Barcelona is going to host the five biggest events in world sport, Aicard Guinovart of the Catalan Tourist Board old a briefing in Dublin to promote the Americas Cup hosting by Barcelona on October 12–20.
At a briefing for trade and media l in the converted Stella cinema in the Devlin hotel in Ranelagh, Mr Guinovart said that Barcelona has hosted three and is now set to host the fourth and fifth most important events in world sport, the Olympics, world cup in soccer, Formula 1, the America’s Cup in 2024 and, potentially, the Ryder Cup at Caldes de Malavella in 2031.
The event in Ranelagh also commemorated the tradition of books and roses to celebrate the Diada de Sant Jordi or St George’s Day.
The race was confirmed for Barcelona by Grant Dalton of the New Zealand holders. Of the previous 36 cup matches, 33 have been held in the defender’s home waters. Barcelona’s successful bid for hosting the America’s Cup involved a collaborative effort between public and private entities, including the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, Port of Barcelona, and other organizations, with multiple countries vying for the right to challenge in the final races.
The event features a first-to-seven-wins match-race series between the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selections Series winner, to be contested between Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland and USA.
- Preliminary regatta in August
- Louis Vuitton Cup in August-September
- Youth and women’s America’s cup September 16–October 16
- America’s Cup October 12–20
The event will showcase the AC75 foiling monohull class, a 23m (75 ft) yacht, which was first used in 2021, maintaining its status as the designated class of yacht for the America’s Cup races.
The trophy was defended 25 times by the USA from 1851 until won by Australia in 1987 and has been won four times by New Zealand and twice by Switzerland since then.
Ireland competed unsuccessfully for the Cup five times between 1899 and 1930 and bid, again unsuccessfully, to host the event in 2024. Comodore Gerry Dowling of the Royal Irish Yacht Club said that while the financing of the event proved challenging, the psychology of was a bigger obstacle, Irish officials did not get as seriously behind the bid as Barcelona. We are slightly envious here in Arden because we did put our hat into the ring to see if we could host this wonderful event but uh Catalonia were just hungrier.
In a video message Grant Dalton of the America’s Cup said: One of the great draws for me of Barcelona and Catalonia is that they understand that the Mediterranean needs to be protected.
Former racer Enda O’Coineen said: there is a very strong Irish link because Grant Dalton hired Stewart Hosford who lives in Cork and commutes from Cork. Stewaart helped bring the event to Barcelona.
Rubén López Director of the Spanish Tourist Board in Dublin said:our objective is to bring quality tourism from Ireland to Catalonia and there are many reasons for doing so.
Aicard Guinovart said: “We are very proud about our food and wine. Next year 2025 uh we have been declared Catalonia has been declared the first world region of gastronomy. We have some of the best restaurants in the world, we used ot have El Bullo, now we have Roca, but apart from that that’s the local Cuisine the local menus and the local food that you can have and enjoy what you are there.“
