La Rochelle – Salvador de Bahia, Barcelona’s GAES Hearing Centres are venturing further into the world of top-level ocean racing, by  entering the first all female crew of the race.

Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari started their training by delivering Dee’s Open 60, the former Aviva, from England to Spain last week. This Owen Clarke Design, built in New-Zealand by Hakes Marine and launched in January 2008 is sister-ship to Mike Golding’s Ecover and has already proved her reliability and potential by finishing all the races she entered in the top 10!

Antonio Gassó, Managing Director and CEO of GAES, speaking about their support of the first all-female crew to enter the Barcelona World Race said:

“Our sponsorship is a further commitment to the company’s relationship with the world of sport and reinforces company values such as teamwork, overcoming adversity and the power of effort”.
The GAES support of sailing began in 2007 following the development of a sophisticated and unique onboard communication system for the only Spanish entry in the 2007 America’s Cup, the Desafío Español.

According to Antonio Gassó, the new sponsorship has come about at a time when the company is not only showing support for sport and the natural environment, but also for an entirely female crew, the first to take part in this competition, hosted by Barcelona, the city where the GAES headquarters are situated and the city where the company came to life, over sixty years ago.

 Anna Corbella has on many occasions expressed that one of her ambitions was to take part in the Barcelona World Race and she has been involved in the technical and logistical preparation of other IMOCA Open 60 projects such as Pakea Bizkaia and Educación sin Fronteras.

The skipper from Barcelona is about to make her dreams come true, and hopes to learn from another extraordinary yachtswoman. The Catalan sailor declared:

 “This is my first round the world race, so I’m very excited about facing the challenge. I’m sure this project’s going to go very well, as we are all very excited about it”.

Corbella added: “For both Dee and myself, it’s a great challenge to be the only female team, to be able to compete on equal terms and to prove that out at sea, in extreme conditions, there is no difference between the sexes. We are a strong and very good team”.

For Anna Corbella (Barcelona, 1976) the Barcelona World Race is the pinnacle of the most exciting two years of her life!  Anna became the first Spanish woman to complete a solo Transatlantic regatta in 2009, when she sailed in the gruelling Transat 6.50, finishing in 13th place onboard GAES Solidaria 385 ,a 2002 design, finishing in front of many  last generation boats. With the Barcelona World Race, she could become the first Spanish woman to race around the world.

·         Anna has a degree in Veterinary studies from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona as well as a Masters degree in Scientific Communication from the Pompeu Fabra University. She began her sailing career in dinghy sailing. Corbella has conquered two Spanish World Championships (470 and 420) and has been part of the Spanish Olympic training team for two seasons. Following a tough Mare Nostrum regatta in 2001, Anna decided to officially enter the world of offshore racing by entering the Mini Class. She finished fourth in the Mini-Med 2004, fifth in the Mini-Med 2006 and won the Taylor Woodrow Trophy regatta in 2007. She also finished sixth in the Mini-Barcelona 2008 and fourth in the Mini-Empuries 2008, before her extraordinary 13th placein the Transat 6.50 2009.

Record setting solo British yachtswoman, Dee Caffari, said:

“I am really excited about taking part in the Barcelona World Race with Anna later in the year and look forward to collaborating with our sponsor for the race, GAES Solidaria. I am also delighted to have the continued support of Aviva as Founding Partner of my ocean racing campaign and am sure that competing in a race that takes me back down into the Southern Ocean will give me an edge for my ultimate goal of competing in the Vendée Globe 2012.”

Dee Caffari MBE

In 2006 Dee Caffari MBE became the first woman to sail solo, non stop, around the world against the prevailing winds and currents. In 2009, Dee’s 6th place finish in the notorious Vendée Globe race secured her a double world first as she became the first woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world in both directions

In 2012, Dee intends to be on the start line of the Vendée Globe once again with the intention of securing a podium position. Dee Caffari’s race to the start line has now begun and she is currently searching for a new title sponsor to help fund her ambition to compete in the 2012/13 Vendée Globe.