After returning to the northern hemisphere with nearly 40,000 nautical miles in their wake, the sailors in the Volvo Ocean Race will shift gears to inshore racing with a focus on Saturday’s Gurney’s Resorts In Port Race Newport.
In contrast to the long offshore ocean legs, the In Port Race Series features short course racing, close to shore, in full view of spectators on the water and in the Race Village.
For the home team, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Saturday provides a showcase in front of home fans.
“We have an opportunity to go out there and get a good result in front of our home crowd. We have such a good group of supporters, and we’d like to put on a good show for them, so we’re looking forward to that,” said Vestas 11th Hour Racing skipper Charlie Enright.
“The forecast is for some good wind on Saturday and it’s always nice to sail on home waters,” added Nick Dana, a Newport native.
Saturday’s forecast is for 10-12 knot easterlies, providing good racing conditions for the Volvo Ocean 65s.
The Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series acts as a tie-breaking mechanism for the overall race leaderboard. And with just three points separating first place (MAPFRE) from second place (Dongfeng Race Team) after eight legs of racing, the results here could be crucial by the time the race finishes in The Hague at the end of June.
How to follow the Gurney’s Resorts In-Port Race Newport:
Racing starts at 1400 local time (1800 UTC), on Saturday, 19 May.
On the website:
Head to www.volvooceanrace.com to catch a live stream of the action from 1345 local time (1745 UTC). A post race story summarising the action and with quotes from the skippers will be posted shortly after racing has finished.
Check out Facebook Live:
We’ll go live at 1345 local time (1745 UTC). You can go to our page to schedule a reminder so you don’t miss it.
Check out Twitter Live:
Join the conversation on Twitter with the live broadcast at 1345 local time (1745 UTC) by visiting live.twitter.com/volvooceanrace and tweeting us with #volvooceanrace. We’ll be live-tweeting the action, as well as broadcasting the race feed. Check it out as we share the best content from the teams, stakeholders and fans on our feed.
Join us on our live blog:
We’ll be blogging all the moves, previews and news from the racetrack on our live blog, including the best of clips and social content, from 1330 local time (1730 UTC). You can find it at www.volvooceanrace.com under the ‘Racing’ section.
Download the app:
It’s full of great content and fits on your mobile phone. Why wouldn’t you want the official Volvo Ocean Race app? Head to the App Store or Google Play to download it. It’s called Volvo Ocean Race.
Come down to the Race Village:
We’ve got a fantastic Race Village at Fort Adams in Newport, including the Volvo Ocean Race Boatyard facility, the Volvo Pavilion and Volvo Ocean Race Globe as well as the team bases. The Village is jam-packed full of interactive elements, innovative structures and loads of exciting things to do.
Current Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series Leaderboard
1. MAPFRE – 44 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team – 39 points
3. team AkzoNobel – 33 points
4. Team Brunel – 29 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 18 points
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 15 points
7. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – 15 points