The America's Cup: Barcelona welcomes the challengers of the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup

In the presence of a cheering and enthusiastic crowd Lluis Salvadó, President of the Port de Barcelona, gave the welcome address to the audience before handing over to Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona, who made special mention of the 2300 volunteers who have stepped forward and given their time to make the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, and the Louis Vuitton Cup, the best in the event’s 173-year history.

Mayor Collboni recognised that without the volunteers, the America’s Cup would not be possible and the wonderful job that they were doing echoed the spirit of the 1992 Olympic Games that were held in the city of Barcelona.

The Mayor of Barcelona also highlighted that Barcelona is the first city in the world to host the three most-followed sporting events on the planet: the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games and the America’s Cup. As he said “This is Barcelona, Long live the America’s Cup. Long live Barcelona!”

In attendance at this special presentation of the team of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup were a number of authorities that have made the event possible and the significant presence of Albert Dalmau, Catalan Minister of the Presidency, Miquel Sàmper, Catalan Minister for Business and Labour, Lluïsa Moret, Provincial Council President, Pere Aragonès former President of Generalitat, and Roger Torrent, president of Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica.

One of the highlights of the presentation arose when Marc Alins, the General Manager of Louis Vuitton Mediterranean came to the stage, addressed the audience, and revealed the stunning Louis Vuitton Cup in its bespoke, monogrammed Louis Vuitton Travel Case which the crowd greatly appreciated.

Crewmembers of all the teams were present on stage with Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher speaking on behalf of the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia; Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni speaking for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, Arnaud Psarofaghis and Maxime Bachelin for Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison for NYYC American Magic and Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Peponnet from Orient Express Racing Team.

All of the team representatives expressed their gratitude to the city and its authorities as well as thanking Louis Vuitton for their support of the Challenger Selection Series – a sponsorship that dates back to the very first in 1983.

As the presentation came to a conclusion, team-members from all the teams came forward and threw out their liveried hats to a very grateful audience. The first races of the Louis Vuitton Cup were held today and officially the city has welcomed the event with open arms.

Text and images courtesy of americascup.com.