Happy holidays from Valencia

Just a week is left till Christmas and two weeks till the new year. Time flies!! Taking advantange of our last opportunity in 2005 to cruise inside Valencia's Port America's Cup, I took a small tour of Valencia harbor's interior basin.

As you can see from the photos, all America's Cup teams, with no exceptions, are on holidays and all bases are closed and packed. There is hardly any exterior construction going on in the bases, except Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team and Victory Challenge. As a result, not all base photos are published and among the ones published there should be very minor differences visible, if any, from two weeks ago.

The great novelty this weekend is the arrival of the two former Le Défi Areva boats (FRA-46 and FRA-79) to be used by China Team. CHN-79 (former FRA-79) will be coverted to rule 5 and is expected to sail next spring and be used for racing throughout 2006. For more information, check the next article, right below.

All construction efforts are now focused on finishing the new canal that will connect Port America's Cup to the sea, eliminating thus the need to cross Valencia's busy commerical harbor. In fact, on Wednesday the interior basin will be completely isolated from the rest of the harbor and on January 9 the final stretch of land that separates the two parts of the canal will be opened.

Valencia's harbor is being rapidly transformed, with no time to waste as the next Louis Vuitton acts will start in just five months.

The Luna Rossa base. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The Victory Challenge base. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The interior structure of the Victory Challenge base. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The recently inaugurated base of Desafío Español 2007. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The base of Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The base of BMW Oracle Racing. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The Alinghi base. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing


The Foredeck Club is also advancing rapidly. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The canal that will connect Port America's Cup to the sea, looking north. It will be finished on January 9. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

The same canal looking towards Port America's Cup. Photo taken by Valencia Sailing

Final picture for today from Port America's Cup, and probably for 2005. One pier of the future marina is already in place. This brand new marina will be located right inside the canal and will have around 700 berths, 300 of which will be ready by May. According to Valencia's press, these 300 berths are already up for sale or rent. So, hurry up!! Photo taken by Valencia Sailing