Among the businessmen and promoters who certified the arrival of the America’s Cup in Barcelona, back in early 2022, there was doubt, more fantasy than illusion, about whether the competition could have a host team. But when they analysed the viability of the project, they quickly closed the file. They needed at least 85 million euros to get started. Too much. Two and a half years later, the most important sailing competition in the world officially starts this Thursday without a Spanish squad (in the women’s and youth categories there would be one, but the duration is shorter), which rethinks what the involvement of citizens and the level of follow-up will be.
Building an America’s Cup team requires a huge amount of logistical, technological and human resources. Money that is not always recovered. “It takes perhaps at least four years to put together a competitive team,” says Juan Luis Woody, former Olympic sailor and commercial director of American Magic in Spain. “In the case of a Spanish team there was little room for manoeuvre. A structure with capacity and experience is required. It is not the same to start from scratch, where you have to generate R&D&I.” [investigación, desarrollo e innovación]which is why we have the experience of a seasoned team,” he adds. Joan Vila, head of meteorology and navigation systems at Alinghi Red Bull Racing, agrees: “The lack of time has been the fundamental factor.” Of the six teams participating in the America’s Cup, only Orient Express (France) joined without any previous experience in previous years.
Most of the America’s Cup teams are currently supported by a large fortune. A millionaire capable of investing money that is not always recovered. Behind Ineos Britannia (United Kingdom) is the British James Ratcliffe, the 110th richest man in the world according to Forbes; Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland) has the support of the Swiss Ernesto Bertarelli (194th); and the owner of Prada, the Italian Patrizio Bertelli (573rd), accompanies Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy). The budgets are between 150 and 200 million, although the total amount is consolidated with the entry of sponsors.
“In Spain there is no millionaire in sailing who can afford to spend so much money,” laments Guillermo Altadill, a historic Barcelona sailor and key person in bringing the competition to the Catalan capital. And without a name of his own, sponsors do not dare to invest large amounts because of the difficulty of recovering them. “There is no sponsor who will put 150 million into a two-and-a-half-year campaign. It is not profitable,” explains Altadill.
Barcelona will be one of the few cities to have hosted the America’s Cup without a host team, but the organisers believe that the weight of the history of a challenge that began in 1851 will be enough to attract a public that, in the first preliminary races held in Barcelona, has reacted with rather moderate enthusiasm in the middle of the holiday period. “Having a host team arouses interest, but the spectacular nature of the race itself will attract the public,” says Vila.
It won’t be so easy to achieve this, Altadill believes, because fans get hooked on sports when there are athletes with whom they can identify. “Formula 1 started to have fans in Spain when there was a Spaniard in the races; with golf or motorcycles, the same,” he points out. “All the major competitions guarantee that the hosts have a team precisely to ensure the attendance of local fans. In the case of the America’s Cup, this is not the case, and you can see it in the interest.”
To counter this risk, Wood invites fans to come to the bases and the spaces enabled to live a “unique” experience. “The America’s Cup has a spectacular history. We are a country linked to the sea and we have a long seafaring tradition.” The figures support this: there is no discipline that has bathed Spain in more gold at the Olympic Games than sailing, with 14 triumphs (the last one, in Paris 2024 with the title of Diego Botín and Florian Trittel). “As a country we should be participating, yes,” he concludes.
If the Barcelona America’s Cup has come too soon, it may also be an opportunity for the future. “The experience gained this year can be used to prepare a team for future editions,” says Josep Maria Isern, president of the Catalan sailing federation. The leader understands that hosting the competition cultivates a long-term field. “In Catalonia we have a more popular vision of sailing than in the rest of Spain, but if we compare ourselves with France or New Zealand, where it is a national sport, we have a long way to go.” The competition has been, Isern believes, a “catalyst” for this knowledge to be integrated among families. “We have carried out programmes where some 27,000 children from the province of Barcelona have gone sailing. They all express this to their families, and thus the following of sailing grows. It has a value. That is also a legacy,” he celebrates.
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