Volvo dates for Newport announced

FOUR TEAMS FROM THE most-recent Volvo Ocean Race sail through Newport harbor during the race's May 2015 stop in Rhode Island. The event is slated to return to Newport in May 2018. / COURTESY VOLVO OCEAN RACE/CARMEN HIDALGO
FOUR TEAMS FROM THE most-recent Volvo Ocean Race sail through Newport harbor during the race's May 2015 stop in Rhode Island. The event is slated to return to Newport in May 2018. / COURTESY VOLVO OCEAN RACE/CARMEN HIDALGO

NEWPORT – The Newport stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race is scheduled for May 8-20, 2018, the organizers and Sail Newport have announced.

Following on the heels of a 2015 stopover here, the event is again the race’s only North American stop. A study showed that the stop in 2015 generated a $47.7 million economic impact in the state.

The public race village is expected to open on May 8, with boats arriving between May 8 and 10.

“Newport hosted the most successful North American stopover in the race’s history and Rhode Island will be ready again with an enthusiastic family-friendly public festival and celebration in May 2018,” Sail Newport Executive Director Brad Read said.

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The in-port racing will take place May 17-19 and a leg departure to Cardiff is scheduled for May 20.

Cardiff will be the destination for a May 25 to June 10, 2018, stopover in what will be the first Volvo Ocean Race transatlantic leg to the United Kingdom in 12 years, as the race makes its debut visit to Wales.

“The transatlantic race between Newport, R.I., and Cardiff promises to be one of the real highlights of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18,” said Antonio Bolaños López, acting CEO, Volvo Ocean Race. ”Cardiff’s harbor will make the perfect backdrop for our boats, which will follow after what we expect to be another highly successful stopover in Newport, R.I.”

The exact dates of the entire, 2,900-nautical mile transatlantic crossing were not immediately available, but other stopovers already announced for the 2017-18 edition include Alicante, Spain; Cape Town, South Africa; Auckland, New Zealand; Lisbon, Portugal, and Gothenburg, Sweden.

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