BarcelonaThere are two years left until the America’s Cup that will be organized in Barcelona, but the city has already been working on the most important nautical event on the planet for months. In this way, the spaces of the Old Port where the participating teams will be installed in the 37th edition of the competition, which will take place in 2024, have been defined. “Despite the high degree of occupancy and optimization of Barcelona’s port spaces, it has been achieved that the headquarters have an accessible location and a sufficient operational surface to develop the respective projects”, points out the Port of Barcelona through a statement. The locations have been agreed with AC37 Events Limited (ACE), the promoter of the Copa América de Vela.
The host team, Emirates Team New Zealand, will be based at the WTC base. And the Ineos Team Britannia, as Challenger of Record, has chosen the base of the Imax. The other bases will be awarded to the teams in order of registration in the competition (Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and NYYC American Magic). In addition to these two, the Cinesa base is also managed by Port Vell, while those in Ponent Nord, Marina Barcelona 92 and Moll de Llevant are within concession areas, which is why their temporary assignment has been negotiated by the holding companies. All the bases have an esplanade – where the participating teams will build a ship that will be dismantled once the test is over – and a berthing line intended for the participating ships and auxiliary ships.
“We really want to show a first-class port and Barcelona, and to organize the best America’s Cup in history. It’s a great opportunity for the port, for Barcelona and for the country”, says Damià Calvet, president of the Port of Barcelona. The competition foresees the arrival of 2,500 people as members of the different sports teams and of the organization. In addition, for the first time in the history of this competition, the Women’s America’s Cup regatta will be held, as well as the Youth America’s Cup regatta.
The new Municipal Sailing Center
On the other hand, the first lieutenant of the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and the Councilor for Sports, David Escudé, will present tomorrow the project of the new Municipal Sailing Center, which will serve to reform this facility that was born in 1992 for the Olympic Games.