Official Trophy Tour

With just over two months to go before Barcelona becomes the global capital of nautical sports thanks to the 37th edition of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, the presence of the world’s most important regatta in the Catalan capital is felt more and more each day. Following the launch of the new AC75s from the five Challengers, who are already sailing the waters of the Front Marítim, the city is buzzing with excitement.

The upcoming arrival of the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand with their brand-new AC75 Taihoro, and the arrival of the ‘Auld Mug’ in Catalonia, the 173 year-old silver ewer around which the world’s oldest sporting event revolves, will mark the anticipated moment when, after more than two years since Barcelona was designated as the host of the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup, all the essential elements for its celebration will be in place.

In keeping with its commitment to bringing the 173-old history of the event closer to the public, the organising entity, America’s Cup Event, in collaboration with the Generalitat de Catalunya and the local yacht clubs, have scheduled an exhibition tour of the America’s Cup, originally the ‘RYS £100 Cup’ along the Catalan coast.

For America’s Cup Event CEO Grant Dalton taking one of the world’s oldest and most iconic trophies on the road and to the yacht clubs plays a fundamental role in educating and inspiring the next generation of  sailors.

“The America’s Cup is the pinnacle event in sailing worldwide, and the 37^th edition of the event is being held on the doorstep of the people of Catalonia, so being able to take this iconic trophy to the yacht clubs  is really special.”

Between June 25^th and July 1^st , the official Trophy Tour of the Louis Vuitton 37^thAmerica’s Cup will stop at seven Catalan clubs starting in L’Escala on Tuesday, June 25^th, and each club will arrange for on-water and off water events including at L’Escala a showcase of disabled sailing, as well as various training regattas in the Optimist and Laser classes inspired by the America’s Cup.

The planned route for the famous silver ewer will see it make stops at the ports and yacht clubs of Palamós, Vilassar de Mar, Sitges, Tarragona, and Cambrils, before its final journey to Barcelona on July 1^st 2024, where it will be displayed alongside the other three trophies of the official regattas of the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup: the Puig Women’s America’s Cup, the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup.

As the America’s Cup makes its journey, the Presidents of the  clubs will officially welcome the trophy and representatives of America’s Cup Events, alongside Mayors of the town and the surrounding areas. Presentations around the key facts of the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup and its unique features including the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup and the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup will be made.

At each destination there will be an information area, made up of four zones, where the public can enjoy a free immersive experience and emulate the best sailors in the world at the controls of a simulator, while learning about the history and other key aspects of the competition such as the roles within the crews, the specifications and technology of the AC75, or the celebration of the first women’s regatta in history, the Puig Women’s America’s Cup and the regatta for young sailors (18-25) – the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup.

With the lighthouses, beaches and cliffs of the Catalan coastline as a canvas, and the fast patter of the dockside fish auctioneers as the soundtrack, the visit of the oldest trophy in the world will be a recognition of the seafaring towns and villages of Catalonia, which will be especially decorated to welcome the America’s Cup trophy in a cultural exchange that will have the sea and its people as the main protagonist.

Local gastronomy will also play a prominent role in the America’s Cup Trophy Tour on the occasion of the designation of Catalonia as the first territory in Europe to be distinguished as a World Region of Gastronomy for the year 2025. This is a recognition of the dedication of these territories in favour of traditions, landscape, culture and history, maintaining and promoting the seafaring vision that makes them unique.