A great ocean marathon will soon sail into Indian waters.
The gleaming fleet of the Volvo Open 70, eight monohull racing yachts, takes part in perhaps the toughest and the biggest boat competition in the world, the Volvo Ocean Race. It is soon to hit Indian shores for a 10-day stopover at Kochi from this December.
Positioned on an average yacht space of 21.5 metres by 5.7 metres, fierce winds and waves slapping hard, the freezing waters have 10 of the most accomplished and experienced sailors leading the fleet of eight boats in the competition. The yachts will race against each other over a distance of 37,000 nautical miles, spread between nine stopovers on five continents.
This time, the ocean marathon incorporates India on its route for the first time in its history of four decades. There is already high excitement in Kerala; the Kerala Yachting Association (KYA), sensing that the timing is right, is trying to drum up more support for the sport in the state. The organisation is encouraging new participants to enter events, while pushing a comprehensive programme for yachting enthusiasts in the age group of seven to15 close on the heels of the ocean race.
Between Cape Town and the next Asian stopover —Sentosa Island in Singapore — India figures as the logical stop. “Showing the V70 (official name of the boats competing) will increase interest in water sports in general, and sailing in particular in India,” says Volvo Car India Managing Director, Paul de Voijs.
The yachts set out from Alicante, Spain on October 4 and will continue to race from leg to leg till the end of June 2009, when they dock at the port of St Petersburg in Russia. All the eight boats that are competing have specially been designed. These boats, sponsored by corporate giants, hopefully will help promote adventure sports as well as the sponsors’ brands during the 10-day event which lasts from December 3 to13.
The brands backing the eight competing yachts (in order of their current racing position) — Ericsson 4, Puma Ocean Racing, Green Dragon, Telefonica Blue, Telefonica Black, Ericsson 3, Delta Lloyd and Team Russia — will have a chance to showcase their products in temporary pavilions at the race village.
The word “race” might suggest a sense of immediacy and an impatience to hail the title winners, but this race is a nine-month-long cruise that will determine its course only at the end of that period. However, the boats also compete in each leg of the race, adding points to their total score. The Ericsson 4 team, believed to be the favourites, won the first leg from Alicante to Cape Town. But predicting how the next leg will pan out can be tricky.
Writes watch captain with the American Puma Racing Team boat, Chris Nicholson at the beginning of the race, “This race is going to be closer than it has been for years. We’re expecting to be within sight of the other boats.” December will mark their third month at sea, on their way from Cape Town, where they spent close to two weeks in repair and rest, essential before they set sail again. On November 15 they were flagged off into leg two — the 4,450-nautical-mile journey to Kochi.
The structural developments made to the fleet of Volvo Open 70s are tipped to give the crew a smooth-sailing experience, with a generous amount of tweaking from the earlier fleet design — a high speed in a straight line forms the highlight.
Once at the Indian port, the yachts and the sailors will find place in the 2.5 acre travelling village that has been constructed on Wellingdon Island. “We have raised approximately Rs 40 crore in sponsorship for the Kochi stopover of the Volvo Race,” shares Cochin Port Trust Chairman K Ramachandran. While Kerala seeks a generous boost to its tourism, a 137-stall trade fest is also on the agenda.
This will not, however, be the first international boat race the country has seen on such a large scale. Along the lines of the Mumbai International Boat Show, Ocean Blue Boating is shaping a marina in Kochi that will be serve as a fairly opulent boating lifestyle destination. The existing port jetty has been extended to 127 metres in length to accommodate the fleet and the visiting luxury cruise liners that will dock to coincide with the event.
“India has hundreds of millions of enthusiastic sports fans, and we know they will enjoy this challenging race, with its passion, teamwork, adventure and excitement. It’s all about an active lifestyle, adventure and passion — in short, it’s life at the extreme,” says Paul de Voijs, emphasising the code phrase for the race: “Life at the Extreme”.
Perhaps the generous waiver of the 10 million euro port fee for Kerala has been significant in escalating the process. “We had communicated to the organisers that we are not in a position to pay the port fee. But Kochi has been a natural choice on their route,” Ramachandran of Cochin Port Trust reasons. The coast is clear for life at the extreme.
