Juan Vila (12 November 1961) is a Spanish sailor who has competed in multiple America's Cups and Whitbread Round the World Races.
Born in Barcelona, [1] 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 , [2] and the 2001–02 event on Illbruck Challenge . Illbruck Challenge won the event, now renamed as the Volvo Ocean Race. [3] He was the first Spanish sailor to win the trophy. [4]
He then joined Alinghi and was their navigator during the successful defence of the 2007 America's Cup. [5] [6] He sailed as navigator on Alinghi 5 when it lost the 2010 America's Cup. [7] [8]
He sailed with Banque Populaire V when it won the Jules Verne Trophy in 2012. [1] [9] The team had to abandon an earlier attempt at the record in 2011. [10]
He sailed in the 2013 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on Giacomo and on Wild Oats XI in the 2016 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. [11] [12]
Vila later joined Oracle Racing and was part of their design team for the 2017 America's Cup. [13] He will sail on Mapfre in the 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race. [4] [14]