CaixaBank has become Sail Team BCN’s official sponsor, the Spanish team participating in the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup

The boat will participate in the women’s category —which will be held for the first time in the competition’s history— as well as the youth category — for sailors under 25 years old —.

• CaixaBank’s Chairman, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, and Guillermo Altadill, Team Principal of Sail Team BCN, announced the agreement in Barcelona today.
• CaixaBank’s goal is to contribute to the most internationally renowned sporting event being held in Barcelona since the 1992 Olympic Games. CaixaBank will be supporting both a women’s team and a young sailors’ team in order to give them the opportunity to compete at the highest level.
• “Signing this sponsorship further confirms our commitment to be by people’s side and to foster the creation of opportunities for everyone. Our commitment and support towards sport is part of our DNA”, said Goirigolzarri.

CaixaBank unveiled a new sponsorship agreement that will bind the financial institution to Sail Team BCN, the only Spanish team that will take part in the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup, at its corporate headquarters in Barcelona today. The boat will represent Spain in  both competitions: the female America’s Cup, which will be held for the first time in the history of the competition, and the youth America’s Cup, which will see people under 25 competing.

The Youth America’s Cup will be held from 26 September to 2 October and the female  America’s Cup from 10 to 16 October, on the same regatta course as the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup.

During the presentation ceremony, CaixaBank’s Chairman, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, explained why the bank has decided to support the Spanish team: “The America’s Cup sailing competition will be the biggest sporting event held in Barcelona since the 1992 Olympic Games and we are genuinely proud to host such a major event in our city, which will once again make Barcelona the world capital of sport for weeks at a time”.

Goirigolzarri added, “At CaixaBank, we share important traits with Sail Team BCN such as teamwork, a very strong capacity to adapt to changes in our environment and, lastly, a firm commitment to innovation and technological development”.

CaixaBank’s Chairman has upheld the importance of “supporting a team of young sportsmen who will represent our country”. Goirigolzarri also stated that “we are particularly proud to support the Spanish women’s team, which, for the first time in the history of the America’s Cup, will compete in their own competition, raising this category to the highest level”.

Tamara Echegoyen, a sailor with Sail Team BCN, highlighted that for the first time in the history of the America’s Cup there will be a women’s event in the competition schedule: “The Puig Women’s America’s Cup is an amazing opportunity to continue opening the floodgates to the professional world for female sailors, who are working hard to reach the required level for events of this magnitude”. At the same time, Echegoyen stated that “sailing in Spain represents a talent factory in all its disciplines and ages, proof of which are the outstanding results achieved every year in top level international competitions. For this reason, I think it is a unique opportunity to have a women’s team and a youth team in one of the biggest competitions in our sport and to be able to work to develop their full potential”.

The sailor did not want to miss the opportunity to express her appreciation of the new agreement presented in Barcelona. “The synergy between a team and its sponsor is undeniable if we want to be successful; their help is crucial to achieve the goals we have set ourselves. My most sincere thanks to CaixaBank for their support for the project and for highlighting the importance of the values of sport, of which all the sailors are ambassadors”, declared the team’s crew member. Tamara Echegoyen wrapped up by saying that “personally, there is no greater satisfaction than being part of a national team, preparing for an event of this scope in Barcelona and having the chance to be able to compete at home.  It is a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Guillermo Altadill, Team Principal of Sail Team BCN, also added that “since Barcelona was nominated as the host city for the 37th America’s Cup, we have been working to ensure that the women’s and youth team can take part in this edition of the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup with every guarantee of success”.  

Altadill went on to say that “the talent of our sailors is unquestionable, and this is proven by their track record, but to be successful in a sport as technology driven as this one, you have to have that talent and also the necessary resources to enable our sailors to be fighting to win. Here, CaixaBank gives us this fundamental help. This bank, Barcelona and major sporting events have always been together  sharing the values of sport, and it could not be any other way for this important competition”.

