Kerala   

Ocean race to showcase potential of country

The Indian stopover of Volvo Ocean Race in Kochi from December 3 to 13 will help showcase India as an emerging economic giant while highlighting business as well as tourism and leisure opportunities in the State.

Jointly hosted by the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) and Kerala Tourism, it is for the first time in the 35-year history of the race that an Indian port is selected for the stopover.

The rare honour for Kochi shows its emergence as an exciting international sailing hub and a vivacious leisure and lifestyle destination.

“It is also a big recognition for the CPT,” says Chairman N. Ramachandran.

The round-the-world marathon sailing will commence in October from Alicante in Spain.

It will cover over 39,000 nautical miles, visit 11 ports across the world before reaching the finishing line at St. Petersburg by mid-2009.

Regarded as the ultimate in ocean-racing competitions, the race will have stopover at Cape Town, Singapore, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteborg and Stockholm.

Established in 1973 as Whitebread round the World Race, Volvo Ocean Race is the most prestigious adventure sporting competition in international yacht racing.

Seven teams including the country teams from Spain and Russia have confirmed participation.

Kochi will witness one of the most exciting water sport action India has ever witnessed.

Apart from the world’s fastest ocean-racing yachts with the latest technology backup, the event will attract hundreds of other luxury yachts and sailing vessels to Kochi.

It will be a major business and sporting event. Several high profile global corporate leaders as well as some of the world’s topmost brands and business houses that sponsor the race will be flying down to Kochi to cheer the teams.

“The stopover will be a milestone in marketing the destination and the unique tourism products of Kerala and in getting media exposure,” says Tourism Secretary V. Venu.

As many as 1,200 high-end rooms are needed for the guests in and around Kochi. Kerala Tourism has decided to set up a ‘houseboat village’ comprising 100 to 150 houseboats.

The CPT is in the process of building necessary offshore and onshore infrastructure at a cost of Rs.30 crore.

A race village with 10,000 sq. metres of covered space will be set up at Willingdon Island to host the sporting as well as corporate events.

The public viewing areas will come up in areas overlooking the BTP jetty where the yachts are to be berthed.

“The waving of the entry fee of Euro 10 million is a rare gesture from the organisers. We have decided to make it a people’s event by roping in all sections of society,” Mr. Ramachandran said.

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

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