Antetítulo en inglés
© Ugo Fonollá/MAPFRE/Volvo Ocean Race
The largest thermal springs resort in Galicia, and one of the largest in Spain, Termas de Cuntis, in the province of Pontevedra, provided a meeting point for two rival Volvo Ocean Race teams; a day where the aim was to release tension, and most importantly, encourage a sense of team spirit. Rivals where “kindness cannot be confused with weakness,” and where in the sport of ocean racing, solidarity is always primary.
The Spanish team’s base in Sanxenxo, is just 40 minutes’ from Cuntis, a town whose thermal springs have been referential since Roman times, and whose water properties have been acknowledged and used therapeutically since the XIX century. A deep-rooted tradition as a thermal springs resort, it is the only documented spa to have remained operational in the last 200 years.
“We have come to the spa at Cuntis to receive some good treatments and to create a little team spirit, and because at the end of the week we will be leaving Sanxenxo to begin the final countdown to the start line,” explained the MAPFRE skipper and world-class sailor Xabi Fernández to Marisol Espiño, employee at the Termas de Cuntis spa for 25 years, including 10 years as Resort Director.
The Aquaform area of thermal springs, used for swimming and releasing muscular tension with water jets, swan-neck fountains, massage beds and saunas, along with a therapeutic massage, were the special ingredients that made up the afternoon for the crew members of MAPFRE and Dongfeng, considered two of the race favourites, and where for a few hours, their rivalry was laid to one side.
“These kinds of activities, beyond the general physical training routine of the team in the gym or on the water, are important to build a sense of unity and team spirit, and there is no better place than this, to do so. I would like to thank all the staff at the Termas de Cuntis resort for treating us so well,” declared the Spanish team skipper.
A dinner for the members of both teams at the resort’s special event facilities provided a wonderful conclusion to this brief respite from the tough, intense and lengthy marathon awaiting the teams in the countdown to the start of their round-the-world challenge, the Volvo Ocean Race, on 22nd October.
