The Catalan women's 'foil' team opens the way for new athletes propelled by the America's Cup

Paving the way for future female athletes and promoting sailing as a women's sport. In this dual direction, the brand new Catalan women's foil team is advancing, with its six young members who are beginning to train after a selection process among all clubs in Catalonia. The Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica (FBCN) and the Federació Catalana de Vela (FCV) have promoted the formation of the new team with the aim of promoting the practice of sailing and bringing it closer to the public in all its variants, within a project that aims to promote foil as a new discipline. Both have decided to give this boost to foil taking advantage of the springboard that the America's Cup will represent for sailing and nautical sports in all its aspects.

This new women's team aims to inspire other women and girls and bring them closer to nautical sports in general, and to foil in particular. This discipline, which allows boats to fly over water and is faster and more physically demanding, is on the rise and will gain Olympic weight. Thus, it is key to promote it among new generations of athletes and open it to potential sailors, including, of course, women and girls.

"We want girls to see that it is possible to be a girl and excel in this type of sport, and we believe that this team can help future generations make a leap," said Emma Cabré, a member of the new Catalan women's team. In this sense, "it is important to grow as a team and give visibility to the first foil boat made up only of women in Catalonia", adds fellow team member Iset Segura in conversation with The New Barcelona Post.

Thus, the impulse of this all-female foil team aims to become an opportunity for new generations, in a context where this practice is gaining popularity and is emerging as a modality of the future. Foil boats have the hydrofoil that gives the discipline its name, which allows the hull of the boat to rise above the water when it gains speed, which leads to faster sailing by avoiding the resistance generated by the sea and its waves.

Cabré, from Club Nàutic El Masnou, highlights that these peculiarities of foil make it a more physically demanding discipline, and emphasizes the importance of having teams made up solely of women. "It is essential to have women's teams, and to prevent women from being relegated to less visible positions in mixed teams just to meet quotas," added Segura, who has joined the team from Club Nàutic Vilassar de Mar.

Completing this pioneering team are Mònica Veenhoven, from Club Nàutic el Balís; Laura Pedraza, from Arenys de Mar; Marina Giralt, from Vilassar de Mar, and Montse Solé, from the same club and with extensive experience, including a fourth position in the 2023 Wingfoil Racing circuit. With ages ranging between 17 and 30, the members of the precursor team are captained by Magdalena Resano as coach. The also sports director of Balís has been a national coach for multiple teams, and has participated in the organization and management of regattas.

And this is not only a pioneering team, but it is a team of pioneers. Iset Segura was one of the first people in Catalonia to sail with foil. "Some asked me what kind of boat that was, and insisted if I was sure I wanted to sail with that boat," a sports catamaran that flies more than it sails called Nacra 17. Cabré ventured into foil after trying the hydrofoil sailboat Waszp. "When we tried it in 2018, there were no boats of this type in Spain, and mine and my brother's were the first to arrive," says Cabré, who proclaims: "When you want something different you have to dare, and I launched myself into sailing with all the desire I had."

The impulse of the first Catalan women's foil team is part of the strategy of the Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica and the Federació Catalana de Vela to promote foil among current and future sailors. Under the name FoilCat, this project offers training and support to professionals who want to represent Catalonia in foil competitions, among other actions. All in order to boost this discipline, with the aim that Catalan sailing continues to be a benchmark in all its aspects.

The project has been promoted within the framework of an alliance between the foundation and the federation to give an extra boost to sailing, taking advantage of the traction exerted by the America's Cup. Thus, the competition will leave a legacy not only materialized through urban transformations, such as that of Port Vell and that of Port Olímpic, but also through a more intense and extensive passion for sailing, nautical sports, and everything the sea offers.