Valencia, Yachts and Race Cars, a Perfect Combination
I just received an email from my Mom saying that she had reached Valencia, Spain safely. While she is there for a conference, her visit just happens to coincide with the 32nd running of the America’s Cup, the oldest prize in sports history and the pinnacle of sailboat match racing. It all started back in 1851 when the schooner “America†won the cup (before it was termed the “America’s Cupâ€) in an upset victory over 15 other yachts representing the Royal Yacht Squadron in a race around the Isle of Wight. The cup would remain in American hands for 132 years until 1983 when Alan Bond skippered “Australia II†to victory using a revolutionary keel design that sparked controversy and even unsuccessful court battles to keep the Aussie team from racing.
The America’s cup has since become not only a symbol of national pride, but also synonymous with technological innovation in the yachting world. My earliest memories of the cup are during the 1980’s when, as a teenager keenly interested in sailing yachts, I marveled at the sleek vessels and their revolutionary designs. The current America’s cup champion is Team Alinghi from Switzerland. Since Switzerland is a land-locked country, Alinghi has chosen to host the event in the city of Valencia, one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean.
America’s cup yachts are often compared to Formula 1 race cars and it is no surprise. Both types of big money, technology-laden, one-of-a-kind dream machines attract the same kind of daredevil billionaire maverick types as well as throngs of spectators who show up to witness the spectacle. Team BMW Oracle headed by Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, reportedly has a budget of $150 million budget if not greater. (It seems that money doesn’t buy everything as BMW Oracle has already been knocked out of contention for the cup in the semifinals by team Luna Rossa Challenge, led by Patrizio Bertelli, fashion entrepreneur and husband of Muccia Prada of the prestigious fashion label. Even if the Italian challengers are slightly more modestly funded than BMW Oracle, they have to be among the better dressed teams as is to be expected. I’m just glad because all this designer label involvement means that my fashionista wife will be more than a little interested in these kinds of events.)
Perhaps then it is only logical then that Formula 1 just announced during the Grad Prix of Barcelona that Valencia would play host to F1 events starting in 2008 and for the next five years. The decision was announced after a bit of controversy in which Formula 1 organizers were accused of trying to manipulate local elections. Formula 1 was never very big in Spain but, after the ascendancy of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, the sport has been gaining ground and will now host two Grand Prix events. The race is to be held in a street course through the now revitalized waterfront.
All this techno-sport activity gives me just one more excuse to want to visit the south of Spain (as if I needed any more reasons). Barcelona has already been experiencing a boom even before the 1992 Olympics, which happened to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the New World, and now hosts the largest Sea Aquarium in Europe. With its history, mild temperatures, great architecture, proximity to Africa and now world-class sporting events, Valencia seems like a perfect destination for the adventurous traveler perhaps on a charter yacht or caravan vacation.
