CULTURE Galway sails away with Volvo Ocean Race finish

Revolvo


Anton McNulty

In 2012, Galway will unfurl the red carpet along its docks once again. Last Wednesday it was announced that the around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race will finish in the City of the Tribes, and everyone in the west of Ireland is looking forward to another party. But we don’t have to wait to celebrate the news and what it means for the region’s economy.
The international yacht race attracted 650,000 people to the west coast and generated almost €60 million in revenue when it came to the country for the first time last year – and that was ‘just’ for a stopover. Imagine what hosting the finish could mean… Plenty of other destinations vied for the honour, but after fending off stiff competition from Amsterdam and Stockholm, Galway was chosen for the 2012 finale.
Apparently, one of the things that impressed the race organisers was the enthusiasm shown by the Galway crowds. Around 30,000 revellers lined the city’s docks at 3am on a drizzly Sunday morning last May to welcome the first yacht of the 2009 race – a sight that made such an impression on the organisers that they knew they had to come back again. The fortnight-long festival of music, dance, art and craic that was organised around the event probably had something to do with it too.
As well as being a huge boost to Galway itself, last year’s stopover generated enormous exposure for the west of Ireland in terms of tourism and boosted sailing’s profile across the country.
Paul Murphy, the Commodore of Mayo Sailing Club, is one man who’s looking forward to  the race’s return in 2012. “Last year the Mayo Sailing Club sailed to the event in a convoy stopping over at night in Inis Bofin and the Aran Island and took part in the events around Galway Bay. I never experienced anything like it before in my life – it was party time all the time, and similar to a Mardi Gras. The weather played a big part in the success … The crews of the boats were delighted because unlike a lot of the other bigger ports, they had the bay to themselves.
“I never thought Ireland would have a hope in hell of hosting a round-the-world race never mind coming to the west of Ireland. There are cities all over Europe looking to host this race and for a port to pull this off twice is very unusual. Every port in Britain is looking at this race, and for Galway to pull this off is a huge achievement,” he said.
The full route of the 2011/12 race is not expected to be announced before the end of March, but the race will start in Alicante in Spain and stopover in Cape Town in South Africa. On the homeward stretch, it will stop in Lisbon in Portugal and Lorient in France before hitting our shores.
The economic benefits to the west of Ireland will be enormous. Commenting on Galway’s coup, the Western Development Commission said it is an ideal opportunity to reinvigorate the potential of marine leisure activities in the Western region.
Paul agrees, and feels that if more marinas were developed along the west coast it would boost tourism in the west. At the moment, he said, the lack of facilities for berthing boats in the region meant that people contemplating going on sailing holidays were going to Cork and Kerry.
However, he added that the profile of the race and the coverage it was getting was boosting the profile of sailing clubs and taking away the elitist attitude associated with the sport.
“The race has given the sport a very high profile, which is encouraging, as more people will get into it … I know my daughter’s school went to Galway for the stopover – it’s a great way to get young people interested. We run a junior sailing course in the summer, and this year it was busy – I’m sure the race helped,” he said.