Valencia SailBase
SailCoach set up its second base in the city of Valencia at the end of 2021, complementing operations in Malta. The city has a rich sailing history, including playing host to the 2007 America’s Cup and has become a popular training venue for Optimist (Orange Regatta), Finn (the Dinghy Academy), and ILCA sailors alike. With excellent sailing conditions afloat and extensive shore facilities at the Real Club Náutico de Valencia. Making Valencia a natural choice for SailCoach with the Mediterranean providing excellent warm-weather training all year round.
We intended that SailCoach’s Valencia SailBase would provide a “home from home” for teams wanting a base in Europe with year-round training facilities. The SailBase can offer favourable prices for long-term containers parking, giving teams a base to store equipment a day’s drive away from the heart of Europe. They can then fly from any part of the world, spending a week or two getting set up and over jetlag, et cetera, before competing on the European regatta circuit. Traditionally, the first regatta on the European circuit is Palma Majorca’s Princess Sofía Trophy. With Valencia having a twice daily ferry service to the Balearic Islands, what better starting point could there be?
Why Valencia
The city lies on the Mediterranean, so it enjoys a covetable climate with 300 sunny days, a year and an average annual temperature of 18º C. It has a worldwide renowned traditional cuisine, with over 7 km of beautiful beaches and a Mediterranean lifestyle that combines tradition and innovation, with a good quality of life and a moderate cost of living, making Valencia an exceptional city for athletes to be based.
The cost of living is yet another of the reasons why sailing athletes set sail for Valencia. Sailors will be pleasantly surprised at how little they need to spend to live the dream athletes life. This applies to everyday expenses such as shopping, eating out or going for a drink. At the same time, Valencia is a short travel distance from central Europe, making it easy to drive with all your equipment, and sailors usually have a lot. SailCoach is also renowned for its value for money at its training bases, another good reason to come to SailCoach.
Valencia is virtually flat, and there is a pervasive, ever-expanding network of cycle paths. No bike, no problem, the friendly faces at BikeAlao or Doyoubike will rent you whatever you need. There are also many natural parks not far from the city to get in touch with nature while biking. Behind the city, rolling mountains and hills make Valencia the perfect place for sailing athletes with their bikes.
Even the education is international, with the two world-renowned universities, of Valencia and the Polytechnic University offering many courses in English, with many affiliated private centres or business schools like EDEM, offering excellent connections to the international entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Getting to Valencia
The city has an extensive network of travel connections, including an airport directly connected to more than 70 international destinations such as London, Berlin, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Brussels, Lisbon, Frankfurt, etc. In addition, you can travel from Madrid in just an hour and a half by high-speed train. Apart from Valencia Airport, which is a 15-minute drive or 20-minute metro ride to Valencia’s city centre, there are two other international airports within driving distance, Castellón to the north and Alicante to the south.
There’s also a great network of roads to all major destinations, especially now that the AP 7 is toll-free. You can take this motorway to Barcelona, and then on to France. But, Valencia is primarily a port city, ranking nº1 in Spain for cargo/container traffic. It also provides easy ferry access to the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Ibiza etc. So being this well connected also makes it ideal for sailing teams to have their European base.
Climate Data
Will be updated shortly…
Where to stay
The Valencia SailBase is located at the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, known locally as Club Náutico (if you take a taxi) in the neighbourhood of Poblats Marítims, approximately 2km along from the well-known City of Arts and Sciences. The Ilunion Aqua 3 and 4 hotels are reasonably priced and the nearest to the Valencia SailBase. Bed & Bike Marina is an apartment complex that we use from time to time, which is ideal for short stays.
There are a number of modern hostels with the nearest one to SailCoach’s Valencia SailBase being Urban Youth Hostel in the vicinity of the old America’s Cup harbour and about 20 minutes by bicycle to the SailBase. In the city centre there is Purple and Red Nest Hostels and Quart Youth Hostel both are modern and with a selection of room sizes in including twin.
Please note that we do not provide transportation between the SailBase and the hotels or apartments. However, sailors tend to take a taxi, cycle or jog between the two places.
If looking for apartment accommodation, we recommend that you stay in the neighbourhoods of Marina Playa, Camins al Grau, Poblats Marítims or Quatre Carreres. There are also some excellent deals on Airbnb for all these neighbourhoods.
Our Valencia SailBase has limited hostel-style accommodation, and you are advised to book early if you intend to stay with your small groups for short periods. Please note that priority is given to our own staff at this accommodation site.
You have access to the boat park, club changing facilities, use of a small, but well equipped gym, wifi internet and a lecture room at our Sailbase. There are five or six restaurants in the club where sailors can choose for lunch each day.
