NNot the port metropolis of Auckland in New Zealand, but Barcelona will be the scene of the next America’s Cup. Team New Zealand, defenders of the world’s oldest sporting trophy, said they intend to defend the trophy off the Spanish coast in September and October 2024. According to the rules, the defender may choose where to sail.
The 37th America’s Cup is the fourth not to be sailed in the defenders’ home country after two appearances in Valencia and one in Bermuda. “As defenders of the America’s Cup, we have always felt a responsibility to promote the event, the public and the sport of sailing on a global scale. Hosting the event in a major city like Barcelona will certainly allow us to drive growth on the global sports stage,” said Grant Dalton, the New Zealand team principal.
The election was preceded by a bitter struggle over the location of the event – Auckland, the venue desired by many sailors, suffered from the strict Corona regime of the New Zealand government, which also does not provide more than 100 million New Zealand dollars (63.07 million euros) in grants wanted to. Also in the city finals were Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Spain’s Malaga and Cork in Ireland.
“This decision will help put the city back on the world map after the Corona pandemic,” said Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau. The boss of the challenger, the British sailing team around the world’s best Olympic sailor Sir Ben Ainslie, was extremely satisfied with the event in Europe. Barcelona will be the first city in the world to host both the Olympic sailing competitions and the America’s Cup. The New Zealanders had won four Olympic sailing medals here in 1992.
