Barcelona is the first host city of the America's Sailing Cup, in the 172-year history of this competition, which has a large dissemination center for what is said to be the third most followed sporting event in world after the Olympic Games and the soccer World Cups. It has already opened its doors at Port Vell, next to the bases where the six teams that will participate in the regattas are preparing for the 2024 event, the America's Cup Experience. He did it in the building that housed the Imax cinema until 2014, in a space that in the long term, after the celebration of the America's Cup, could host the sub-headquarters of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Liceu Mar , a project still very green and to which the presence in Barcelona of the AC75s, the Formula 1 of the sea, will give it time to mature.
The America's Cup Experience is the result of a private investment of around 7 million euros executed, like everything that drives this competition, in record time. With this money, the concessionaires of this port space have adapted the facilities of the Imax cinemas to their new uses and have dressed them up in an exhibition using modern technology.
The America's Cup Experience will initially be open until May 2025, six months after the end of the regattas, when a concession will expire which, if necessary, could be extended for another year. The center consists of a free access part and a paid part. The promoters expect that during the period that it is in operation, around 8 million visitors will pass through the free area of the new equipment and that 1.2 million people will do so through the paid area.
The concession for the building – a large box inaugurated as an Imax cinema in February 1995 amid a strong urban planning and landscaping controversy – was granted by the board of directors of the port of Barcelona on March 30 to the company America's Club House, linked to Dortoka Disseny S.L. and with the participation of several investors. Its promoters admit that the America's Cup is still a great unknown for the majority of Barcelona residents and they aspire to make the local population familiar with a sporting event of planetary dimension with this informative centre. The America's Cup Experience aims to be attractive to the people of Barcelona and, needless to say, to the thousands of tourists who visit Port Vell.
The old Imax is now alive when not long ago it seemed doomed to be demolished. With a capacity for 4,350 people per day, the modernized facilities have 120 non-intrusive image sensors distributed throughout the space and an artificial intelligence system that analyzes the capacity of all the dependencies in time real and allows to regulate public flows.
The center is divided into two areas, the Free Experience, completely free, and the Ticketed Experience, for a fee. In the free access area, the visitor makes a first approach to the America's Cup. At the entrance you are immersed in the heart of the competition with the representation of two AC75 foils in a race and a large high-definition screen to transmit the regattas live. In this space, a replica of the Hundred Guineas Cup welcomes visitors. Afterwards, the rules and formats of the regattas are explained and, through six screens, the crews of the six participating teams are introduced (Emirates Team New Zealand, Ineos Britannia, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team, NYY American Magic and Orient Express Racing Team). The uniforms of the crews can be seen on the back of the totem poles where the screens are installed.
Also in the free access area, Barcelona's close relationship with the sea is explained on the basis of a 3D model of the port, in which you can see the locations of the America's Cup edition of the next year Next, audiovisual content is projected on the technological battle that the different teams will engage in on boats (the AC75 and the AC40, the model used in the competitions for women and young people) equipped with the latest advances. It also explains how this sailing competition tackles the challenge of sustainability.
The paid exhibition space opens with a visual and sensory show that connects with sport and the sea on a 128 m2 screen. Soon it is planned to incorporate wind and water effects to complete the immersion. This area includes a “time tunnel”, a large multimedia gallery with monitors of various formats synchronized with each other that explain how the championship has evolved from 1851 to the present day.
One of the highlights of the America's Cup Experience for those who decide to pay the entrance fee is the screening of the documentary One hell of a battle (Una batalla infernal), which allows you to get an idea of the spectacle of the regattas, of deployment of expertise, strength and competitive spirit that permeates this nautical test. All together on a large format screen, the second largest in Europe, 611 m2, latest generation 4k format, a brightness of 50,000 lumens and sophisticated surround sound systems.
For those who still want to delve deeper into the interiors of the America's Cup, there is the possibility - for an additional eight euros - of recreating the sensations experienced by the crew on board an AC75 through two immersive simulators, with a system motion robotics, virtual reality glasses and wind and water effects. These simulators, each with capacity for ten people, will be available on October 5.
