Clube Naval de Ponta Delgada
Clube Naval de Ponta Delgada (CNPDL) is the oldest sports institution in the Azores, located in the Portas do Mar complex in central Ponta Delgada on the bay of the artificial harbour. Since its official founding on 12 June 1901, the club has promoted maritime heritage, water sports and nautical education through certified sailing and swimming schools, rowing, powerboating, diving, windsurfing and other nautical activities. In dinghy sailing, juniors and adults train and race in classes such as Optimist, ILCA 4, 420 and Vaurien; international events such as AZAB have been a tradition since 1975. With a secretariat, seasonal warehouses, training rooms, Restaurante São Pedro, WiFi and boat berths, CNPDL offers a broad programme for hundreds of young athletes and thousands of active members.
History
Clube Naval de Ponta Delgada grew from a broad associative movement in late 19th-century São Miguel. On 12 June 1901 an organising commission including Jacinto Botelho Âmbar, Afonso Gomes de Menezes Ferreira, Abel Frias Coutinho, José Pedro Ribeiro, Alfredo da Câmara, António Joaquim de Arruda, António Amorim da Cunha and Júlio Pereira de Carvalho drafted the statutes; official approval followed by charter on 3 June 1902. On 5 July 1901 the young club took part in the royal reception for King D. Carlos with a major nautical procession in the harbour. In the 1920s Alfredo da Câmara revived the club; in 1927 António de Medeiros Frazão Júnior and António Franco Taveira completed the heroic rowing crossing from São Miguel to Terceira in the Maria Lomelino. After Alfredo da Câmara's death in 1939 the general assembly elected a reconstruction board led by Comandante João Barahona e Costa; on 27 August 1939 the new Kopke headquarters, training schooner Sirius and Yoles Altair and Vega were inaugurated. In the 1940s swimming, rowing, sailing and powerboating sections developed; General Carmona became honorary commodore in 1941, and in 1944 José de Serpa e Melo Brandão ran a rowing coaches' course. A cyclone in 1946 caused heavy damage, but the club survived through volunteer work and supporters such as Eng. Abel Coutinho and Eng. Augusto Cavaco. In the 1950s the club joined the Portuguese Sailing Federation; in 1953 three women passed the sailing skipper exam for the first time, and Vouga boats shaped regatta life. In 1962 the club had 536 members; in the 1960s and 1970s swimming, judo, amateur diving and the international Vaurien class grew, with CNPDL competing at the 1971 national championship. More than 120 years after its founding, embedded in the Portas do Mar complex, CNPDL remains a regional and national reference for nautical sport; the AZAB race has been an international sailing tradition since 1975.
Information
Facilities
Located in the Portas do Mar complex: Restaurante São Pedro, WiFi, training rooms, certified sailing school, certified swimming school, certified recreation training school, boat parking spaces, rental warehouses, merchandising and nautical goods shop, secretariat and nautical warehouse.
Activities
Canoeing, diving, sport fishing, holiday camp, yachting / cruising, swimming, dinghy sailing, jetski, recreational boating, windsurfing, powerboating, rowing
Youth section
Certified sailing school, certified swimming school, jetski school since 2000, holiday camps and sports training for hundreds of young athletes.