Volvo Ocean Race Officials, Governor, to Make Announcement Today

Something, possibly major, will be announced today at the Rhode Island State House and Newporters will be interested.

No major details have been officially released, but an alert from the office of Governor Gina Raimondo offers a hint.

Raimondo’s staff said Thursday that the Governor will be making an announcement at 10 a.m. alongside Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed of Newport, Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello, Brad Read of Sail Newport and Volvo Ocean Race Chief Operating Officer Tom Touber.

The details of the announcement suggest that Newport will be involved in another collaboration with the Volvo Ocean Race, which came to Newport this year for a stopover.

It is likely that the announcement will be that Newport will once again be a stopover for the next race.

The event, which brought world-class sailing in the waters of Newport Harbor and a bustling race village in Fort Adams with scores of events, exhibits and activities for the public, was considered a smashing success for Newport in both economic and promotional terms.

The week-long event poured money in to the local economy and demonstrated Newport’s desirable traits for major sailing events. The sailing community and city officials have been trying to raise Newport’s prominence in the sailing world and many believe the Volvo Ocean Race relationship is a key part of the strategy.

Someday, many hope Newport will once again host the America’s Cup race.

The race this past summer brought about 125,000 people to the city for the 12-day event.

That figure beat expectations handily. Organizers expected 60,000 to 80,000.

“We’re just blown away by the final visitor number,” Read said in May after the event had finished. “We had 14,000 people each day on the first weekend and a high of 20,000 on Saturday this weekend. We expect to bring the race back, but building on that excitement and enthusiasm will secure it.”

Of the 11 ports most-recent race, Newport has the smallest population of approximately 24,000. The next smallest is Lorient, France, with approximately 57,000. The largest population is in Cape Town, with approximately 3.7 million. The Newport stopover drew visitors from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii, Canada and Europe.

“Personally, I think it’s fantastic to go to places like Newport,” said Team Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking of the Netherlands, who competed in his seventh race around the world. “Newport has been great. It’s a small town, but the local people love it. It’s a beautiful environment. Volvo makes the final call on the stopovers, but of course they see how fantastic this stop has been.”