The New Zealand team retains the American Cup in Yachting, the oldest sports cup in the world | newspaper

Three thousand boats in the water around a three-kilometer field: a scene that can be seen on TV. But out of the 3,000 boats, none of the crew members bother seeing that postcard. They are there to see only two ships, the two heroes, those who make history. This was the 36th edition of the America and Hauraki Bay, which in Maori means “the northern winds,” and which was dressed in New Zealand and Italy fencing clothes. Ironically, the winds that were blowing were not from the north, as the only opposing team from the Southern Hemisphere reached the finish line first.

The English invented the Copa America and they never won it. It’s actually the America’s Cup, an American sailboat that in 1851, during the Queen’s Cup, left all English competitors far behind when the Queen asked “Who is second?” And they said, Your Majesty, there is no second. It was the first time that the world’s oldest sports trophy had been contested, and since then it has always been owned by the New York Yacht Club. Sailboats from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia wanted to take them away, so that the kangaroo finally took home the trophy in the 25th edition, in 1983.

The shape of the fight resembles a world title of boxing: the defending champ is challenged by a rival, the rules are agreed upon and the type of sailboat they will compete on, and the magic begins.

Australia never won the title again and the title was passed twice, four times by the Swiss and New Zealanders. The trophy did not return to New York but to the United States, whose clubs have won it 29 times. Just an American club, Golden Gate Yachting, defeated the Kiwi four years ago in Bermuda waters. With the acquired right to be a defender, they now welcomed Italy into their homeland. Luna Rossa, team five, Was a rival in 1992, in 2000 and now, always with defeat. They will have to keep waiting to bring the trophy to a Mediterranean country for the first time.

Among the many pages of glory there is Uruguay who writes his history in this competition. His name is Horacio Carabelli and his determination pushed him to sail all kinds of seas. Carabelli, the Celestial Olympian in Seoul in 1988, was a two-time junior world champion in the Snipe category, then embarked on adventures with a capital letter. He has sailed more than once in the Ocean Race, around the world he won aboard Ericsson 4. A marine designer and mechanical engineer, in the last 15 years he has put his knowledge at the service of teams from Sweden, France and now Italy, where he was the design coordinator at Luna Rossa. The team was successful, as it managed to beat the United States and the United Kingdom in the Prada Cup, the qualifying tournament for this version of the Copa America.

In times of remarkable technological advancements, it was frustration He took sailing to new heights with boats flying over water, thanks to their hydrodynamic beams. These sailboats can sail at speeds approaching 100 kilometers per hour, propelled only by winds of 35 km / h. In Formula 1 sailing, Horacio enjoys a prestigious position and is reserved for great minds.

It was the best regatta series 13 and New Zealand won 7-3. The Hundred Guineas Cup will remain in the waters of Oceania. There it was raised again by its defenders and celebrated to the beat of Maori Hakka.