The shadow of the Olympic Games is long and the organization of the America's Cup knows it well. Comparisons can be odious and in this case they put pressure on the largest international sailing competition, which will celebrate its 37th edition in Barcelona between August and October of next year. But they are also an incentive. The Catalan capital had 35,000 volunteers for the great event of 1992, which in its day was considered the best in history. There are many more than the 2,300 planned for the 2024 nautical event. However, despite the distances, citizen complicity is sought to revive that which astonished the world more than 30 years ago. The objective is, once again, to make history.
The countdown to achieve that support has begun. The organization has presented this Wednesday the volunteer program at the headquarters of the Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica, and has opened registration on its web portal. All interested parties who have reached the age of 18 on December 31st and who speak one of the official languages (Catalan, Spanish or English) may submit their application. The process will be open until the end of November. The review of the candidacies will be done until February. This will be followed by personal interviews and, finally, between May and August, the training, which will have a digital part and a face-to-face part.
"We seek to continue with the feeling of the Olympic Games that was largely due to the volunteers," recalled Grant Dalton, executive director of America's Cup Event (ACE) and head of Emirates Team New Zealand, defending the trophy, who has put in value the program because "it is important to find something similar to what was experienced in Barcelona'92 and contact with society so that the city feels something so exciting again".
“One of the great challenges is to involve citizens and it is one of the difficult ones. This is a long-term project and that is why we are starting it today”, pointed out Ignasi Armengol, general director of the Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica, which brings together the support of the administrations and collaborates with the organization. "We want it to be one of the levers, possibly the most important, to convey to the public the values of the America's Cup, which are team sports, innovation, ocean sustainability...", added this official, that he has admitted that the comparisons with 92 suppose "a pressure", but he trusts that it will be positive. "Thirty years later we still remember how he was made," he added. It's a legacy project and we want to do it again now."
The forecast of 2,300 volunteers is the highest number in the history of the Copa del América. It quadruples those of the previous editions, that of Auckland (New Zealand), in 2021, and that of Hamilton (Bermuda), in 2017, which were about 600. The 2013 swimming world championships in Barcelona had a similar number, 2,500.
The person in charge of the volunteer program, Xavier Prat, has also highlighted that the organization has proposed to "recover the spirit of 92" to achieve the involvement of these people who will collaborate directly in the celebration and will be the spearhead of Team B, " the home team, the one from Barcelona, open, inclusive and local but with an international perspective”, which covers the needs of the event and has a positive impact on the Catalan capital. There are two key groups in this endeavor: the maritime community and the residents of the neighborhoods closest to the regatta course, mainly Ciutat Vella. "They are fundamental -he has valued-, if we do not manage to impact them, the project loses much of its meaning".
Those interested must be available in one of the six shifts of ten consecutive days -out of the total of 68 days that this edition is expected to last, so the last one will be somewhat longer- in morning, midday or afternoon slots, with a dedication of six hours a day. On a test day there will be about 430 volunteers. The organization has established some 50 roles distributed in three areas: water (competition), for which 300 have been planned, land (fan zone and other spaces focused mainly on the spectator experience), with 1,800, and television and mass media. communication (200).
