António Fontes, 42 years old, will be the skipper of the all-Portuguese team that will depart from Alicante, Spain, on January 15 for another edition of the Ocean Race (formerly the Volvo Ocean Race). The team will participate in the Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup, a sub-trophy within the race around the world.
In the Sprint Cup it is only about participation in three of the seven stages of the round the world. They will be Alicante-Cape Verde, the opening stage. Then the circumnavigation competition will continue but without the national team. This only returns for the last two stages: Aarhus (Denmark)-The Hague (Netherlands) and finally The Hague-Genoa (Italy).
It is the first time that a 100% national team – in the crew and in the “owner” – will be present in this competition. The seven-leg circumnavigation test will begin in Alicante on January 15 and end in Genoa, Italy, in early July.
The news about the national team was announced today in a press release from the Mirpuri Foundation. The team of racing for the planet will include sailors Mariana Lobato, Bernardo Freitas, Frederico Melo, Diogo Cayolla. Matilde Pinheiro de Melo, Francisco Cai-Água and Francisco Maia.
“It is a great honor to lead the first Portuguese team to compete in the Ocean Race, it is a dream come true after so many years of hard work. The Mirpuri Foundation has done a lot for the Portuguese sport of sailing and this is another great opportunity for Portuguese sailors to put them to the test against the best in the world,” said António Fontes, according to the statement sent to the editors.
Five teams are entered in the IMOCA 60 class and six in the VO65 class (the one in which the Portuguese team will compete).
Source: DN
