Biscayne
Bay Yacht
Racing Association
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The World’s Premier Round the Globe Sailing Race
to Make only North American Stop in Miami
---Prestigious Volvo Ocean 2012 Race Selects
South Florida as One of Only 8 Stopovers in the World and Attracts Global
Television Audience of 1.3 Billion Viewers---
(Miami, FL)--- Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and
Commission Chairman Marc Sarnoff join Volvo CEO Knut Frostad, and Volvo Ocean
Race CEO Commercial Director Greg Miall to announce that the 2012 Volvo Ocean
Race featuring elite sailing teams representing 10 nations will arrive in the
City of Miami as part of the round the world competition.
The Volvo Ocean Race is the only professional sailing event
that visits ports around the world and has received bids from more than 80
cities worldwide to host stopovers. “We have carefully evaluated bids from ports
around the world before making our final decisions. We are very pleased to have
Miami onboard and are confident the city will shine brightly under the global
spotlight,” says Volvo CEO Knut Frostad.
“The Volvo Ocean Race is by far the world’s premier global
race. It’s a great honor to have Miami selected as a featured stopover,” says
Commission Chairman Marc Sarnoff. “We actively pursued this bid to showcase our
city as an international destination for sailors, uniquely characterized by our
diverse culture and tropical location.”
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado strongly supported the
successful bid. “It is especially gratifying to see The Volvo Ocean Race select
Miami as a featured stopover. With billions of viewers around the world
watching, it will clearly be seen why our City is recognized as a jewel in the
international sailing community.”
“Aside from the exposure of
Miami to the world, the Volvo Ocean Race can inspire, motivate, educate and
share with the South Florida community and all over the U.S. that anything is
possible through hard work and determination including sailing around the world
at record speeds,” adds the Mayor.
The City of Miami has a rich history of sailing and is
recognized around the world for its highly competitive sailing community. The
City is home to the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team’s training center and hosts the
Olympic Classes Regatta. From Ft. Lauderdale to the
north, Miami and south to Key West, South Florida is one of the largest boating
communities in the U.S. The U.S. Sailing Center, Coral Reef Yacht Club,
Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Miami Yacht Club, Key
Biscayne Yacht Club, Lauderdale Yacht Club and Shake-a-leg host many of the
largest and most prestigious sailing regattas in the U.S.
. The Race Village will be located in Bicentennial Park. The Village features support pavilions for each team, along with entertainment and activities for the public. The park is centrally located between Downtown Miami and South Beach, adjacent to the American Airlines Arena, Home of the Miami Heat Basketball team.. Florida has hosted the event four times previously: Ft Lauderdale 1989-90, 1993-94,1997-98, Miami 2001-02
Joining Miami as race stopover port cities will be Alicante,
Spain; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Cape Town, South Africa; Lisbon, Portugal; Lorient,
France; and Galway, Ireland.
About the race: The Volvo Ocean Race is an exceptional test of sailing prowess and human endeavour which has been built on the spirit of great seafarers - fearless men who sailed the world’s oceans aboard square rigged clipper ships more than a century ago. Each team , sailing 70’ custom designed boats, comprises a professional crew, and the race requires their utmost skills, physical endurance and competitive spirit as they race day and night for more than 30 days at a time on some of the legs. They will each take on different jobs onboard the boat and on top of these sailing roles, there will be two sailors that have had medical training, as well as a sailmaker, an engineer and a media specialist. The race is the ultimate mix of world class sporting competition and on the edge adventure, a unique blend of onshore glamour with offshore drama and endurance. America has fielded 10 entries and 94 athletes from the USA have competed in this race. The race has twice been won by an American: Paul Cayard in 1997-98 skipper of EF Language and John Kostecki in 2001-02 skipper of illbruck. PUMA, skippered by Ken Read, was second in 2008-09 and Pirates of the Caribbean was second in 2006-06 skippered by Paul Cayard. Famous America’s Cup skipper, Dennis Conner, was the co-skipper of Winston in 1993-94 and Toshiba in 1997-98.
For more information contact Daisy Lewis at (786) 399-9669
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Biscayne
Bay Yacht
Racing Association
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