It has no rudder, no keel, and no boom. A catamaran with a sail for a single sailor. The Catalan skate has nothing to do with the technological and design sophistication exhibited by the America's Cup boats. However, the simplicity and attractiveness of these skates has dazzled the veteran sailor, sailor and head of the America's Cup, Grant Dalton. So much so as to push an exhibition that is unprecedented: a regatta of more than 200 Catalan skates, which tomorrow and Sunday, will anticipate the challenge of the AC40.
With Vilanova in the background, on the same regatta field where starting at 3:30 p.m. the F1 cars from the sea – with permission from the AC70 – will compete in the preliminary races, these boats designed in the 1920s will sail on the Badalona coast. “It is the largest exhibition that has ever been organized,” says Nina Esteba, from the Patí Vela Club of Barcelona and member of the International Association of Sailing Skate Owners (ADIPAV). The response to the call is also unprecedented. Registration opened on June 20 and on the first day 80 skates signed up. The expectation was such that they decided to close the call on July 31 when they exceeded 200 participants.
The magnitude of the meeting forced them to look for an alternative base to Vilanova, which was busy and focused on the Copa del América operation. Thus, in addition to the Vilanova Sea Club, the Cubelles Maritime Club joined the initiative, which will be the base port for the skates until Sunday. The majority of boats come from the Catalan coast, but there are also Catalan skates that have been expressly moved from Belgium, Germany, Italy or France and Valencian and Andalusian skates. In total, around thirty clubs have signed up for the party.
The call has acquired such magnitude that the format of the regatta has had to be adapted. For example, the start that is normally delimited with a buoy and a boat, this weekend will be done with three boats to accommodate all participants. “These two days will surely mark a before and after for Catalan skating; It will make us known to the world and we will be able to show that, contrary to what some think, this is not a boat for older people, that this is a lot of fun and that many people have a license,” Esteba insists.
Grant Dalton discovered the Patí Català almost by chance, watching the social regattas that take place every day (at 1 p.m.), except Mondays, off the coast of Barcelona. The sails – between twenty and thirty a day – caught the attention of the navigator, who began to learn more. “He was excited to see that there was so much support and he suggested that we act as the opening act for the preliminary regattas,” explains Nina Esteba. The organizers of these regattas, in which for the first time more than 200 Catalan skates can be seen sailing together, hope that the experience will be repeated next year, when the America's Cup is held in Barcelona.
