For the first time in the history of the America's Cup of Sailing, the oldest sports competition in the world, women will have a crucial role thanks to the creation of the first women's edition. Twelve boats manned solely by women will compete in the Formula 1 of the sea next October 2024. In addition, the Catalan company Puig has committed to this project and, in addition to sponsoring the America's Cup, will give its name to this first women's edition of the competition, dubbed the Puig Women America's Cup.
The competition will take place in October 2024 and up to twelve countries will participate in it, all of them with a proven tradition in sailing such as Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (Athenea) , Switzerland (Alinghi), Italy (Prada), USA (Magic) and France).
The chosen prototypes are the AC40 boats, in which very few teams have experience. The boats will be governed by the One designate, which ensures a certain equality in the competition, and will have automatic flight control.
Grant Dalton, head of Emirates, current winner of the global competition, announced that simulators are being developed to carry out prior training given the impossibility of sailing in advance. “It is a very important day. In 2017 we considered the idea of having events for women. In the world of sports there is a kind of quota that is imposed on women's teams. The Copa América is the pinnacle of sporting events because we wanted to introduce an edition for women. It is one of the great steps in the history of the Copa del América”, she explained.
“It makes us very excited. Because we associate ourselves with the values of this competition and we are a global company, which operates in 150 countries, but Puig was born in Barcelona. They are our roots and we have been sponsoring regattas for 25 years. When we found out that the America's Cup was coming to Barcelona, we thought we had to do something," said Marc Puig, CEO of Puig.
Monica Font, coach of the Sail team Barcelona, was grateful and proud of the moment that women's sailing is experiencing. “We are making history, this is the future of sailing for women. Being in Barcelona 32 years after the Olympic Games offers us a unique opportunity to show what we are capable of as a city and a country. Having a team like Sail BCN, working with Guillermo Altadil, is a dream come true. It does not only mean being women, but that girls see a mirror of what the future can be and can dream of being in the Formula 1 of the sea from a young age. And not just do the Olympic run,” she explained.
