Barcelona is getting ready. The city breathes the spirit of a great event, which will attract the attention of not only sports fans, but also businessmen, investors and fans from all over the world. Only nine months left until the start the most important sporting event for the city since the 1992 Olympics: the 2024 Copa America.

It is the oldest sporting competition in the world and has a long history full of peculiarities. It was created in 1851 by the British Empire, which wanted to demonstrate its superiority at sea, which coincided with the holding of the first ever World’s Fair in London that same year. But the shot backfired. They underestimated the best sports competitor of our time: the United States. From the other side of the Atlantic came a ship that not only won the competition, but also raised an invincible flag for the next 132 years.

A unique competition is the so-called “Hundred Guineas Cup” (the name is due to the fact that the original trophy was valued at 100 guineas – gold coins minted by the British Crown). It does not have a fixed frequency, but is celebrated when the winner is formally and publicly challenged by another participant. Then high-level sports, logistics and technological equipment is put into operation.

The winning team sets some of the most important rules for the next competition, such as the type of boat and waters in which the competition will be held, usually within the borders of their country. Spain has competed four times: in 1992, 1995, 2000 and 2007. She never won. The anomaly brought the dispute to Valencia in 2007. Switzerland became the defender of the Cup and, having no access to the sea, had to look for an alternative. In this case, another peculiarity occurred. The previous winner, New Zealand, chose a country other than its own to boost its competitiveness. And the America’s Cup lands in Barcelona.

Historical milestone: a cup that is also feminine

With the start of the competition, a group of experienced sailors led by Guillermo Altadil, together with the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, ​​put the machinery into motion to quickly obtain the necessary support to create a Spanish team that could compete. Under the guidance of Steward Hosford, an experienced international project manager, they set about developing the project Sail Team BCN, a team based in the port of Sitges, and the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup regatta was chosen as the regatta, which includes two competitions: Copa América Femenina , which will be held for the first time in the history of the event, and Copa América Juvenil, which involves crew members under the age of 25.

Sail Team BCN has received support from Foundation Zero, an open source platform that promotes sustainable energy solutions in maritime travel. But someone else is missing. A sponsor from Barcelona who would like to be present at the historical moment that the city is experiencing. Committed to both the sport and the values ​​represented by the only Spanish team participating in the regatta. Someone who is committed to the equality he achieves by having a women’s team in the America’s Cup for the first time in history. And able to understand the value of supporting a youth team and ultimately paving the way for young men and women’s dreams of competing at the highest level. The BCN Sail Team discovered these attributes in CaixaBank.

Caixabank gives wings to Sail Team BCN

The arrival of a financial institution as a sponsor gave wings to a team in the process of formation and reinforced the collective illusion that you were part of a historical moment. With this sponsorship, “we are focusing on equality and youth,” CaixaBank President José Ignacio Goirigolzarri said at the launch. “We fully identify with team sports, where individual talent is put at the service of the group and where communication and coordination within a framework of shared values ​​is vital.”

Four young men and four women will board the AC40, Sail Team BCN’s 40ft monohull, to put their best foot forward and demonstrate that cooperation, teamwork and personal and collective effort always produce good results, regardless of score. The whole country will be with them and with a sport that teaches us that although we cannot control the conditions of the sea, we can learn to adapt and control our own destiny.