The Port Olímpic will serve as the headquarters of the 12 teams participating in the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup and in the first edition of the Puig Women’s America’s Cup
The training sessions for two competitions will begin next week, which highlight young nautical talents and the growing participation of women in this sport
Starting this week, the Port Olímpic will host the headquarters of the youth and women's teams of the America’s Cup, becoming the nerve centre of two of the main events on the competition's calendar. The twelve participating teams will use the Moll de Xaloc as their centre of operations, where they will prepare the AC40s, the vessels they’ll sail to vie for the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup and the Puig Women’s America’s Cup, which are slated to begin on 17 September and 5 October, respectively.
This Friday, the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, visited the facility along with the CEO of America’s Cup Event, Grant Dalton; the competition coordinator, Abby Ehler; the Councillor for Sports, David Escudé; and representatives from all the teams.
The mayor, Jaume Collboni, said that “welcoming the women's and youth teams of the America’s Cup positions Barcelona, and especially the Port Olímpic, as a global benchmark in the world of sailing”. “The city is continuing its efforts to make sailing a sport that is accessible to everyone. We want to be a benchmark not only in international competitions but also in promoting sailing among people here”, the mayor added.
Grant Dalton, CEO of America's Cup Event, said: “By coming to Barcelona for the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup, we want to take a step further and have an impact in terms of diversity. Reviving the UniCredit Youth America's Cup and creating the Puig Women's America's Cup enable us to create a way for young athletes and women to reach the peak of sailing in a competition that enables their talent to shine on a global stage with a new kind of state-of-the-art vessel, the AC40. And to achieve this, we've found the best installations for the joint technical base here at the Port Olímpic. The transformation it has undergone is incredible, and it's an ideal place for the UniCredit Youth and Puig Women's America's Cup teams”.
A historic event
Starting next week, the youth teams —with sailors under the age of 25— will leave the Port Olímpic to start their training with their sights set on the third edition of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup, which is scheduled for 17 to 26 September on Barcelona's waterfront.
The women's teams, in turn, will begin to prepare for an event on 28 September which is historic, because Barcelona will be hosting the first Puig Women’s America’s Cup between 5 and 13 October. Abby Ehler highlighted this milestone when she stated that “it offers a platform and an opportunity for women sailors all over the world who have never before participated in a competition of this calibre, creating elite role models that will inspire the next generation of girls who love sailing”.
In addition to the six official participants in the 37th America’s Cup representing New Zealand, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, the United States and France, the youth and women's competitions are also adding six new candidate teams from Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Australia.
Promotion of sailing
With the arrival of the youth and women's America's Cup competitions, the Port Olímpic will host its first major sporting event since it reopened last July. Both competitions are international showcases that bring visibility to both promising young sailors and the increasing number of women participating in this sport, thus aligning itself with one of the goals of the Port Olímpic’s transformation, namely to promote a model of sailing that is accessible to all audiences.
In order to reach this goal, in addition to hosting major competitions, the Port Olímpic’s calendar also includes dozens of popular regattas whose participation numbers are increasing every year, such as the Regata Ophiusa, the Regata 4 Clubs and the Regata Polar.
The Port Olímpic is also ahead of the game in promoting inclusive sailing by hosting events like the Regatta for Alzheimer's, organised by the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation and the Veles per l’Alzheimer Association, in which more than 200 people affected by this disease participated this year.
With its transformation, the Port Olímpic has also promoted the remodel of the Municipal Sailing Centre (CMV). With its new installations, it will be able to boost its activity with the goal of bringing the practice of sailing to city residents, especially young people.
