“This project has several aspects, sporting, human and of solidarity, and for us the union of the three is basic”. These words of Bruno García, who with his brother Willy will carry the We Are Water message around the world, synthesise the essence of a project that once again unites the values of ocean sailing with the raising of awareness about the problems of water and sanitation in the world.

Bruno expressed himself in this way at the official presentation of the We Are Water team and project that took place yesterday, Monday, on the set of Barcelona Word Race, installed in the Portal de la Pau of the city of the counts. The presentation began with the welcome on behalf of the Barcelona World Race by Santi Serrat, editorial director of the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB), organiser of the regatta, who recalled the 2010/11 race with Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmartí, pointing out the importance that a project like that of We Are Water returns again to the round-the-world trip in duo and does so with renewed strength and in a setting more than ever endorsed by science.

Serrat quoted the conclusions reached by the scientists meeting in Barcelona at the 2nd International Ocean Research Conference last November, the most important oceanographic event of the decade organised by the FNOB together with the IOC-UNESCO and in which the We Are Water Foundation also collaborated: “Indeed, we are all water, and now science shows us that we are all the same water. Drinking water depends on seawater and vice versa, we are one planet and everything is interrelated. This is a good setting to develop the solidarity message of the We Are Water this year”.

The editorial director of the FNOB highlighted that in 2010 there were eight meridians of the solidarity projects that the We Are Water crossed, and which this year there will be 14 that Bruno and Willy will cross, since the projects that the We Are Water Foundation has developed since then have grown and are currently 20. He concluded celebrating the fact that also sailing on the boat will be the CorAvant solidarity campaign, which Bruno García supports and which worksfor children who suffer congenital heart diseases.

It was then the turn of Xavier Torras, director of the We Are Water Foundation, who pointed out the urgency of working for water and sanitation in the world and emphasised the importance of uniting values with ocean sailing: “We are especially pleased to return to form part of this adventure, four years after our first participation. During these four years, we have worked in the most disadvantaged areas of the planet, undertaking more than 20 aid projects. For us it is a luxury that our message to raise awareness about the importance of water takes a trip around the world with Bruno and Willy García’s boat”.

Bruno García, skipper of We Are Water, stated that he felt very excited about the project: “It's a sports project and behind it there are many people whom we thank for their support, Andor Serra as head of the FNOB, Jean Le Cam and Pepe Ribes, and the entire technical team is doing a good job. But we also have a solidarity task, delivering these messages. We hope to be worthy successors to Jaume and Cali Sanmartí”. His brother Willy acknowledged their gratitude to the We Are Water Foundation.

Xavier Torras then presented the members of the Olympic synchronised swimming team who support the IMOCA 60 We Are Water. “We're thrilled to be part of this project -said Clara Basiana representing the team- We also work in contact with water. It is an unstable environment and control is very important, so the preparation is very hard. Good luck to Bruno and Willy”.

The We Are Water will remain alongside the other seven participants in the Barcelona World race, moored in the jetty opposite the Portal de la Pau, at the foot of Barcelona’s popular Columbus statue. The regatta will start on the 31 December at 1300 hours local time.

14 meridians for a message that will go around the world

The “We Are Water meridians”, the geographic longitudes of the projects in which the Foundation collaborates, will once again be the solidarity reference of the trip around the world of the We Are Water in the Barcelona World Race.

At the last edition of the regatta in 2010/11, Jaume Mumbrú and Cali Sanmartí crossed eight meridians, and gave a voice to respective awareness-raising actions. The number of the Foundation’s projects has increased and are now more than 20, and in this regatta, Bruno and Willy will cross 14 meridians corresponding to where these projects are placed, in Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Ghana, Chad, the Democratic republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

You can follow the Barcelona World Race of the We Are Water at:

http://www.wearewater.org/en/we-are-water-and-the-barcelona-world-race_148709

You can see the projects of the We Are Water Foundation at:

http://www.wearewater.org/en/active-projects_95964

About the We Are Water Foundation

The We Are Water Foundation, promoted by the Roca company, has as objectives, on the one hand, to raise awareness amongst the general public and the administrations about the need to promote a new culture of water and, on the other hand, relieve the negative effects related to the lack of hydric resources, through the development of cooperation and aid programmes alongside diverse organisations such as Education without Frontiers, the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, Intermón Oxfam and UNICEF.