Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi created global yachting history by signing up to become the Middle East's first port for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race and also confirmed an Abu Dhabi team for the championship.
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority Director General Mubarak Al Muhairi and Volvo Ocean Racing CEO Knut Frostad signed an agreement at the Emirates Palace hotel yesterday in the presence of Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, ADTA Chairman.
"This event will take Abu Dhabi's marine leisure proposition to the world and will enable us to demonstrate, firsthand, our powerful credentials to a highly influential professional yachting audience," said Shaikh Sultan.
Abu Dhabi will also field a team, which is likely to include an emirate in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, which starts in Alicante, Spain, with Cape Town and Abu Dhabi being the first ports. Lisbon will be the first European port after the transatlantic crossing followed by the French port of Lorient. The remaining ports will be announced before the end of this month with the race finish slated in Galway, Ireland.
Spectacular
"More than 80 cities participated in the bidding process so that says a lot about the winning ports. We expected Abu Dhabi to be a truly spectacular stop-over," said Frostad.
"We found in Abu Dhabi an incredible synergy," said Frostad. "This destination has a long maritime history, which it wishes to elevate to a new era while celebrating the achievements of the past," said the race boss.
Al Muhairi said, "It is a great day for us. The Volvo Ocean Race is known for extreme levels of endurance and expertise — values which are synonymous with our own. I believe the entire region will follow the teams' progress and produce a welcome which will be truly deserving of the legendary Arabian hospitality... Over 1.3 billion people watched the last race series with the official website receiving about 89 million hits and about four million fans visited the villages during the stop-overs," said Al Muhairi.
Team Abu Dhabi, a crew specially selected by ADTA in a newly designed boat, which will be built in the UAE capital by the Abu Dhabi Mar Group, will line-up for the 2011-12 race.
"It is our ambition to include a UAE national in the crew who will be our ocean ambassador representing the emirate's long seafaring heritage," said Al Muhairi.
Expeditions
"The locally-constructed boat will also signal our potential as a new build and repair port, which will recall the heady days when vessels made on these shores set sail for months of pearling expeditions and proved to be among the sturdiest afloat."
The new marina being built at Emirates Palace hotel will be the focal point of Abu Dhabi stop-over with the crew and fans expected to stay for over two weeks before sailing on.
