This morning, Alex Pella's 'Maxicat Victoria' set sail for Marina del Odiel, in Huelva, to position itself and in a few days begin the next challenge, trying to beat the record for the Discovery Route. This journey will include a non-stop round trip between Europe and America. The objective is to try to beat the current record, set in February 2013 by the Spanish team 'Mapfre', by 11 days, 7 hours and 40 seconds.
The first leg of the record, between Huelva and La Gomera, which will begin next week, will have to be completed in about 48 hours. And the second, between La Gomera and San Salvador (Bahamas), in 9 days. "When we achieve the record, we will return without stopping and this will serve as preparation for the next challenge, the westward round the world," says Pella. The crew of the "Maxicat Victoria" will be completed by Lalou Roucayrol, Alejandro Cantero, Alberto Muñoz, Pablo Santurde, Pilar Casares and Manuel Maqueda.
Regatta Monitoring
The 'Maxicat Victoria' will have a real-time tracking system throughout the journey and at all times comparative information will be provided on the distance travelled and time taken with the current record holder, the 'Mapfre'. To do this, the departures of the two ships will be synchronised so that the tracking will offer a 'virtual' mode simulating the joint navigation of the ships, offering visual comparative information to the record followers.
The map will offer information about the length of Columbus' first voyage, including information on the most important milestones of that journey. Viewers will not only be able to see the position, speed and current course of the boats, but will also be able to access audiovisual content that the crew will send throughout their journey and that will be geolocated. This system has been implemented by Logg for Sport, a Spanish service with extensive experience, more than 400 races from oceanic to inshore, and offers a set of information such as speed graphs or a distance measurement tool that can be consulted in several languages and is designed to be able to follow the race from the most common devices, adapting to the screen size and through any web browser.
In addition, for this new record, the Desafío Victoria project has collaborated with Virtual Regatta, a leader in online regatta simulations, to develop an interactive video game. This platform will allow players to participate virtually in both crossings, testing their sailing skills and facing the same challenges as the boat in real life.
Virtual Regatta is the leading online racing platform, allowing players to experience sailing competitions in a realistic way. This platform collaborates with major nautical events and has attracted millions of global users. Virtual Regatta will recreate every detail of the races, providing an immersive experience for all lovers of the sea and adventure.
Discovery Route
This route was the first of the four voyages that Christopher Columbus made. The expedition left Palos de la Frontera, in Huelva, on August 3, 1492, composed of three ships: Santa María, Pinta and la Niña and sighted the mainland, on the island of San Salvador, on October 12, 1492. Thus began one of the greatest milestones in the world: the discovery of a new continent.
Victory Challenge
Alex Pella and his crew have already achieved two records, the 'Around the World', broken in April with a time of 5 hours, 4 minutes and 57 seconds, and the 'Around the World', in July, in 4 days, 17 hours, 14 minutes and 46 seconds.
Spain has historically been the greatest maritime power and the great explorer of the blue planet. 500 years ago, the Spanish expedition started by Magellan and completed by Elcano, changed the world. Inspired by this adventure in history, 'Desafío Victoria' was born, a major project in which a legendary ship has been recovered to revive and compete in the greatest oceanic challenge of all time: going around the world to the west. The Maxicat Victoria is a legendary oceangoing multihull, built in France, with a length of 33,5 meters, a beam of 17,5 meters and a mast height of 42,6 meters.
It will be a sporting, circular and global challenge. Circumnavigating the planet to the west is not only a human and sporting challenge, but also a race against time to change our mentality and the future of the planet. Hence the boat chosen to face the challenge is reused; the renewable energies that drive it; sustainable in-flight food; the purified water; and its commitment to minimizing as much as possible our carbon footprint and the waste generated throughout the entire project, non-negotiable. This adventure is undertaken to compete with the most ambitious challenge: leading a historic, unique and pioneering ocean regatta, which advocates the principles of decarbonization, circular economy and regenerative economy, educating and inspiring millions of people of any age and part of the world.
