The Catalan businessman Josep Cusí passed away this Wednesday, August 19, at the age of 92 in Barcelona. A personal friend of Juan Carlos I for more than five decades, he was the owner of the Bribón sailboats that the emeritus king helmed and one of the figures closest to his circle.
Cusí died at his home, accompanied by his family, after his health worsened in recent days, according to La Vanguardia.
The businessman suffered a stroke at the end of 2021 that caused him mobility problems and affected his last years. He was married to Inés Muiños and had six children.
A friendship forged between hunting and sailing
The relationship between Josep Cusí and Juan Carlos I began during a hunting trip organized by Francisco Franco. The businessman, who excelled as a sports shooter, had also maintained a relationship with the dictator as a shooting instructor.
The bond with the then prince was solidified in the early seventies when Juan Carlos was preparing for his participation in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, in which he competed in the Dragon sailing class.
Until then, they both sailed on different boats. Cusí had the first Bribón, while Juan Carlos competed with the Shere-Kan. Later, they decided to merge their teams and began participating together in regattas: the businessman took on the role of owner and the future monarch took the helm of the boat as captain.
That partnership lasted for decades and made Cusí one of the closest friends of the emeritus king, both within and outside the sporting realm.
In a speech delivered in 2011 on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Copa del Rey de Vela, Juan Carlos I publicly acknowledged his career and defined him as a sailing companion whose dedication represented the passion for nautical sports.
Fifteen boats and four decades of Bribón
The Bribón saga lasted for almost 40 years and included 15 different boats, on 14 of which Juan Carlos served as captain, according to information published by RTVE based on statements from Cusí himself.
The boats competed representing the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, an institution to which Cusí remained linked for approximately seven decades.
His record included several Copa del Rey, Copa de España, and Conde de Godó trophies. The Royal House documented, among other results, the victory of the Bribón in the IRC A class of the 2011 Copa del Rey.
That same year, the shipowner announced the end of the high competition stage shared with Juan Carlos I. The closure came in September, coinciding with the Conde de Godó Trophy held in Barcelona.
The institutional recognition of his career was also reflected in November 2011, when the then king presented him with the Award for the Promotion of Nautical Activities during an event at the International Nautical Salon of Barcelona, as stated in the official documentation of the Royal House.
Olympic in Mexico and businessman in the electronic sector
Beyond his relationship with the emeritus king, Cusí developed a career linked to sports and business. He was a swimmer, water polo player, and Olympic shooter.
He participated in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, where he represented Spain in the pit event. The specialized database Olympedia records that he finished in fourteenth place. The classification of that competition attributed to him 192 hits.
Electronic engineer by training, he joined the family business of electronic components at the age of 16. His business activity was related to lighting projects in emblematic places in Barcelona, including the Montjuïc fountains and the churches of Tibidabo and Santa María del Mar.
He also participated in an expedition aboard the Calypso, the ship of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, as he himself recounted in that interview.
His name was linked to the honeymoon of Felipe VI and Letizia
The closeness of Josep Cusí to the royal family transcended the sports realm. In June 2020, the British newspaper The Telegraph published an investigation into the financing of the honeymoon trip of Felipe VI and Letizia, made in 2004, when both were princes of Asturias.
According to that information, a company owned by Cusí, Navilot, would have paid invoices worth 269,000 dollars corresponding to the honeymoon. The total cost of the trip amounted, according to the report, to approximately 467,000 dollars.
The Royal House then avoided specifically commenting on that publication and referred to its previous statement regarding the economic relations between Felipe VI and Juan Carlos I.
The stroke that marked his last years
In November 2021, Josep Cusí suffered a stroke that kept him hospitalized and significantly affected his mobility. From then on, he reduced his travels and alternated his time between his home in Barcelona and his residence in Alp, in the region of Cerdaña.
The physical difficulties prevented him from maintaining regular meetings with Juan Carlos I, although both kept in touch by phone during the following years.
His passing closes a personal and sporting relationship that extended for more than half a century and had the Bribón saga as its most recognizable link.