Valencia is hosting the 33rd America's Cup. The oldest sailing event in the world is casting off on 8th February in Mediterranean waters. This is where the thirty third edition of this tough and exciting contest will be taking place. All the wheels have already been set in motion to host this spectacular battle of the titans, as the Swiss Alinghi team faces the North American BMW Oracle.
Furthermore, all kinds of parallel activities have been prepared for the public's enjoyment...In fact, in the area surrounding the Veles e Vents building there will be children's activities, different kinds of entertainment, games, live coverage of the races and even concerts. Attendees will also have the chance to sample some typical Swiss and American food and, of course, traditional Valencian recipes, at the food and drinks stands set up all along the Explanada de Veles e Vents promenade.
The international sailing competition known as the America's Cup took this name when, in the year 1851, the schooner America beat the best British yachts and took the 100 Guineas Cup to the New York Yacht Club. Since then, the challenge has taken place on 32 occasions. The New York nautical club then became the defender for many years, winning all the competitions until the year 1983.
The victory of the Swiss Alinghi team in New Zealand in 2003 brought the America's Cup to Europe for the first time since, as the winning team, it had the right to organise the following competition and defend its title against the different challengers. Switzerland is a landlocked country and given the impossibility of holding the competition on an Alpine lake, a selection process was held to decide between around sixty candidates. Having successfully completed the different rounds, the city of Valencia was finally chosen to host the 32nd America's Cup. Now, two years after that competition, the city on the River Turia is once against hosting the competition, although this year it will take the form of a duel between the only two participants: the defender, Alinghi, and the challenger, BMW Oracle.
