The 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE will be held in 2021
by Alejandro Varela 27 May 2020 15:10 BST
Fleet competing on the Bay of Palma in 2019 © María Muiña / Copa del Rey MAPFR
After 38 consecutive years holding one of the largest sailing competitions in the world, the postponement of the 39th edition of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE due to "health and safe well being responsibility" in 2020 will go down in history.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced strong social and sports restrictive measures, "health and safe well being responsibility" has remained the main focus of the Organizing Committee, chaired by Emerico Fuster.
An event like the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, with participation figures exceeding 2,000 sailors from more than 30 countries, and more than 3,000 people a day attending the competition, both at sea and on shore, must ensure that health and safe well being responsibility prevails above any sports or social interest.
Emerico Fuster, president both of the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the Organizing Committee of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, has explained; "for us, both as a club and as an organization and after 38 uninterrupted years of celebration, this has been a very hard decision to take but in our mind, above all, it has always been to guarantee the health of our club members, our employees, the sailors and all the guests of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE."
Emerico, already with the vision set for next year, has highlighted that "the postponement of the 39th edition to 2021 makes us think already about next year, so that together can celebrate this edition with more desire than ever. Without a doubt, 2021 will be a special moment that will remind us the responsibility as a society facing a global health problem that, together, I hope, we will have managed to overcome."