Spotlight On: Spanish Impulse sailors Diego Botín and Florian Trittel

We caught up with local team Spanish Impulse, currently competing on home waters for the third Act of the 2018 Extreme Sailing Series™ in Barcelona. Get to know these sailing superstar Spaniards as they head into the final day of the event.

Sunday 17th June 2018

We caught up with local team Spanish Impulse, currently competing on home waters for the third Act of the 2018 Extreme Sailing Series™ in Barcelona. Get to know these sailing superstar Spaniards as they head into the final day of the event.

How did you get into sailing?

Diego Botín:

I started sailing because my father really liked it. I decided I wanted to give it a try when I was about six years old and I fell in love with it. I knew it was what I wanted to do in the future. Since then, I’ve sailed Optimists, 420s, 49ers, and after that, I was lucky enough to have made a great group of friends sailing this boat. We did the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup and the team entered the Extreme Sailing Series last year in Barcelona. The team is growing and let’s hope we go on to achieve great things.

Florian Trittel:

I started sailing because my grandparents also sailed back in the day, and therefore my parents as well – a similar story to Diego. At six or seven I started sailing Optimists until 12 or so where I qualified for the Worlds. After that, I made an early change to the 29ers. I sailed them until 2016 until I was 18 and my goal was to make it to the Olympic Games. As Diego mentioned, we started sailing the bigger boat as Spanish Impulse, enabling us to enter the Extreme Sailing Series.

What’s it like to compete for your country here in Barcelona?

Diego Botín:

It’s always a pleasure to compete on home waters because of all the crowds. The racing is so close to shore and to see all the people watching you, it’s really something special.

What were your expectations going into the Extreme Sailing Series?

Florian Trittel:

It’s the second consecutive year that we’re here. We were never expecting to be the favourites to win as we haven’t been sailing in all the events like the other teams. We haven’t trained all year round, but our aim was to grow as a team. Therefore, here we want to keep learning and keep improving.

How did you prepare for Act 3, Barcelona?

Diego Botín:

Actually Wednesday was my first time driving! But these guys are very experienced in the GC32. We’ve taken each day as it comes. We’re focussing on our Olympic campaigns and that’s how we trained for the Act. We’re pretty pleased with our performance!

What’s it been like to compete against the regulars on the circuit?

Florian Trittel:

There are great sailors here. We’ve been trying to learn as much as we can, absorbing everything. It’s a good position to be in!

Spanish Impulse will compete in the final day of Act 3, Barcelona, today. Currently ranked sixth, they’ll be looking to climb the leaderboard as the crowds on the coastline cheer them on. GC32 racing is due to start at 14:00 CEST and will be streamed LIVE on the Extreme Sailing Series Facebook and YouTube.