A sailboat, no matter its model, physiognomy or design, is a conjured ship. It will always leave a trace of inspiration in its voyages' wake. Training vessel Juan Sebastián de Elcano, with its well-defi ned character as ambassador and navigator, is a forger of hearts and wills, and many of those who commanded it or received orders at the foot of its rigs and masts left imprint of their realities in that wake. From them we have received, in this attempt of a portrayal, encouragement and cheer.This book is shot through with history, peculiarities, anecdotes, routines of life on board, of port stays, events, and, above all, illustrations, many illustrations that are like beacons of clear light with which to elucidate the frequent obscurities in which its authors frequently fumble, because it is a diffi cult task to trace the biography of a shipwith a soul of its own. So many years of communion with wind and sea... How diffi cult to refl ect that, to feel it in its role of ambassador and navigator, when as herald of fraternity, the ?Elcano' approaches the most recondite ports with its message of current Spanishness on board.