Representatives of the Galician and Portuguese candle at the Arousan headquarters of the Galician de Vela

Those responsible for the Portuguese sailing have decided to set up a High Performance Centre in Viana do Castelo, similar to the one they visited this morning in Vilagarcía de Arousa and that manages the Galician Federation of Vela. This new centre will be a reality not before two or three years and therefore the presidents of the sailing federations of Galicia and Portugal today agreed to sign an agreement in the coming dates to facilitate concentrations of luous regatists in the facilities of Vilagarcía de Arousa.

This morning, the mayor and vice mayor of Viana and the presidents of the Federation of Vela of Portugal and the Nautical Club of Viana visited the facilities of the Galician Federation of Vela in Vilagarcía and had as hosts the xeral secretary for O Sporte, Marta Míguez, and the president of the Galician Federation of Vela, Manuel Villaverde, accompanied by other positions of the Galician Executive and the federation itself.

In statements to the media, the maximum responsible for sailing in Portugal, Antonio Roquette, noted that although Portugal has a high performance centre in Cascais, the objective is to build. "as soon as possible," another in Viana for athletes from North Portugal. In this regard, he stressed the great support that the Lusa Administration gives to the sailing and the excellent conditions in Portugal for its practice, "which has a positive impact on the fact that this project is a reality two or three years from now." Roquette also spoke of the synergies that would be created by having two high-performance schools so close, in reference to Galician.

In this regard, Manuel Villaverde valued the Lusa initiative because he stressed that "for the Federation and for sport in general to have a centre so close to Galicia is very important because we can cross talents and technical Galician and Portuguese." Villaverde stressed the "important moment of the sailing of Galicia and Portugal, as well as the benefits that athletes would have for having these two facilities so close to each other."

For her part, the xeral secretary for O Sporte de la Xunta, Marta Míguez, also welcomed the Portuguese announcement and insisted on the great collaboration "and connection" between the sailing federations of Galicia and Portugal. He said that this new center will value the knowledge and experience of both countries "in a sport that gives us as many joys as the 420 World Championship achieved today by two Galician athletes."