The Volvo Ocean Race fleet has started to arrive in Wales, following its 2,900 nautical mile sprint across the Atlantic to the port of Cardiff, where it will stopover for two weeks.
The Volvo Ocean Race is the world’s toughest and most prestigious sailing event. The fleet is arriving in Cardiff on its way from across the Atlantic after leaving Newport, Rhode Island last weekend, and the leaders have started to arrive, having sliced through pounding waves, walls of wind and sights and sounds that would give most of us nightmares. They started their epic 45,000 nautical mile voyage around the world in October last year.
READ MORE: Boat loads of activities and entertainment at the Volvo Ocean Race Village
This is the first UK visit in 12 years for the race that started life in 1973. It will bring a significant financial boost to the Welsh economy in the Visit Wales designated ‘Year of the Sea’. The 45,000 nautical mile Volvo Ocean Race set out from Alicante last October, journeying across the great oceans with stopovers in some of the most famous maritime destinations such as Hong Kong, Cape Town and Auckland. When it leaves Cardiff on June 10, it moves on to Gothenburg and The Hague for its finale at the end of June.
One of the boats, Turn The Tide On Plastic, is helping to spread the message about the damage caused by plastic in the oceans, and is actually collecting data on microplastics as it voyages around the world.