At the same time, the Team Principal gave his personal assessment of the competition: “As a Barcelona native, I am proud that my city is hosting the 37th America’s Cup. I was at the Olympic Games in Barcelona ‘92 and we were all buzzing with our city, showing the world that it is an example of  sound organizational abilities, seriousness and commitment. Now we have the chance to do it again at an event of the importance of the America’s Cup”.

Lastly, Guillermo Altadill closed his speech by highlighting the women’s participation for the first time in the competition’s history: “After 172 years of America’s Cup history and thanks to CaixaBank, the Spanish women’s team will take part for the first time in a competition that to date has not featured this discipline. As is always the case in this sport for which Spain is a leading force, we will not disappoint”.

Sail Team BCN, the Barcelona-based local team

Guillermo Altadill, a renowned yachtsman, was a key player in Barcelona’s bid to host the 2024 America’s Cup. Once the venue was announced, Grant Dalton, the competition’s CEO, offered the Catalan sailor the opportunity to create a Spanish team for the Youth & Puig Women America’s Cup. From that date on, Guillermo Altadill and Steward Hosford, an expert international project manager, started to design the Sail Team BCN project, a team based locally in Barcelona, specifically in the Port de Sitges.

Sail Team BCN has received approval from the America’s Cup Event (ACE) and Emirates Team New Zealand to be Spain’s challenger for the event in 2024. Sail Team BCN was created under the banner of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, with the goal of achieving the best junior and women’s team possible to represent Spain during the competition to be held in 2024. Sail Team BCN will compete in two categories, with two different teams: an all-female team comprising a maximum of eight women and a youth team comprising a maximum of eight young sailors aged between 18 and 25 years old. 

The selection process has been open to any Spanish athlete, taking into account their sporting background and their knowledge of foiling. The shortlist for the youth and women’s teams is expected to be announced at the end of January. In the medium and long term, the goal of Sail Team BCN is to build a platform of talent that will enable them to compete in all the categories of future America’s Cup.

As official sponsor of Sail Team BCN, the bank will be present in the image on the sail and hull of the boat, the team’s base and all the crew’s clothing. CaixaBank will also have rights connected to the official communication channels and the sporting facilities, along with the possibility of jointly developing, activating and coordinating innovative actions geared towards encouraging public participation.

CaixaBank’s age-old link with sport as a driving force for territorial development

CaixaBank is one of the forerunners in sports sponsorship in our country, with upwards of 30 years of experience in running projects in support of sport. This activity enables the financial institution to foster social and economic progress throughout its area of influence, in line with its founding values of commitment to society.

The bank became a benchmark in 1988 when it launched the ADO (Olympic Sports Association) plan, of which it was a founding member and from which its own ‘Libreta Campeones’ (Champions Passbook) project arose. This project, backed by “la Caixa”, sought to foster and acknowledge the daily efforts of Spanish sportsmen and women in their preparation for and during the Barcelona ‘92 Olympic Games. The conditions required to qualify for the passbook included achieving absolute records (national, European or world records); medals in international championships, as well as obtaining a medal, or fourth and fifth place in the Barcelona ‘92 Olympic Games. Altogether, 676 passbooks worth 50 million euros were given out.

This historical involvement with sport has brought the bank to be present, today, in four strategic segments, namely football, basketball, Paralympic sport and running, with upwards of 300 agreements in force.  

CaixaBank is currently Spain’s football clubs’ bank, sponsoring 80% of professional men’s football teams and over half of the women’s first division clubs. The bank is also a sponsoring partner of the Spanish Basketball Federation and official sponsor of both the Spanish men’s and women’s national teams in all categories, as well as official sponsor of 9 ACB basketball academies dedicated to training the youngest players.

It is also an official sponsor of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, with the goal of helping all Paralympic athletes to compete through the ADOP (Support for Paralympic Sport) programme, as well as an official sponsor of the Spanish Sports Federation for the Physically Disabled.  

In running, CaixaBank is involved in 50 of the country’s leading public races and has its own team of #runnersCaixaBank, comprised of employees, among whom it encourages healthy lifestyles.

Quotes from CaixaBank’s president, Juan Ignacio Goirigolzarri

Audio - Quotes from CaixaBank’s president

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