We know from your emails after previous posts here and on the Challenger Commission Blog of the interest in how things are shaping up in the Port America's Cup, formerly known as la Dársena Interior. So here's a bit more of the latest.

No surprise, most continue to call the Port America's Cup "the Dársena." Proper Spanish pronunciation is "DAR say nah"; however, many Anglos mangle the accent, pronouncing it "dar SAY nah" to the amusement of the locals.

A construction site by any other name is still a construction site, and at the moment the area is, well, a big one. However, as with many projects in Spain, it seems once they get under way progress es muy rápido -- if not always to German standards of fit and finish.

The Dársena developments that have received the most notice are the team bases, the super yacht dock and "the canal" (as it is called locally -- canal is the Spanish word both for the English "canal" and "channel").

A less obvious, but welcome development is the new roadway/railway that has closed off the waterway between the Dársena and the container port, parallel to the railway drawbridge (soon to be removed, or so we are told). Welcome because it is the new truck route from the motorway in and out of the Port. The old route was around the north side of the Dársena, along what is now AC Base Row, and then across the spit of land between the Dársena and the Med (to the east) that the canal now cuts through. What a relief to no longer have the heavy truck traffic rumbling past the bases! It was not only a nuisance but a safety hazard to those accessing the bases whether by car, bike or on foot.




Also, the City is in the midst of creating one way traffic corridors in and out of the Port America's Cup. At the moment driving is a bit of a mission in the area as they convert the present two-way streets and do the attendant underground infrastructural work. Avenida Baleares has recently become one way outbound from the PAC, and Avenida del Puerto will soon be one way inbound. One can only hope that all these roadworks will be done and dusted before Acts 10 and 11 in May.




These following pix were taken yesterday (Saturday), and, as with those above, you can click on them to enlarge....


From the third-floor deck of the BMWOR Base, the view of our neighbor
to the west, Luna Rossa. Noted architect Renzo Piano designed their base.
That's real sail cloth bonded to the outside panels. Neat looking -- we'll see
how well it weathers.


Looking south from our Base across the end of the super yacht dock
to the new roadway/railway (between the upright bridge spans) across
what had been the channel between the Dársena and the container
port. Before the new canal, teams had to tow through the busy port
to get to and from the Med. We are told the drawbridge, which
was for trains only, is being removed for use in another Spanish city.


Our easterly neighbors -- Shosholoza, +39 and Alinghi. The large
building under construction in the background (and it is large
-- that's only three of its final four-stories!) is situated along the canal
in what will be the public America's Cup Park. It will have retail shops
on the ground floor, with ACM's VIP hospitality center ("Foredeck Club")
and the Mayor's operations/hospitality center on the upper levels.


This was taken from the north side of the canal looking west back
into the Dársena, more or less the obverse of the preceding photo.


There is now a narrow channel in the canal through which an ACC
yacht can pass (see this post on the Challenger Commission blog from
last week). Dredging continues, and we are told the entire canal will
be at least 5 meters deep.


The Med (easterly) end of the canal is guarded by the new groin/seawall
(background) that wraps well around to the right (south), thus protecting
the canal mouth from the onshore southeasterly seabreeze-driven chop.
Last week the central government approved funding for the construction
of a large marina in the elbow of the groin (background, left). This area
outside of the canal and inside the groin is now being called, perhaps
predictably, the Dársena Exterior. Smiling in the foreground is Valencian
architect and sailor Jose Luis Soler, the affable and competent head
of ACM's spectator boat control (on the water during racing) under
Regatta Director Dyer Jones.