According to ADTA Chairman Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnun AlNahyan, the Volvo Ocean Race in Abu Dhabi will attract attention and interest in the capital from around the world. In addition, this fact will have a great impact on the professional yachting audience, lovers and connoisseurs of yachting.
Thanks to the agreement signed between Mubarak Al Muheiri, ADTA CEO, and Knut Frostad, Volvo Ocean Race CEO, the capital of the United Arab Emirates will be worthy of the history of the development of world yachting and will be the first Middle Eastern port to host the race. Racing teams will start arriving in Abu Dhabi in January 2012.
The team round-the-world regatta on sailing yachts of the Volvo-70 class has been held since 1973. Until 1997, it was called Whitbread Round the World Race. The frequency of the race until the 2005-2006 season was every four years, however, its huge success and popularity in the media determined its holding every three years. The regatta is divided into ten ocean stages, with an intermediate finish in the cities: Cape Town (South Africa), Kochi (India), Singapore, Qingdao (China), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Boston (USA), Galway (Ireland), Gothenburg (Sweden), Stockholm (Sweden).
