This dynamic, forward-thinking city fought off fierce competition from seven other European contenders to win the right to stage an event which brings together the world’s finest sailors and best yachts.

Valencia won that bid for several reasons, the city provides the best wind and sea conditions for the Cup, as well as the attraction of a thriving city with all the infrastructures required to host the sailing event. Hosting the America’s Cup consolidated Valencia’s status as a city open to the Mediterranean and with up-to-the-minute infrastructure for nautical tourism.

In the 32nd America’s Cup, the greatest number of participating teams in the whole of its long history of more than a century and a half have come together in Valencia; teams from the five continents that have played their cards to reach the top.

Known originally as the 100 Guineas Cup, the name was changed in the year 1870, in honour of the victory of the America in the 1851 race. Until 1983, when the crew of the Australia II lifted the trophy, the competition was won by US sailboats.

That same year, the Louis Vuitton Cup was created, the preceding competition that determines which team would challenge the defending champions. In the Auckland edition in 2003, a European boat, the Alinghi from Switzerland, won the America’s Cup after 152 years of Anglo-Saxon dominance. The Swiss syndicate should have hosted the following edition in 2007. However, the official regulations of the competition, known as the Deed of Gift, state that the America’s Cup can only be disputed in salt water.

Valencia was chosen to host the event following a tough bidding war with 56 other candidates including Barcelona, Naples, Marseille, Palma de Mallorca and Cascais. The Alinghi won the 32nd America’s Cup racing against the Team Emirates New Zealand in July 2007, after the New Zealand boat won the Louis Vuitton Cup and earned the right to challenge the defending Swiss champion in Valencian waters.