Brazil will have a team in the Globe 40 Round the World race, considered the toughest double-handed sailing challenge in the sport. Led by sailors José Guilherme Caldas and Luiz Bolina, the sailboat Barco Brasil - Brazilian boat in English, is confirmed for the 2025/26 season, scheduled to start in September next year.

The Globe 40 is sailed by Class 40 boats, a monohull standard for offshore racing. The first edition of the event was concluded in 2023 and covered 30,000 miles across all the seas of the world, including a stopover in Brazil.

This will be the second official Brazilian campaign around the world, recalling the pioneering spirit of Brasil 1 in the Volvo Ocean Race. Nineteen years ago, Torben Grael led the boat in a race across the world's seas.

"The project will be 100% Brazilian, and we will train in the country and participate in several competitions such as Refeno – Recife Noronha, Ilhabela Sailing Week, and the main sailing circuits in Brazil and even worldwide."

"I followed the first edition of the Globe 40, and it is a race made for me! I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 21 times and sailed the Pacific, but the dream of sailing around the world is about to come true. At 65, it will be a good way to close my career as a double-handed transoceanic sailor," added José Guilherme Caldas.

The Class40 No. 151 boat is in La Coruña, Spain, at the shipyard of Roberto Bermudez, better known as Chunny Bermudez. The Spaniard is an Olympic athlete and was part of the Brasil 1 project alongside Torben Grael and his team.

The bases of the Barco Brasil project are Ilhabela (SP), Salvador (BA), and La Coruña. The duo will compete in several events over the next few years to present the project to the nautical community. The first of these will be the Ubatuba-Ilhabela Regatta, a crossing of just over 20 miles on the coast of São Paulo, on May 31.

For the competition, the duo will use the sailboat Barco Brasil – Tutatis of Luiz Bolina, branded with the logo and colors of the round-the-world project.

The double

One of the project leaders, Dr. José Guilherme Caldas, has extensive experience in long races. With his Mussulo 40, the Angolan naturalized Brazilian competed in the Cape 2 Rio race, from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, in 2017 and 2020, the latter achieving first place overall, even in a double-handed configuration.

His sailing resume includes double-handed transoceanic races such as the Transat Jacques Vabre (twice), Atlantic Cup, RORC 600, and Sables – Horta – Sables.

His partner in the Globe 40 will be Luiz Bolina, who also has numerous oceanic voyages in his resume, including solo sails, and is a professional in the charter area. Bolina also practices and teaches Wingfoil in Ilhabela (SP).

For the Barco Brasil project, a visual identity was created by the On Board Sports agency, which will handle all communication and marketing for Barco Brasil in the Globe 40 round-the-world race.

The brand incorporates elements of nautical culture and the colors of the national flag to represent the project's connection with Brazil's victorious sailing tradition. It also conveys the country's vibrancy, joy, and natural beauty.

"The intention is to promote Brazil at the stopovers around the world of the Globe 40. We use historical references from national sailing, such as the victorious Brasil 1, by Torben Grael, which further elevated the level of our ocean sailing to the planet."

"Sailing is a sport that always earns podiums in the Olympics and has grown significantly offshore, with our idols winning international races in ocean sailing. We also use the concept of Ayrton Senna before reaching Formula 1 in the 1980s with the so-called Brazilian Goods, bringing Brazilian brands and products to the entire circuit," said Flávio Perez, coordinator of Barco Brasil.

The sports media and marketing professional was the media manager of The Ocean Race for three seasons, handled the communication of the Transat Jacques Vabre for four editions, as well as the Rio 2016, Ilhabela Sailing Week, and Tour de France.

Contact the On Board Sports team:

Flávio Perez

flavio@onboardsports.net

+55 11 999498035

www.onboardsports.net