BMW back Copa del Rey

German car manufacturer expands its sailing portfolio

BMW will be the official main co-sponsor for the 26th Copa del Rey that will take place at the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) from 28 July to 5 August 2007. The German car manufacturer took over the co-sponsorship of the most important nautical competition in Spain in collaboration with Spanish shoe manufacturer Camper, which also sponsored the regatta last year.

BMW Marketing Manager, Hans de Visser, attended on behalf of the president of BMW, Hendrik von Kuenheim; the RCNP president, Matías Salvá, and Camper vice president, Miquel Fluxà, sealed the agreement in the presence of the Organizing Committee President, Jaime Enseñat. According to this new contract, BMW guarantees its support of Copa del Rey de Vela until 2010.

"We are very pleased to have a company like BMW as Copa del Rey official main co-sponsor and we are sure this will benefit this event because of BMW’s prestige and its previous experience in other important sailing events such as the America’s Cup," said Matías Salvá, RCNP President. "Nowadays the Copa del Rey regatta is the most important in our country."

Hans de Visser stated that “The BMW brand has been strengthened by its involvement in sailing. Sailing stands for elegance, high technology, high quality design and team sprit. These are factors which are of outstanding importance for BMW. In particular the challenging nature of the sport provides a positive boost for the brand’s image and has been accepted very positively by our customers. With engaging as official main co-sponsor in the Copa del Rey as the most important regatta in Spain, BMW again shows it’s commitment to high performance sailing." BMW will also provide a shuttle service and uses its expertise in the field of hospitality to support the event.

The Copa del Rey will take place, as usual, the first week of August. The main novelties of this year's regatta will be the inclusion of the IMS 570 and GP42 classes that join the TP52s and IMS 670s. The organisation has left open the possibility of inviting other classes.

In the last year’s Copa del Rey approximately 1.000 sailors, 100 boats and more than 3.000 yacht club members, partners, sponsors and guests were involved with the nine day long regatta. This included 450 journalists and even the Spanish Royal Family who also participated in the event. The regatta generated reached a TV audience of approximately 123 million viewers.