Club Náutico Benidorm
Club Náutico Benidorm is the official sailing and watersports club on Benidorm Bay (Alicante), located on Passeig de Colón between the sandy beaches, Benidorm Island and Serra Gelada Natural Park. Since its foundation in 1963 the sailing school has been the core activity, complemented by rowing, kayak and paddle-surf programmes and environmental education with Blue Flag and ISO 14001 certification. Facilities include pontoons with 105 berths, training fleets in Optimist, 420 and ILCA, plus training and racing for children, juniors and adults. The club organises about 18 of roughly 30 regattas per season on site, including the Navidades Náuticas, and is an active training and competition venue in the Valencian sailing scene.
History
The harbour history of Benidorm goes back a long way: Iberians, Phoenicians and Romans used what is now Cala de Finestrat as an anchorage. With permanent settlement and fishing, boats later lay at the start of Playa de Poniente, where Parque de Elche stands today, with little shelter from storms. In 1920 the first refuge harbour was completed – a simple stone breakwater facing west that improved work ashore and safety at sea. In the 1960s the tourism boom brought the first sailing and motor boats; fishermen, the excursion boat “Golondrina”, tourists and residents shared the mole and beach. With support from the sailing federation, Club Náutico de Benidorm was founded in 1963; the first president was Enrique Fernández Iruegas. In 1966 Carlos Llorca Timoner, a merchant navy captain and driving force for watersports, took the helm. At first there was only a wooden hut for equipment; boats were launched and recovered from the sand with rubber rollers. Later came fixed two-storey facilities with sail and engine stores, office, meeting room and terrace. In 1967 the mole and harbour were remodelled and the building gained two new modules. Sailing competition grew as far as Spanish championships and cups. Fully renewed and inaugurated in 2000 with new pontoons and club premises, the club today manages 105 berths and runs sailing and rowing schools. Elite sailors such as Ángel Gutiérrez (420 and 470), Miguel Soldevila (470), José Marcet and Antonio Mayor (420, 470), Begoña Cortés (Optimist) and Mariano Cebrián (Optimist and Laser) started here. In 2021 the summer sailing school for young sailors was created. The club holds the Blue Flag, is ISO 14001 certified and, through the “Cuidem la Mar” programme and the FVCV Gallardete Azul, works to protect the bay and the Serra Gelada marine reserve.
Information
Facilities
Harbour facilities with 105 berths on the pontoons, jetties, clubhouse with administration and training areas, sailing school, rowing school, kayak and paddle-surf area, changing rooms and showers, environmentally certified facilities (Blue Flag, ISO 14001) in Benidorm Bay.
Activities
Sailing (training and racing), rowing (leisure and Liga SUMA), kayak and paddle surf, windsurfing, sea baptisms for groups, recreational fishing, hiking, environmental education and beach/seabed clean-ups, organisation of local and regional regattas.
Youth section
Active year-round youth and children’s school (winter October–June, summer July–September) with Optimist, ILCA and 420 teams, Christmas, Easter and summer camps, and about 400 pupils per year.
Guest berths
105 berths at the club