Sail Team BCN prepares for its official debut in the first edition of the Women’s America’s Cup

Sail Team BCN has started official training ahead of its debut in the first edition of the Women’s America’s Cup, which will be on Sunday 6 October, although the competition starts on 5 October.

After two days of free training, the skippers and trimmers of Sail Team BCN have completed the first official training regatta with buoys and a race committee. Finally, the skippers who will be on board the AC40 will be Silvia Mas and Neus Ballester and the trimmers will be María Cantero and Paula Barceló, with Nicole Van der Velden as reserve sailor.

The Women’s America’s Cup is one of the two modalities that accompany the main competition in the 37th edition of the America’s Cup. Together with the Youth America’s Cup, it adds an innovative and inclusive component to this legendary championship. This is the first edition of this women’s competition and it opens up new opportunities for female sailors who, from October 5 to 13, will compete against 11 other teams.

The Sail Team BCN sailors are:

Neus Ballester (16/12/2003, Mallorca)
Neus is the youngest member of the women’s team and the only one who is also part of the youth team. She is the daughter of Olympic champion Pepote Ballester and world champion Neus Bover. She herself can boast of having been twice World Champion in the 420, bronze in the European Youth Championship in the 470 and fifth in the World Youth Championship in the 470.
“I am quite young and to be told that I am going to be part of it, even if it wasn’t on the boat, just being part of the team is already a source of pride and something very important to me. It is the first women’s America’s Cup in history and being able to say that being so young I can be on this team is amazing,” she said.

Silvia Mas (23/08/1996, Barcelona)
Silvia also comes from a family of sailors and has been sailing since she was a child with her three brothers. She was a world champion in the 470m and an Olympic champion in Tokyo, twice a Junior World Champion, absolute champion of Spain and a European bronze medallist.
Silvia has stated that she is “aware that it is something historic, it is the first time that women have participated in the America’s Cup. I am obviously super happy that it is in Barcelona, ​​which is at home and also with a responsibility. This is the beginning of a very long road. Let’s hope that the America’s Cup is here to stay and that, as the editions go by, it gets better.”

Paula Barceló Martín (03/13/1996, Palma de Mallorca)
Paula won gold at the 2020 49er Fx World Championship, bronze at the 2022 World Championship and bronze at the 2023 49er Fx European Championship. She has participated in two Olympic Games: Tokyo and Paris and, most surprisingly, she combines elite sport with her higher education: she is in her fifth year of Medicine.
Paula has said she feels “super lucky to be able to be in the first girls’ team that is going to race the America’s Cup. I think that, apart from being lucky, it is a great responsibility. In the end, many barriers are being broken in women’s sport and I think that this, together with other great circuits that are increasingly introducing women, are doing an impressive job, but at the same time I feel that I have that responsibility to continue breaking barriers for the future generations to come.”

Maria Cantero (06/26/1997, Canary Islands)
María is a bronze medalist in the 2013 49erFX Youth World Championship, fifth and sixth in the 2022 49erFX World Championship and bronze medalist in the 2021 Youth Foiling Gold Cup.
“For me it was something very special to know that there would be a first women’s cup and that, in addition, it would be in Barcelona. In my opinion, we as athletes can really inspire people and try to convey a message. And being the first edition in which women compete in the cup, we have a great responsibility because in the end you want to do it as well as possible and pave the way for the next generations,” said Maria.

Nicole van der Velden (10/26/1994, Madrid)
Nicole is coming off being the protagonist of the Spanish team’s victory on the SailGP circuit. Her achievements include finishing first at the Lanzarote International Week IQFoil 2022, seventh at the European IQFoil 2021, fourteenth at the 49erFX World Championship 2019, sixteenth at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Nacra 17 2016, seventh at the Nacra 17 World Championship 2015 and tenth at the European Nacra 17.
“It’s great to participate in the Women’s America’s Cup. It’s a great opportunity for us to learn and grow in the world of professional sailing,” Nicole said.

Jordi Puig, president of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, ​​the club for which Sail Team BCN sails, is very excited about the challenge. “From the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, ​​I would like to wish the best of luck to Sail Team BCN in their challenge for the titles of the 37th Women’s America’s Cup. The presence of the America’s Cup in our city is a unique opportunity that enhances the projection of Barcelona in the world of sailing. As a club, we contribute