Barcelona continues trying to publicize the 37th edition of the Copa America and it is that it has already been fulfilled one year of its designation as the venue of the competition. A year in which work has begun on the transformation of the Port Vell and Port Olímpic areas with the aim of making them ready to welcome the participating teams, who are already building their bases and will settle in the Catalan city starting this summer. The only team that opted to be in Barcelona from the start was Red Bull Racing and the rest will land in the coming months: Emirates Team New Zealand, Ineos Britannia, NYYC American Magic, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Orient Express Racing Team.
In the entire area of Port Vell, the works are taking place as the construction of the bases of the teams advances at a good pace. For the participating unions, winter training is being intense with the launching of new boats, the materialization of new design ideas and the improvement of navigation techniques thanks to the long hours spent in the water, but it will be in Barcelona where the sprint will take place. . The executive director of the 37th America’s Cup, Grant Dalton, was clear and did not hide the fact that the sporting structure of teams like his Emirates Team New Zealand will settle in the Catalan capital in the coming months. “From the month of July, we will be sailing in Barcelona, like the rest of the teams.”
The official fight for the 37th Copa América in Barcelona will not start until September 2024, so the organization is making great efforts to try to spread the message of this competition and make itself known in order to connect with the population: “It has been It is an honor to work with all the organizations in Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain to return the 37th Copa América to such a vibrant European venue. A year later, we are really making progress in all aspects of the organization of the event. It is exciting to see all the teams already working at a very high level as they test and evaluate their training rigs before building their new AC75 for the 2024 competition. We want the public to get to know the Copa América, to get involved and come to the waterfront. We will launch an educational process so that they know the competition and what it means for the city, for Catalonia and for Spain”, Grant Dalton added.
The Copa América is the oldest trophy in international sport, it has more than 170 years of history, and only four nations (United States, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland) have won it. It is considered that it was the British who started it, and yet they have never won it. In more modern times, teams from Italy, France, Spain, South Africa, Germany, Japan, China and Sweden have come close to conquering it, but have resisted them. Emirates Team New Zealand is the most successful team in modern history, having won the America’s Cup four times (1995, 2000, 2017 and 2021).
Emirates Team New Zealand is the Defender and the rest of the teams will try to wrest the Hundred Guineas Jug from them in Barcelona. For this, they are all training with their respective AC40, AC75 and LEQ12 in their winter bases because the race is long-distance. In July everyone will be able to see training in the waters of Barcelona and from September 14 to 17, Vilanova i la Geltrú will host the first pre-regatta of this 37th Copa América. It will be the first time that all the teams will face each other face to face and they will do so with the AC40, which will be the one-design with which they will compete in the Youth and Women’s Copa América.