 J/80 champion  Spanish sailor, Antonio ("Toño") Piris from Santander
 J/80 champion  Spanish sailor, Antonio ("Toño") Piris from Santander, is skippering  in the 
New York-Barcelona Race in IMOCA 60s.  You'll have seen  his name frequently pop up in reports of the extremely competitive J/80  fleet racing off Santander, especially in this last Winter Series.   Great training to keep you sharp offshore in a 3,000 match race!! Toño  began sailing in the Optimist class and soon moved on to the Laser,  becoming runner-up in the Spanish national championships in 1981, and  later winning in the youth category , as well as taking part in the  Junior IYRU Laser World Championships in Portugal. He has sailed on  boats across many different classes, such as J/24s, J/80s, IOR, IMS,  IACC, TP52, as well as having taken part in the building process of many  of them: Hispania, Galicia Pescanova, EF Education y EF Language,  España 92, Rioja de España, Bravo España, Caixa Galicia and Iberdrola.   Read more about this epic assault on a Trans-Atlantic record with two  IMOCA 60s racing.  http://www.ny-bcn.org/en/index.jsp