VILANOVA I LA GELTRÚ – SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF A STUNNING VENUE
The helicopters are buzzing in the air, the on-water remote markers are holding station, the famous catamaran TV boat is flying around and six contenders for the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú are buzzing above crystal waters in the super-charged AC40s, high on their foils and even higher on adrenaline. The America’s Cup season is about to start but what is this beautiful port town, the Capital of the 'Garraf comarca', really like?
Landing into Josep Tarradellas airport in Barcelona, known colloquially as ‘El Prat’, Vilanova i La Geltrú is just a short, half-hour, taxi ride away to the south along one of the most breath-taking coastlines of the Mediterranean. Coming off the motorway and briefly through the industrial outskirts, Vilanova i La Geltrú presents itself with a beautiful, peaceful palm-tree lined seaside promenade, the Passeig Maritim, that bisects the port and the town.
To the left, the Pendennis Marina, housing thousands of boats of all shapes and sizes, provides the clues that this is a busy and bustling port before the sight of the Club Nàutic Vilanova, a modern masterpiece of yacht club design hove’s into view. To the right is the town with its grid structure of more palm-tree lined boulevards leading off the busy promenade where a host of fabulous restaurants offer seafood, oriental and local Spanish delicacies in abundance.
Vilanova i La Geltrú was fondly nicknamed locally in the 19th century as ‘Havana xica’ or ‘Little Havana’ and this influence is seen along the Passeig Maritim where old style colonial architecture fuses with fisherman’s houses and modern yet sympathetic apartment complexes. It’s a beautiful mix of the old, the new and the traditional in a bustling town that seemingly never stops and is a welcoming place for visitors and locals to relax and enjoy all that is on offer. Children’s play parks that dot along the southerly aspect near the marina are busy in the late afternoon and teens play basketball on the promontory in front of the yacht club. It’s a welcoming place in the sun with a warm, temperate, all-year climate that attracts tourists and families in their droves as well as those looking to settle in one of the most welcoming places in Catalonia.
With the America’s Cup in town, the activation is hard to miss with billboard adverts, flags, sponsor banners and infographics from the moment you leave the airport and into the town centre. There is no show on earth like the America’s Cup and you feel it immediately. The epicentre of the first Preliminary Regatta on the road to the 37th America’s Cup is the Club Nàutic Vilanova which is a lively and thriving members club with a large dinghy apron in the heart of the Pendennis Marina with jetties and pontoons leading off it, housing members’ boats of all hues and disciplines.
Walking up the promontory that forms the harbour, the outstanding La Daurada hospitality complex with beach club, restaurant and multiple bars is a classy and relaxing place to while away an afternoon in the sun. For the more beach-minded, Vilanova i La Geltrú has miles of frontage that is free-to-all with the very popular Platja de Ribes Roges providing perhaps the best onshore viewing of the AC40 racing with the action taking place just metres off the beachfront.
The Official Race Village is a welcoming and large entertainment space for the general public to get immersed in the America’s Cup. As well as catching all the racing on the giant screen of the main stage, visitors can enjoy team activations from Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, NYYC American Magic plus additional stands from regional sponsors sitting alongside world-class food and beverage stations (including the most enormous Estrella Damm bar). There’s plenty of seating and the venue will offer live music late into the evening to make the Official Race Village a must-visit for any visitor to the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú.
Racing starts officially with Practice Flights on Thursday, but the teams arrived on Tuesday and practised on Wednesday in perfect afternoon sea-breeze conditions. TV and photo helicopters are in the sky; the international and local media are arriving in droves and a Red Bull stunt plane even buzzed the yachts as they arrived. The spectacle is forming. For the sailors and on-water spectators, conditions are slightly different in Vilanova i La Geltrú to Barcelona with predominantly flatter water albeit still with an occasional afternoon white-top chop and the forecast for the weekend looks to be delivering upper-wind range conditions – perfect for the ultimate speed test of fleet racing from the greatest foiling sailors of their generation.
Shoreside, the Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú is ready to welcome the world and with a global audience tuning in live on the Official America’s Cup website (www.americascup.com) and through the streaming channel YouTube, Vilanova i La Geltrú will become the centre of the sailing world at this apex event where every team desperately wants to do well to give the team and their supporters a morale boost and bragging rights.
The America’s Cup is something very special, unique in sport and with a caché that demands global attention. The first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú is a chance for the teams to flex their skills, hone their techniques and give an early indication of form ahead of what promises to be one of the closest America’s Cup events in its 172-year history.
Let the racing begin. Vamos!
