Juan Vila (12 November 1961) is a Spanish

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who has competed in multiple

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

s and

Whitbread Round the World Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

s. Born in Barcelona, Vila sailed in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race on the Spanish entry, '' Fortuna Extra Lights''. He then competed in the 1993–94 event on '' Galicia '93 Pescanova'', the 1997–98 event with '' Chessie Racing'', and the 2001–02 event on ''

Illbruck Challenge ''Illbruck Challenge'' is a Volvo Ocean 60 yacht. She won the 2001–02 Volvo Ocean Race skippered by John Kostecki John Paul Kostecki (born July 7, 1964) is an American competitive sailor of Polish descent. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl ...

''. ''Illbruck Challenge'' won the event, now renamed as the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

. He was the first Spanish sailor to win the trophy. He then joined

Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well as ...

and was their navigator during the successful defence of the

2007 America's Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and ''Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift o ...

. He sailed as navigator on ''

Alinghi 5 ''Alinghi 5'' is a ( LWL), beam sloop-rigged catamaran built by Alinghi for the 33rd America's Cup. The boat was launched on 8 July 2009 when the hull was lifted from the construction shed in Villeneuve, Vaud by a Mil Mi-26 helicopter and ...

'' when it lost the

2010 America's Cup The 33rd America's Cup between Société Nautique de Genève defending with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing was the subject of extensive court action and litigation, surpassing in acrimony even ...

. He sailed with ''

Banque Populaire V ''Banque Populaire V'', (now renamed ''Spindrift 2'') is an offshore-racing trimaran which was originally run by Team Banque Populaire. It was Team Banque Populaire's fifth boat designed to set oceanic records. She was launched on 4 October 20 ...

'' when it won the

Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding th ...

in 2012. The team had to abandon an earlier attempt at the record in 2011. He sailed in the

2013 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The 2013 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sponsored by Rolex and hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, is the 69th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The 2013 edition began ...

on '' Giacomo'' and on ''

Wild Oats XI ''Wild Oats XI'' is a maxi yacht, most famous for being the former race record holder and a nine-times line honours winner of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Launched in 2005, she was owned by Bob Oatley (Oatley's estate since his death in ...

'' in the 2016 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Vila later joined

Oracle Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club ...

and was part of their design team for the

2017 America's Cup The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 2 ...

. He will sail on ''

Mapfre Mapfre, S.A. (, officially typeset MAPFRE) is a Spanish multinational insurance company, based in Majadahonda, Madrid. The name comes from the old mutual origin of the company (''Mutualidad de la Agrupación de Propietarios de Fincas Rústicas ...

'' in the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vila, Juan Living people Spanish male sailors (sport) Volvo Ocean Race sailors 2007 America's Cup sailors 2010 America's Cup sailors Sailors (sport) from Barcelona 1961 births TP 52 class world champions World champions in sailing for Spain