His gift of people and his ease of human relations made him maintain great relations with institutions such as the Spanish Navy and the Royal Family, and become one of the best known and respected people in Valencia. Rest in peace.

The Royal Nautical Club of Valencia is in mourning for the death of Manel Casanova Safont, who was president of the entity from 1982 to 2009. Manel Casanova has been the longest-standing president of the club, and is a fundamental figure in the development of the sailing in Valencia and in the growth of the Royal Nautical Club of Valencia, which he managed to make one of the most important nautical institutions in the world.

Manel was a great president for our club with great projects that he knew how to make a reality, and above all he was a great friend who gave us the best of himself both personally and professionally. It had great intelligence and extraordinary working capacity, which combined with serenity, prudence and discretion, but at the same time with daring, resolution and determination. I managed a Real Club of Valencia with limited resources to make it what it is today, one of the clubs with the largest facilities and services in Europe.

Manel firmly believed in the Valencia project as the headquarters of the Copa América, and was able to transmit the excellent conditions of navigation and the good reception of the city, making Valencia the headquarters of the America's Cup, which placed the city on the world map, generating a huge economic impact and contributing decisively to what the city is today. Another of its major projects was the SM the Queen Trophy with which it led to the highest of the Royal Nautical Club of Valencia, which would not be what it is today without Manel Casanova.