- The project, launched by Cádiz’s City Hall Instituto Municipal de Deporte and powered by SailGP Inspire, will train the most promising athletes in the country
- The facilities will utilize advanced technology, latest generation materials and top-level coaches
- There will be three different training programmes depending on the level, age and needs of those who wish to learn how to foil or continue developing the discipline
Foiling Base Cádiz, powered by SailGP Inspire and launched by Cadiz’s City Hall Instituto Municipal de Deporte, has landed on the coast of Cádiz. In this center the best youngsters in the country will be trained in several disciplines related to foiling so that they can best develop their skills alongside some of the world’s greatest experts.
The project includes an introduction to foiling at various levels, the development of athletes and coaches, the creation of a passion for this discipline and will aim to encourage the participation of locals. The base will also form lasting links between the most promising youngsters in foiling and the Spanish SailGP Team.
The base was opened amidst this week's ILCA 4 Youth European Championships taking place in Cádiz, at a ceremony conducted by the journalist Ana Julia Muñoz. Attendees included Cadiz City Hall Sports, Economy and Finance Councillor José Ramón Paez Pareja, Diego Botin, Driver of the Spain SailGP, Nicole van der Velden, Strategist of Spain SailGP Team, Pablo Guitián, Manager of the Foiling Base Cádiz powered by SailGP Inspire and Cadiz’s City Hall Mayor José María González Santos.
Botin said: “I think it is a very interesting project which can help the next generation in this discipline’s formation learn from some of the best coaches in the country in first level facilities.”
van der Velden said: “We are luckily living in a key time for women in sports and there are nowadays several role models who have blazed a trail so that as women we can feel inspired to carry on with our careers and can make our dreams and objectives true.”
González and Páez said: “We are grateful for the trust that SailGP has placed in the city of Cádiz, which strengthens, with this initiative, its position as an icon and model for nautical sports on an international scale. As has been highlighted, the Elcano Nautical Center’s facilities will become an excellence center for this sport thanks to the SailGP Foiling Base programme which is closely aligned with the local community and the local schools’ sports program. Our key aspiration remains being able to see a female or male from Cádiz on board the Spanish F50,”
“We also see this as an opportunity to open new employment avenues linked to marine activities and sport in the city while contributing to creating passion for the sport and to reinforce the city’s ties with SailGP, ensuring Càdiz will be a permanent site of the competition. “
Guitián said: “Creating a unique foiling base at a local, national and international level in Cádiz will increase opportunities for local foiling enthusiasts and identify new local and national young talents in foiling, developing their abilities at the highest level.”
All kinds of athletes will be able to train in this center, from those who want to get their start in foiling, starting from the age of eight up to 55, and whether they have previous experience or not, to those who want to take their skills to the next level and compete professionally. There will be adapted programmes for anybody who wants to participate and learn from the best at this Foiling Base, which will have lasting generational impact, and provide the most advanced technology and first level coaches.
There will be three different training programmes with diverse characteristics:
- Local Academy: designed for young sailing participants who live in Cádiz.
- Local Rookies: aimed for over 21 year olds with little or no existing sailing experience and living in Cádiz.
- Young National Talents: for the most promising youngsters from around Spain aged between 15 and 20 with advanced abilities in this discipline.
The two Sail Grand Prix events which took place in Cádiz in 2021 and 2022 established the Gaditian city as a hotspot of world foiling. With this project’s opening, this position will be notably reinforced. Cádiz has demonstrated its passion for SailGP, establishing itself as a fixture on the calendar and is eagerly awaiting the F50s’ arrival in 2023 for Season 4 as well as Season 5. On February 22nd, SailGP was awarded the Andalucía Regional Government Award for the Internationalization of the Province by the Junta de Andalucía Government in Cádiz due to its contribution to the international exposure of Andalucía and Cádiz worldwide.
