Valencia beaches and race areas (updated)

As promised, the "Beach" section of the Valencia guides has been updated with all the information concerning the race area of the America's Cup, delimited by the coastline and the three permanent white lines on the map. I would like to thank Tom Ehman, head of External Affairs and Rules Compliance for BMW ORACLE Racing as well as former chairman of the Challenger Commission, for providing the exact coordinates of the race area as well as very useful explanations.

The Race Committee may run racing anywhere within that area. However, as a practical matter, there are two main course areas that have come to be used: one off Malvorsa which is the so-called "North Course", and one off El Saler also known as the "South Course".

If on a race day the wind is blowing offshore (from the NW), the race courses would both be moved offshore (into the eastern areas of the Race Area defined above). Remember, too, that during the round robins in 2007 the challengers will be using two race areas and the defender a third on which to practice. These will be rotated so all teams get practice on what will presumably be "center court" come 2007 -- the Malvarosa course area just off the Darsena where it is expected the LVC semis, LVC finals and Match will all be run.

As for the starting lines, they are moved depending on wind conditions, and sometimes other considerations as well.

As a result, the best beaches from where to watch the America's Cup racing action in Valencia are Las Arenas, Malvarosa and Patacona for the North Course and El Saler and Pinedo for the South Course. We should emphasize here that a spectator could be disappointed turning up in these beaches to watch the races. They are by no means close to the boats and you will not be able to really enjoy the action. Without any doubt, the best option would be to go on a spectator boat, or, even beter, a private boat. Nevertheless, if these options are not available, watching from one of the aforementioned beaches is the best alternative.

Most probably, the best locations in land from where to watch the races in 2007 will be the America's Cup Park and the end of the breakwater. Nevertheless, the former is still on the design table while the latter is under construction and quite a number of months till completion.