Last Friday, ten executives of the Louis Vuitton brand sealed their commitment to the America's Cup in Barcelona. The announcement, which is made public today, represents a turning point for the organization of the regatta. Beyond the recovery of a historical sponsor, “it opens doors to other future collaborators; If we were not in Barcelona, this firm would not have returned; “The city has played a crucial catalyst role,” the general director of the Copa del América, Grant Dalton, told La Vanguardia yesterday.
With this addition, the trophy among the challengers, which in previous editions was the Prada Cup, is once again called the Louis Vuitton Cup. The five teams will participate (Inneos Brittania, Alinghi Red Bull Race, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, NYC American Magic and Orient Express Racing Team) that aspire to win the legendary trophy now defended by Emirates Team New Zealand.
With less than a year left until the America's Cup is held, Dalton assures that "financially we are calm, the situation is a hundred times better than a year before the previous edition, in Auckland." The head of the regatta travels today to Saudi Arabia, where between November 29 and December 2, the second preliminary regatta will be held. The first was held in Vilanova in September. From there, Dalton explains, “we have learned some lessons: the first, that we cannot control the weather – rain and a thunderstorm forced the first day of racing to be suspended; the second, that not as many people came as we expected; We had buses prepared to transport the public from the parking lots to the port and the parking lots were not full,” he acknowledges.
Therefore, beyond the work to attract more advertisers (in December the name of another big firm will be made official), Dalton's obsession now is to popularize the regatta. “The great lesson we have learned is that we have to involve the people of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain more, make ourselves known; We are not going to measure our success by the tourists who come, but by the local public that we are able to attract,” he insists.
In this sense, one of the strategies is already established. Grant Dalton's commitment to Catalan skate goes in this direction. The simplicity and attractiveness of these boats, the opposite pole to the technological and design sophistication of the AC75 of the America's Cup, has fascinated the New Zealander, and if in Vilanova an unprecedented regatta could be seen, with more than 200 Catalan skates, in The Barcelona event “we want there to be many more, about 300; Catalan skating has to be part of the America's Cup, we will provide all the facilities to the organizers,” he maintains.
In his dual role as general director of the event and of Emirates Team New Zealand, Dalton recognizes that in this edition the rivalry between all the teams is maximum: “There is a lot of money invested in technology and preparation, and we all want results.” His team will return to New Zealand next week to continue “developing and improving the boat” and will return to Barcelona in June.
The return, through the front door, of Louis Vuitton began to take shape at Christmas, when the CEO of the French brand contacted Dalton. “It means a big step for us, because of the prestige it gives to the competition; For them it is very important that we are in Barcelona; in Auckland we wouldn't have made it,” he insists. The luxury brand joins other well-known sponsors such as Puig, Omega, Estrella Damm, Isdin or Coca Cola.
Dalton's superstitious nature prevents him from commenting on the possibility of keeping the America's Cup in Barcelona if his team wins: “First we have to achieve it; Staying would also depend on the city's desire, but unlike the Olympic Games or the World Cup, we are not obliged to move places, so what we would need would be a reason not to stay, but we have not even started conversations.
