One of the advantages of Barcelona is its experience in organizing major events, such as the Olympic Games (Photo Sailing Energy)

The city of Barcelona can again be the world center of the sailing. The possibility that it can host the Copa América - the oldest sports trophy in history - has made the city strong to enter the final line of the race to host the most mythical competition in 2024, as La Vanguardia has advanced.

Team New Zealand, currently a defender of the Jarra de las 100 Guineas, decided after winning the 36 edition in its natural city, Auckland, leaving New Zealand and looking for another city. Several have been the candidates, from Valencia - the city that hosted the 2007 and 2010 editions - going through the current candidates Málaga, Cork (Ireland) and Yedda (Saudi Arabia). Barcelona initially sounded after the summer of 2021, but at first it remained in a remote possibility.

The New Zealand team wanted to have the choice of silk solved before the end of the year. Its first preference was Valencia, but the candidacy that led the Royal Nautical Club of Valencia, limped after the institutions did not clearly and concisely support the project. Meanwhile Cork and Yedda were still alive. This led Team New Zealand to give Valencia another chance and extended the deadline to announce the headquarters to March 31, 2021.

Valencia tried to reactivate, but they continued with the political refusal, and although there were several companies that were for the work, they finally withdrew and in early March Grant Dalton, CEO of Team New Zealand, sent a letter to RCN Valencia, thanking his efforts and officially dismissing it from the race.

A priori this seemed to only remain in the Málaga, Yedda and Cork race. The Andalusian city is betting very strongly, especially its mayor Francisco de la Torre, who has managed to involve the president of the Junta de Andalucía Juan Manuel Moreno, with meetings in Dubai with Matteo De Nora, patron of Team New Zealand.

Meanwhile, no one was talking about Barcelona, which was working in silence to host the event. The private initiative has been the one that put in orbit the institutions, Generalitat, Ajuntament and Diputació, and convince them of the benefits of sports, economic, business, technological and tourism to bring the Copa América to Barcelona.

The work seems to have borne fruit and through the Barcelona Global agency has managed to involve the public and private sector so that the candidacy is a reality and has come to light 20 days for Team New Zealand to make the final headquarters official and final.

After the Olympic Games and the World Cup of Sailing, the American Cup of Sailing is the event, which is fought every four years, with the highest projection at all levels. But especially for the organizing city, since it is not only the three months that the competition can last, but the previous two years the organizing city gets an impressive return, as the participating teams are installed in the city, not only technically and sportively, but also with all their families.

In the 32 edition held in Valencia the Generalitat Valenciana did an impact study in which the economic benefits for the city were 2.724 million euros and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research, linked a total of 73,859 new jobs from 2004 to 2007. While GDP growth, thanks to the American Cup, was 1% in the city.

In 2007 Valencia ended up being the one chosen by Alinghi as the seat of the Copa América. On that occasion the team of Ernesto Bertarelli, having no Switzerland exit to the sea, put to auction the headquarters after the Deed of Gift, the document governing the competition, requires that the race be held in open waters. On that occasion they chose about 20 cities including Barcelona and Palma. In those moments Barcelona but, it already had a great sailing competition as was the Barcelona World Race, back to the world to 2, and it put on the map of this sport to the city and from which three editions of the hand of the Fundació per la Naveració Oceanica Barcelona were held.

Jaume Soler
Nautical journalist
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