Stamm & Le Cam Win Barcelona World Race
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” British writer W.E. Hickson’s well-known proverb surely resonates with hardcore ocean racers like Jean Le Cam and Bernard Stamm, who, after 84 days and 5 hours at sea, have crossed the finish line onboard the Farr-designed Cheminées Poujoulat and claimed victory in the third edition of the doublehanded Barcelona World Race. For both men, this round-the-world triumph is but one vindicating chapter in an ongoing saga that has been otherwise filled with drama.
Stamm was finally able to produce a good result for his weary sponsors after years of making headlines for all the wrong reasons, while the timeless Jean Le Cam remains on a mission to continue winning major races late into his 50s. Adding this BWR win to his 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre victory, the three-time Solitaire du Figaro champion and first-ever three-time Vendée Globe finisher will now be proclaimed IMOCA World Champion for the first time in nearly a decade.
"King Jean’ and Bernard made this BWR win look easy, but as any ocean sailor knows, it wasn’t. "We went halfway around the world with a windvane [wind indicator] cobbled together on a little mast on the back of the boat, which we changed depending on what tack we were on. We finally got one to the top of the mast. As you will see there is an external cable running up to it," explained Le Cam shortly after arriving. Stamm added, "We also had lock worries on the mainsail. I can say that when we successfully repaired them, it was a moment of true happiness."
After race leader Hugo Boss dismasted in the Atlantic Ocean, the BWR win was Stamm and JLC’s for the taking, and take it they did. Sailing an older-generation Farr design originally sailed to a Vendée Globe win by the great Michel Desjoyeaux in 2008-09, Bernard and Jean threw down a very respectable global lap time when compared to the newer VPLP designs that have dominated the IMOCA circuit for the last half decade. After being sailed by Mich Desj himself, the MAPFRE boys Iker and Xabi, and current Figaro champ Jeremie Beyou, the boat now known as Cheminées Poujoulat was owned and prepared for this race by German sailor Jorg Reichers, and known as MARE. When the German publisher pulled out of sailing due to financial problems, the boat and its distinctive new bow (widened to the limit of the IMOCA rule after watching scows dominate the Mini circuit) fell into Bernard Stamm’s hands and the rest is now history. With another round-the-world win under her belt and the most highly developed Farr platform on the water, this legendary boat will still be one to follow, as she represents a wild card in a fleet that is quickly filling up with VPLP designs.
While Bernard and Jean begin recuperating in Barcelona, second-place Neutrogena should enter the Mediterranean Sea and its zone of fickle wind tonight, with their fleet position looking secure. Behind them, GAES Centros Auditivos is limping toward the Strait of Gibraltar in damage-control mode as skipper Anna Corbella nurses a knee injury, leaving her co-skipper Gerard Marin to sail the boat mostly solo. The battle for fourth and fifth is still up for grabs as the two Spanish duos on board We Are Water and One Planet One Ocean & Pharmaton battle for fourth place, still separated by just over a hundred miles with close to 2,000 left to sail. There’s still six boats on the water and lots of racing left! You can follow their tracks on the website, where you’ll also find much more info.
