We were invited by Helly Hansen to join them on an unforgettable weekend at the America’s Cup in Barcelona.
We would like to say a big thank you to our hosts Helly Hansen and New York Yacht Club American Magic for an amazing weekend, full of excitement, sporting history and excellent company.

We flew into Barcelona on Friday and landed with the brilliant news that Ineos Britannia had won the Louis Vuitton Cup. The first time a British team has won since 1964, allowing them to challenge Emirates Team New Zealand for the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. One of the most prestigious competitions in our sport, that a British team has never won!

Founded in 1851, and first called the “RYS £100 Cup”, the America’s cup is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport.

Once we checked into our hotel we went exploring the beautiful city of Barcelona.

However, we soon found ourselves drawn to the water, checking out the race village and fan zones and meeting up with Mark, our representative from Helly Hansen, who looked after us all weekend.

Not long after we were suddenly swept up in a sea of red, white and blue, as the Ineos Britannia team were making their way to the presentation stage to be awarded with the Louis Vuitton Cup. Talk about right place at the right time!

We had a great view of the presentation being made and the inevitable party and champagne moments.

However, we quickly tore ourselves away from the party, so not to be late for dinner!

On Saturday we saw history being made with the start of the first ever Women’s Americas Cup competition. Over the years there have been plenty of women competing in the Americas Cup, including completely female crews. However, this is the first year there has been a specific Women’s competition as well as a youth competition.

Our hosts were the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic team, who Helly Hansen are clothing partners with. Check out the video showing how American Magic and Helly Hansen worked together to create the perfect blend of performance and protection.

After a welcome and a couple of presentations showing Helly Hansen’s partnership and a Q&A with the teams coach, we boarded the spectator boat and set out to watch the first ever Women’s America’s cup.

We watched each team come out of the marina, with the NYYC American Magic team coming out last to a thunderous welcome from our spectator boat. ‘American Woman’ blasting over the speakers with cheering and shouts of USA, USA, USA

The result of the first race (of four that day) was a win for the British team Athena Pathway. As you can imagine we hid our joy, being a guest on the American Magic’s team spectator boat!

It was an excellent day of racing in challenging conditions, showcasing some of the best female sailors in the world. A real privilege to watch history in the making.

After all the excitement of the day we were invited to dinner at Reial Club Nàutic de Barcelona with our hosts Helly Hansen and all their weekend guests. With a twilight view over the marina and race village, it was the perfect end to the day.

As Sunday dawned, we knew our trip was coming to an end. However, we had one last item on our itinerary which was a visit to the Americas Cup Experience. An exhibition showing the history of the competition, past and present. After watching a few short films and looking at the exhibits we tried the AC75 immersive simulator to experience just a little bit of what it’s like racing on these incredible yachts.

After this, it was a quick bite to eat before heading to the airport.

We would once again like to thank our hosts Helly Hansen and New York Yacht Club American Magic for their incredible hospitality throughout the weekend. Especially to Mark our Helly Hansen rep, who thoroughly looked after us all weekend.

Best of luck to all the competitors over the final few days of racing.