“It Will Be the Best America’s Sailing Cup in History”
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Barcelona“This wind is great for sailing,” said Grant Dalton, head of Team New Zealand, the organizers of the America’s Cup. “We arrived in Barcelona 12 days ago and what I have experienced has been incredible. I should greet the authorities as such, as authorities, but as a New Zealander I am, I will greet them now as the friends we are now. We are indebted to you “, added this old sea wolf, a man who has traveled the world a lot of times and who has decided that for the fourth time in more than 170 years of history of the Copa America, the the team defending the title organizes it away from their country. From New Zealand to Barcelona. Team New Zealand has chosen Barcelona to receive the financial support of the institutions, both the Generalitat de Catalunya and Barcelona City Council, together with the contribution of a group of private investors, all of them led by Barcelona & Partners, the Barcelona Global investment agency that promoted and designed the candidacy.
All eyes were on the presentation of the 37th edition of the world’s oldest sports competition, which was won by the famous 100 Guineas Cup, the winner’s trophy, built in the 1940s in London in silver. A Cup always guarded by a strong New Zealander like an oak, which prevents anyone from touching it. A coveted trophy that always travels in first class with private security. Grant Dalton, head of the Emirates Team New Zealand, the team that won the 2021 edition at home in Auckland, explained that he has chosen Barcelona thanks to the financial support of the institutions and the agency of Barcelona Global investments that have driven the candidacy, ahead of Malaga, Cork and Jeddah. “One of the main reasons is the facilities, the port. But it also attracts quality tourism, it has experience and the sensations I have noticed here, ”says Dalton. Held for the first time in 1851 on the Isle of Wight in England, when the American ship America won over an English ship in front of the British royal family, the Cup will arrive in Barcelona for the first time in 2024 with a first phase, the Copa Prada, where the Alinghi of Switzerland, the Inéos of Great Britain, the Red Moon of Italy and theAmerican Magic of the United States will seek to qualify for the final against Team New Zealand.
The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, made it clear that “it will be the best America’s Cup in history, as we organized the best Olympic Games in 1992”, and added that this tournament is not just a sporting activity of a few months, but an event that can generate a return of years and that can leave a very important legacy in Catalonia ”. Mayor Ada Colau, who celebrated that for the first time the Cup will include a women’s regatta and a commitment to new technologies to avoid pollution, added that “there is no need to build anything, we already have the facilities and experience” to receive a tournament that generates a lot of interest especially in the public of the United States and the United Kingdom, but also in Italy or New Zealand. “We want to be the local team, your team,” Dalton warned. The president of the Port of Barcelona, Damià Calvet, made the Port Vell “available to be able to hold an America’s Cup that projects Barcelona to the world and that has innovation and sustainability as its flag”, recalling that the five teams that aspire to defeat Team New Zealand will arrive in the city more than a year earlier, to prepare the boats and get to know the stage of the competition, which will be between the Hotel Vela and the Olympic Port, which is why you can follow from the coast . In fact, Team New Zealand will have its base camp in the old Imax cinema building, which will be demolished to make way for the future El Liceu al Mar project. “It won’t affect the schedule,” Calvet said. The bases of the other teams will be in the area of the Grimaldi terminal (Moll Costa), Marina Barcelona 92, Nautic Center (Nova Bocana area) and Cinesa (Maremàgnum). He village of the Copa América will be located at the Moll de la Fusta.
The president of Barcelona Global, Aurora Catà, emphasized that “the association of the Barcelona brand with the Copa América de Vela is a demonstration of all that can be achieved with a public-private partnership”. According to the organizers, the Copa América de Vela would have an economic impact of between 900 and 1 billion dollars in Barcelona. Almost all previous editions have closed with profits, except for one of the two editions organized in Valencia, which ended in court between losses and accusations of corruption, and the last because of the covid-19. Organizing it means an investment of 70 million euros, including guarantees and creating the infrastructure, with public institutions such as Turisme de Catalunya, the City Council or the Generalitat putting 40 of these millions. The others come from businessmen gathered around Barcelona Global.
