EL MATADOR - THE BASQUE COUNTRY HERO WITH A NEW BOAT HOLDS THE HOME ADVANTAGE AND IS DETERMINED TO FINISH FIRST
Basurko has taken on the rôle of 'Local Hero' for the VELUX 5 OCEANS host city, Bilbao, and is acutely aware of the Basque region's tradition and history of seafaring. The 32 year-old skipper explains: "It is very important and also very exciting because I would love sailing to regain some of its former glory from past centuries here in the Basque Country. As you know, the first man to sail around the world - Juan Sebastian Elcano - was a Basque."
Unai Basurko, 32 year-old professional skipper, is one of the big promises of Spanish yachting. He started sailing when he was just a child, and has since then taken part in more than 500 races and several ocean regattas, and sailed more than 100,000 miles.
Unai has a brand new Open 60 yacht, designed and built recently in Sydney. Unai is not only hoping to become just the second Spanish national to successfully circumnavigate the globe alone (the first was also from Bilbao in the BOC Challenge), but also hoping to be the first skipper to arrive back into Bilbao, his home town.