2023-06-23 06:44:53
Chrissy Lamond, the wife of NYYC American Magic COO Tyson Lamond, officially christened the fleet’s eighth AC40 ‘Magic’ at a pier ceremony and once the previous day’s inclement weather had dissipated, the sailors took to the water for their first official sail.
Tom Burnham, the team’s coach, summed up this important milestone in the NYYC American Magic campaign by saying: “It’s great to be here in Barcelona, and it was really nice to get out on the water with our AC40 Boat2 ‘Magic’…and it was very good, good morning today…There was a decent sea state, it was very big yesterday, and it was definitely still pretty big today and it was different, it’s definitely a new challenge and something we’ll all have to get used to. so it’s definitely worth being here to check it out.”
Across Barcelona’s Port Vell, the six teams competing in the 37th Copa América have been busy building their bases and preparing for what promises to be an intense training and sailing program ahead of the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La. Geltru in September. Boats and equipment will arrive in Barcelona in the coming weeks and viewers will see multiple yachts cruising the crystal clear waters off Barcelona’s busy beach during the summer months.
The NYYC American Magic team is based in the MB92 shipyard on the south side of the port, with easy access to La Barcelonetta beach, near the W-Hotel promontory and right across from the World Trade Center. Two large dockside hangars have been erected to house the team’s equipment as a base now for the remainder of the campaign until the start of the Challenger Selection Series in August and September 2024.
Tom Burnham praised the great team effort that went into creating the base and said: “The team has been working very hard over the last few months. There’s been a great group of people here for a while, and they’ve been working very hard, and the base is really coming together. It’s taken a while, it’s definitely a lot of work, but the good thing is that we’re here now, it’s our home for the next 16 months, so it’s very exciting to be here and start operating from our permanent base for the rest of the way. through the Cup. It’s going to be really good.”
And speaking of how the team is settling into their new life in Barcelona, Tom Burnham added: “Everyone loves it. He has been great. There is a good atmosphere, a lot of nice people in Barcelona, super friendly, helpful… it has been a good experience so far.»
The NYYC American Magic team will shortly be fully operational with two AC40s plus their heavily modified AC75 ‘Patriot’ which is en route across the Atlantic Ocean. No doubt Tom Burnham was speaking on behalf of the team when he commented: “There’s going to be a lot of two-boats sailing the AC40s until the fall when we head to the first World Series event at Villanova i La Geltrú and then later in the year we’ll sail the ‘Patriot’ in Barcelona, which will be very exciting to have a great ship sailing here. But we’ll be focusing on the AC40 two-boat program for a couple of months to really practice some racing and it’s the fun part of the program where we get to do a lot of practice racing two boats against each other – it’s going to be exciting; We are looking forward to it.”
Barcelona is ready to welcome the world at the 37th Copa América and Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Events commented: “Seeing the NYYC American Magic team in the water and operational is another huge milestone for the America’s Cup. All credit to the team, the Port Authority and event management for getting the groundwork up and running so quickly – they’ve literally sprouted all over the place.” the Port Vell area in doubly fast time. We expect all the teams to be on site and fully operational by August and it’s great to see another team in the water training and testing what promises to be a defining period in all the teams’ training programmes.”
Spectators on the beachfront will be able to see the boats training and testing a few meters from the coast where the real racetrack of the 37th Copa América, the Challenger Selection Series plus the Juvenile and the inaugural PUIG Women’s America’s Cup will be held.
Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain welcome the NYYC American Magic team to what is quickly becoming the center of the pinnacle event of the world of sailing: the America’s Cup.
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