America's Cup World Series Comes to Venice
Welcome to Venice, home to the AC World Series from 15 to 20 May 2012
History and technology, tradition and innovation, progress and sustainability: Today’s Venice is a story of the old and the new, the ancient and modern. Just like the America’s Cup, the oldest trophy in international sport, that has a new, exciting, modern look.
Embracing the ‘new’ America's Cup is the evidence of this duality in Venice, with the world's most prestigious sailing competition coming to the world’s most extraordinary city.
The lagoon city of the third millennium is a dynamic and multifaceted place. Welcoming millions of tourists each year, it offers an unmatched cultural progamme promoted by the city along with its numerous foundations and cultural institutes. The Civic Museums, including the Doge's Palace, the Correr and the Ca 'Pesaro, along with the modern exhibitions of the Guggenheim and the Biennale, or the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana are just a few attractions that will amaze visitors.
Venice in 2012 is also a ‘laboratory’ of pioneering hydraulic engineering works to safeguard its shores and protect the city’s history and its lagoon from high waters. ‘Mose’ (Experimental Electromechanical Module), is the largest project of this kind ever implemented in Italy, which, during the days of the America's Cup World Series will enter its final phase with the placement of the caissons on which the protective floodgates will rest. They will be located at the Lido inlet, just around the corner from where the high-tech AC45s will race in front of the fans, very close to the shores.
The arrival of the America's Cup World Series is an opportunity to revive the seafaring tradition of the city and to reaffirm the Venetian’s love for sailing.
Racing takes place from May 15 to 20 and is part of a festival of sailing over nine days from May 12 to 20.
“Hosting the America's Cup is a source of enormous satisfaction for the city–explained the Mayor Giorgio Orsoni - Here the event will find a setting that no other locations in the world can offer. The regattas before Palazzo Ducale in the presence of the famous bell tower of San Marco, the races in front of the Lido with its art nouveau heritage, and the Arsenal, which will be the base for the teams and a venue for the village, are unique places that are at once a source of fascination and an index of enormous developmental prospects. This historic city, Mestre and the mainland together comprise a single territorial unit that makes this area the heart of one the nation's most vital parts."
With one race course just in front of the Doge’s Palace in the shade of San Marco’s bell tower, and one in front of the Lido’s Liberty-style gems, and with the opening of the historical Arsenale to host the team bases as well as the America’s Cup village, Venice promises to be a spectacular event: Exciting racing on an extraordinary stage.