Race executive says he would like to see Volvo return in three years

GOV. GINA M. Raimondo poses with the Artillery Company of Newport during the opening ceremony for the Volvo Ocean Race Newport Race Village. / COURTESY DAN NERNEY/SAIL NEWPORT/VOLVO OCEAN RACE NEWPORT
GOV. GINA M. Raimondo poses with the Artillery Company of Newport during the opening ceremony for the Volvo Ocean Race Newport Race Village. / COURTESY DAN NERNEY/SAIL NEWPORT/VOLVO OCEAN RACE NEWPORT

(Updated 4:20 p.m.) NEWPORT – The stopover here for the Volvo Ocean Race has impressed a race executive who says he would like to see a repeat visit during the next race in 2017-18.
Tom Touber, the race COO since 2012, and a team director for 14 years prior to that, called Newport’s hosting “awesome – so far beyond our expectations,” particularly with thousands welcoming the sailing team arrivals Wednesday in the middle of the night by boat and on land at Fort Adams.
“We knew Newport and Rhode Island had a few people that love sailing, but with the arrivals even in the middle of the night there were still people welcoming the boats,” Touber told Providence Business News. “It’s been outstanding.”
Once the bidding formally opens for the North American ports for the next Volvo Ocean Race, which is set for three years from now, Newport will be a strong contender, he said.
“After this stopover, we will evaluate,” Touber said, “and so far so good, I would say, for Newport delivering beyond expectations. There’s a strong preference for me and my team to continue the relationship with Newport for the next race.” The bidding opens in early June and a decision will be made in the first quarter of 2016, he said.
Newport stopover proponents like Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and Sail Newport Executive Director Brad Read have said they are already pitching the Ocean State and Newport for the next race.
Read said that by the end of the day Monday, the Volvo had more than 56,000 visitors.
“We’re proud of the effort made so far and we’re certainly proud of the numbers we’ve been able to generate in terms of footfall at Fort Adams,” Read said. “And we’re optimistic in the process moving forward to hopefully get the race back to Newport for the 2017-18 race. We’ve been thrilled with the reactions of the teams to the stopover. Everyone who comes here is fully engaged and knowledgeable about the event, which means our social media and marketing has generated a lot of attention.”

Evan Smith, president and CEO of Discover Newport, said the investment the state made in the pier at Fort Adams was done with an eye to repeat visits from not only the Volvo, but other sailing races. He noted that an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fans came out on land and in a large flotilla to welcome the sailors.
“It’s very much part of what we work toward, a common goal: to have the stopover be a showcase so they would want to come back to our city and state,” Smith said. “We’re moving in the right direction.”
According to Touber, Newport’s stopover is comparable to the stopover in the late 1990s in the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore, along with that event’s race restart, which was moved to Annapolis. (Here in Newport both the arrival and the restart will take place at Fort Adams.) He called Newport’s crowd “educated.”
“We had similar crowds, thousands of people waving [in Baltimore and Annapolis],” Touber said. “It was a very good experience for the sailors and we had a very similar experience here with the arrival. We’ve had great experiences in Annapolis and now Newport of the crowd being empathetic and knowledgeable. People know and care about sailing, so it’s a very good crowd for the sailors to have around.”
A lot of visitors are trying out Ocean 65, a full-size model of a yacht in a tent where people “can crawl into it” and experience some of what sailing is like, Touber said.
“It’s the number-one attraction at the moment,” he said.
So far, the ports that are confirmed for 2017-18 are Alicante, Spain as a home base; Capetown, South Africa; and Aukland, New Zealand. There will be stopovers possible in the Middle East and China, as well as Brazil. Besides a North American port, stopovers are also expected in Cardiff, U.K., with shorter shore stops in Central Europe and a finish in Gothenberg, Sweden, Touber said. Alicante and Gothenberg are this year’s endpoints as well.
“We have a very good team from Newport as well,” Touber said. “Team Alvimedica is built around young North American sailors and they still got a chance to get on the podium [they are in fourth place but only two points behind.] We hope to see them back in the next race and doing better.”

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