VOLVO OCEAN RACE IN COCHIN

The Indian stopover will come at the end of the second leg of the race from Cape Town, South Africa. Kochi will be the first of three new ports in Asia.

The seven yachts participating in the race will arrive in Kochi in December 2008 and will stay for 10 days, before starting leg three to Sentosa Island in Singapore. A race village spread over 2.5 acres will be set up near the BTP berth at Willingdon Island.

The booming shipping port on the Malabar Coast is one of India’s foremost tourist destinations and the race stopover is expected to bring thousands of additional visitors to both Kochi and the State of Kerala. The Kerala State Tourism Department envisages the event will bring significant visibility as well as economic benefit to the region.

Kochi’s selection was confirmed at an official ceremony at the Abad Plaza. Andy Hindley, Race Director, signed the port agreement along with Mr. N. Ramachandran, Chairman, Cochin Port Trust and Mr. KG Mohanlal, Managing Director, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation.

Kochi certainly holds the key to the Asian leg. It is best located for the race route. As Mr. Ramachandran points out, “Choosing any other Indian port would mean a major deviation in the whole route that has now been planned.” The organisers expect the event to draw approximately 250,000 people to Kochi and generate around 50 million dollars in economic impact. There will be a lot of activity while the boats are in. The boats will be taken out of the water, be given full checks and an extensive maintenance and repair programme will be undertaken. The race sailors will do official media conferences and interviews when they arrive.

The Yachting Association of India (YAI), an active advocate of the race coming to India, sees the hosting of a stopover as a key component in India’s ongoing campaign to establish itself as a venue for hosting major sporting events following its successful bid to stage the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010.

“Hosting one of the world's top three sailing events will obviously boost any future bid to host major sailing as well as other sports events in India," said Commander Ajay Narang, Honorary Joint Secretary-General, YAI. “It will also be a tremendous fillip for local sailing,” he added.

In underlining the importance of the Indian stopover to the evolution of the race, Glenn Bourke, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, said: “It has always been part of our vision to take the race to different and wider audiences and we are delighted that Kochi has become part of that vision.