The two-handed race kicks off on November 11, 2007 and will be held every four years.
For the first time it will see the world’s best professional sailors from both solo and fully crewed disciplines coming together to compete against each other in teams of two.
The 25,000-mile race over three months will take place in high-performance IMOCA Open 60 monohulls.
The Spanish city of Barcelona will be the starting and finishing port.
A new organisation - the FundaciC3 per la NavegaciC3 OceC nica de Barcelona (FNO) - has been established to promote the city via sailing and the Barcelona World Race is the first project to be announced.
The FNO incorporates the City of Barcelona, the Port Authority, the Chamber of Commerce, the Trade Show organising company (which includes the Boat Show) and a commercial partner.
It has already committed the funding required to stage the first edition of the race and put core funding guarantees in place for a further two races to be held every four years.
The Barcelona World Race is a joint venture between the FNO and event management company, OC Events, part of the OC Group established in 1997 by Mark Turner and Dame Ellen MacArthur.
