From left to right: Xiqui Mas, Agustí Martin, Carlos Manera and Josep Bernabeu
The Carlos Manera – Varador 2000 regatta team has been presented in Mataró Marina Barcelona and will compete in the next edition of the Mini Transat 2021 transoceanic regatta. The regatta, which is held alone with sailboats of the mini 6.5 class, will depart from Les Sables d’Olonne (French Brittany) on September 26, from where it will travel more than 4,000 miles to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, with a stopover in Santa Cruz de la Palma (Canary Islands).
Carlos Manera
Varador 2000 participates for the first time in the Mini Transat 2021 ocean regatta with a boat skippered by the young Carlos Manera. The sailor has indicated that he feels prepared to face this challenge since in recent months “I have learned a lot alongside great sailors such as Gerard Marin and Bruno Garcia, some real stars who have taught me many things that I did not know about strategy, tactics, weather or diet on board during a long solo journey”. Manera has defined the project as “a dream come true”, and has stated that in the future he would also like to participate in the Vendeé Globe or the Barcelona World Race. According to the athlete, the Mini Transat “is a challenge that I face with confidence, because I have prepared a lot mentally and psychologically, and I think that I will come out of this competition having learned a lot”.
The project “is a commitment to youth and to the training of future sailors”, said Josep Bernabeu, communication manager of Varador 2000. A regatta like the Mini Transat “is not only an adventure, it is a unique experience where the best are hardened. You have to be very strong mentally to embark on board a 6.5 meter sailboat and cross the Atlantic alone”, he pointed out. According to Bernabeu, Varador 2000 has opted for Carlos Manera because he has “a very solvent project and offers many guarantees for the future”.
Xiqui Mas, general manager of Varador 2000, has closed the event adding that Varador 2000 proposes its participation in the Mini Transat regatta as “a long-term sports project, where the starting point is the 2021 edition and the arrival or consolidation point is the 2023 edition. The challenge is immense, but the trust placed in Carlos Manera makes us consider the future with optimism”. But he considers that Manera is a person “very mature for his youth, with a lot of common sense and with enough strength to overcome this great challenge and others”.
Anna Corbella and Oriol Pujol, the top sports managers of the Mini Barcelona Base –the benchmark center of this class in our country– have shown themselves convinced that Carlos Manera “will play a good role in the Mini Transat, as he is a very powerful and interesting athlete, who gives himself totally when he competes”. Pujol has indicated that Manera will end up triumphing, while Corbella has indicated “that he will greatly enjoy this immense challenge”. The Mini Barcelona Base, integrated into the structure of the FNOB (Fundació Navegació Oceánica Barcelona) is a training and technical training center that educates, trains and provides service to future ocean sailors of the Mini 6.5 Class.
The presentation was also attended by Agustí Martin, dean of the Barcelona School of Nautical Studies, who has been very satisfied with having contributed to training “Carlos Manera as a navigator, who studied at our faculty, where he graduated in the specialty of Nautical and Maritime Transport in 2020”. The presentation was also attended by various sailors, members of the FNOB and the Club Nàutic Port de la Selva (where Manera has been forged as a navigator), representatives of Ports de la Generalitat, the Mataró City Council and the Maresme Regional Council and various companies that also collaborate financially in the project.
After the presentation in Mataró Marina Barcelona, Manera and the mini Varador 2000 class sailboat have left for French Brittany, where they will participate in various training tests in the Atlantic during the months of May, June and July and thus finish the tuning before starting the Mini Transat in September.
