This paper presents the first results of the Barcelona Institute of Culture’s grant for research and innovation
projects under the 2019 Barcelona Science Plan entitled “Development of a citizen monitoring
program for the Barcelona waters: The Scientific Pat´i a Vela”. The main objective of this project is to
develop a small Pat´i a Vela (PV) fleet that can routinely sample the Barcelona coastal waters and report
their observations to an open-access interactive web. The Pat´i a Vela boat was designed in 1942 by the
Mong´e brothers. It is a lightweight one- person catamaran with a single Marconi sail and no boom.
The main objective of this contribution is to adapt the Pat´i a Vela model attaching an on-board platform
with scientific instruments (sensors and devices) and determine the new stability characteristics and
seakeeping performance. This will allow an adequate sampling of the Barcelona coast waters and the
systematic measurements of the essential physical and biogeochemical variables detecting variations
along the coast, hence identifying potential sources of contamination. It will also provide the necessary
knowledge of natural and anthropogenic seasonality.Postprint (published version
