In 1990, after many years of absence, the Great Sailing Regatta, then called The Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race, was relaunched in the City of A Coruña. In the organization of such activity the City Council, the Harbour Authority and the Royal Nautical Club, whose President then collaborated Aurelio Fernández Lage, recruited as volunteers a heterogeneous group of young people united for their love of sailing and the desire to live new experiences. Its role would be to act as liaison officers between the ships and the city, in connection with the thousands of young people of various nationalities aboard sailing boats in more than a dozen countries. It was a risky bet from Aurelio, as until then the liaison officers used to be military or marine, usually already retired.

The coexistence on board the Juan de Lángara is intense in all the navigations.

The meeting of the sailing fleet in the Herculine port was a success. The unique condition of the port in the center of the city, together with the efforts of all the participating volunteers and the magnificent reception of the public, were the determining factors for A Coruña to take over the Regata again four years later. On this occasion the liaison officers who had highlighted in the previous edition were reconvened, this time to assume a greater responsibility by coordinating the 100 long of young volunteers who joined the organization, while taking over other practical organizational responsibilities directly related to the ships in port.

The 2012 Tall Ships from A Coruña (Photo Asociación Juan de Lángara)

Seduced by the multidisciplinary concept of "sail training"on which the Regata is based and encouraged by the new organizational success of the Coruñese stage of 1994, they plan to participate in the regatta representing La Coruña. Thus, with the personal and economic effort of the crew, and the support of the Harbour Authority of A Coruña, the disappeared Caixavigo and several cooperating firms, the 1996 Cortty Sark Regata has in Mediterranean waters with the participation of the sailboat "Puerto de La Coruña. "With these same supports and rented ships went to the following two editions, in the North and Atlantic Sea. In the first, the organization awards the award" to the best new crew "In 1998 it was obtained in Falmouth, from the hands of Princess Anne of England, the award"to the best sports spirit. "

The unforgettable Aurelio Fernández Lage with his two nautical loves: the "Falcón" and the Goleta "Juan de Lángara" in the pants of Marina Real in the Real Club Nautico de La Coruña, which he promoted.

In order to continue to navigate throughout the year, in 1999 it is decided to create a non-profit association that integrates more people by taking on the principles of "sail training" and showing the sea to young people. This is how the Asociación Cultural y Instructiva de Amigos de los Sailors "Juan de Lángara"whose first action is the acquisition in Malta - with enormous personal economic effort of all the integrants - of a gulet, "Le Temps Perdu." He will soon be baptized by the name of John of Langar, thus paying tribute to Mr John of Langara and Huarte (1736-1806), a Coruñés sailor, who during the Enlightenment the science and art of navigation through astronomy and cartography

La Goleta Juan de Lángara entering its base port, in A Coruña, is the saint and sign of the Association that presides Pepe Etchverría, which has Lorenzo Marcos as its navigator. Marta González Tejero is the Vice President, Jorge González Asenjo the Secretary, Fernando Gil the Treasurer. The Board of Directors is completed by the captain of yacht Antonio Vilar and Nacho Etcheverría.

Since then, the Association has continued to mark as milestones its participation in the Great Sailing Regades, with its gulet and on the ground, assuming increasing responsibilities in the organizational structure. In this way, the highlights of the Regata in A Coruña in 2002, 2006 and 2012 are not alien to the good performance of the members of the Association, either in the ports they visit, or in their work as links to the visiting sailboats, activity that extends outside the Regata. In 2006, the 50th anniversary of the Regata was celebrated, repeating the itinerary of 1956, which included A Coruña. The Association is definitely named in the Regata by winning the "Friendship Trophy," the most important prize of those who are given, as it is voted by the captains of the participating ships and rewards the effort to promote understanding and friendship.

2012 turned out to be a bitter year for the Association. Several awards were received from the Sail Training International, awarded to Aurelio Fernández LagePresident of the Association and two of the founders, Fernando Gil e Ignacio Hornesfor their efforts in the dissemination of the candle, as well as to the Association itself, for the organization of the Cruise in company between Cadiz and A Coruña during the Regata of that summer. However, at the end of the year everything was dark with the death of Aurelius, visible head of the project and mentor of many. The necessary adjustments were made, and today the Association continues to work, open to all entities and individuals interested in browsing or collaborating in the dissemination of this practice and in the development of their human and social values.

The crew of the Juan de Lángara in 2012 on deck on the scale in Cadiz at the Sail Training.

For more information visit the website:http: / / www.langara.org /