TAOISEACH Brian Cowen is expected to confirm this week that the next Volvo around the world yacht race will finish in Galway in 2012. Mr Cowen is expected to make the announcement in Dublin, when he will explain that the race festival will be an “all-island” affair.
The international fleet berthing in Galway will earn double points for a circumnavigation of Ireland after their global transit. The Volvo 70 racing yachts will then return to Galway for a final weekend of festivities.
The international yacht race generated almost €60 million in revenue when it stopped in Ireland for the first time last year, attracting some 650,000 people to Galway.
As a result, it is expected that Volvo’s extensive corporate element, which avoided the west of Ireland during the 2009 stopover, will participate in the 2012 finish.
Three European ports – Alicante in Spain, Lisbon in Portugal and Lorient in France – have already been selected for the 2011-2012 route.
It is expected that the race will stop in China and the US, while South Africa’s Capetown has already been confirmed as a host port.
Up to 12 yachts may compete, including Ireland’s Green Dragon, and the fleet will sail its final leg to Galway from Lorient, which secured the transatlantic stopover.
The Government has pledged €4 million towards the bid – half of the amount granted last time – but there will be no boat-building costs this time.
The Green Dragon will be given a new keel, its sails will also be modified, and all this work will be carried out in Ireland, John Killeen of Let’s Do It Galway has confirmed.