Postcard from Valencia

+39 tactician Ian Walker does some scene setting for tomorrow's Acts

What has been going on in Valencia over the last few months is quite extraordinary. The scale of the construction projects and rejuvenation of the docks area of Valencia has to be seen to be believed. Work has been going on 24 hours a day for weeks and weeks and somehow it looks as though the majority will be done by Act 10 starting tomorrow. It currently reminds me of Athens 2004 in the week before the Olympics where we are at the stage where anything unfinished is simply tarmaced, turfed or covered in plants or flags. Whether what has been built will fall apart as a result of the rush is another question but by the start of the next Act it will look fantastic. It is also still just under a year until the main event.

It is hard to believe that this is all happening because of a sailing event. There are new road systems, a new canal for the teams to access the sea, a massive new marina, 10 huge team bases (many of which have public areas and merchandising shops), a media centre, huge 4 storey corporate entertainment centre (foredeck club), cycle lanes and superyacht berthing. Most of this will still have the paint drying when we cycle to work for the first races of Act 10 tomorrow. What has been created could not physically have been done in many other cities around the world and must have taken incredible vision on the part of the organisers and planners. The America’s Cup world now has its own ‘new Wembley stadium’ (except it is finished on time – well sort of).

I guarantee sailing fans would enjoy a trip to Valencia and unlike New Zealand the wind is such that they would also stand a good chance of seeing some racing. Don’t get me wrong I loved New Zealand but I don’t miss the 2 hours towing a day or the days lost to too much or too little wind. With the exception of the odd gale and big seas from the North East, Valencia seems to lay on excellent conditions most afternoons.

One big question will be to what extent the local people will get behind the event. One suspects that nowhere in the world could match the enthusiasm of the New Zealanders who actually won the right to host the event and where such a high proportion of the population sail. Despite my personal allegiances I rather hope that the Spanish do well as one feels the event will need this to capture the locals’ imagination.

Another concern right now is whether the racing can live up to the new surroundings. I suspect that come next April when the event starts for real and every team has a new boat this will not be in question. As for now one feels that it remains very much a ‘phoney war’. There are undoubtedly some interesting questions to be answered with most of the interest surrounding the new boats on show. This highlights how it is the design of boats and sails that adds so much intrigue to the America’s Cup game. There will be some very nervous designers as the races unfold this week, but at least they have time and in the case of the big teams the money to unravel any mistakes which become apparent. This is of course the main reason for starting to sail their new boats now. Thinking back to the last America’s Cup I am quite envious as by the time we at GBR Challenge first sailed our new boat against another team it was already too late to make the fundamental changes that were required to make us more competitive.

For the next 2 Acts (10 and 11) which run back to back starting on Thursday, Team NZ, Prada and Oracle will be sailing their new boats in addition to South Africa who launched a new boat last year. By Act 12 in June, Spain, Germany, Mascalzone Latino and even Alinghi could also be choosing to sail new boats.

For the rest of us it is obviously going to be an uphill struggle in our old boats but as we proved by beating Team NZ in a race last year and K Challenge proved by defeating Alinghi in Trapani anything is possible. You never know, in future if our new boat turns out to be fast we may well look back and be glad we didn’t reveal our hand too early. Either way the next 10 days will be excellent training for all the teams and will be another fantastic showcase for all our sponsors, our supporters and indeed for the sport of sailing.