(ATR) Local leaders from the town of Armação dos Búzios say the IOC, Rio 2016, and the International Sailing Federation should move the Olympic regatta out of Guanabara Bay to their town.
With recent media reports on the quality of water in Guanabara Bay, citizens from hotel, tourism, and political associations in Búzios met to create the campaign "Vela em Búzios 2016," and pitch the IOC and Rio 2016 the merits of what they call the "sailing capital of Brazil."
Búzios is a town of around 23,000 inhabitants located 105 miles east of Rio de Janeiro.
"All that we know is that all the equipment that has to be built for this is not much of a physical thing," Thomas Weber, vice president of the Búzios tourism and visitors bureau, said to ATR.
"If there is a decision to put it here in the next six months, it is not a problem."
"Vela em Búzios" came to fruition at the end of July after Rio de Janeiro state officials reiterated they would not reach the goal of treating 80 percent of sewage flowing into Guanabara Bay. Soon after, leaders of the campaign sent a letter to the IOC and Rio 2016 organizers offering a better site to house the sailing.
As of Aug. 29, no response has been given by either organization to the letter. Campaign organizers say that the municipal assembly of Rio de Janeiro has granted a meeting on Sept. 4 to discuss the efforts.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the IOC said the sailing event "is taking place in Guanabara Bay as proposed by Rio 2016." Rio 2016 did not return requests for comment at the time of publication.
Búzios has organized championship level regattas in the past, hosting the ISAF world junior championships in 2009 and the world championships for the RS: X windsurfing class in 2013.
To host the Olympic regatta, Salviano Martins, president of the Commercial and Business Association of Búzios, told ATR an expansion of the town’s marina would be required to fit all of the boats for storage and launching.Martins says that the area around the marina is open, making the expansion relatively easy, and it would take sailors "roughly 20 minutes" to reach the racing courses from where they launch.
If the expansion of the marina proves to be not enough space for the Olympic regatta, the local yacht club would serve as an overflow launching site.
In terms of hotels, the city boasts that it receives 200,000 tourists a year, and that the 150,000 it hosts during Carnival would dwarf the nearly 10,000 guests estimated for the Olympic regatta.
In terms of the racing, Weber says "of course" the waters around Búzios are cleaner than the polluted waterways of Guanabara Bay, and that no matter what, "there is always wind."
The race courses would be located in the many bays around the peninsula that holds the city due to extreme gusts that can be found on open ocean.
"Here it is always windy, which is a problem in Rio because there you do not always have wind," Weber said.
He said that many of the courses will be close enough to the beach that spectators can relax and enjoy themselves while watching the Olympians compete, like in Guanabara Bay.
For the campaign, "Vela em Búzios" recruited athletes from around the world to talk about their experiences training in Búzios and why they would support the Olympic regatta being held there.
One sailor from Argentina said "conditions in Búzios are always very special," while Dutch sailor Christian Lubek said of the conditions, "There is everything at Búzios."
With less than a year until the Olympic Games open, it is unlikely that any events will be moved outside of the city of Rio de Janeiro, even though that possibility now exists under Olympic Agenda 2020. The organizing committee has moved into the operational phase of the Games, and is testing to make sure every plan laid out over the last six years works properly.
Despite these odds, those in Búzios have not given up hope.
"Even today, athletes from all over the world, they come to train here in Búzios.," Weber said.
"Búzios is on the Brazilian Olympic Committee’s website as a recommended training center. There is a reason the town is known for being the capital of sailing."
Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro
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