Volvo Ocean Race changes US stopover

Alicante, Spain (April 1, 2015) – Due to this past extreme record setting winter in Newport, R.I., the Volvo Ocean Race organizers will be re-routing Leg 6 of the race to now finish in Annapolis, MD. This determination was finalized when experts confirmed that the ice in the Sail Newport basin would not thaw.

“We have been pushing volunteer race support all winter with the expectation the weather will thaw in time to receive the Volvo Ocean race teams this May,” explained Brad Read, Executive Director at Sail Newport. “Unfortunately, Mother Nature has not cooperated with below normal temperatures and weeks of 20-30kts of breeze from the north is keeping the basin chocked with ice.”

Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad said that Annapolis had always been the back-up plan. “We always preferred Annapolis, home of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, and the official sailing capital in the U.S. We only went to Newport because of their generous funding, and to be honest, New Englanders infatuation with the Patriots and Red Sox is tiring.”

A surprise supporter of the change is New England native Charlie Enright, skipper of Alvimedica. “I am a closet Washington Nationals fan, and I look forward to throwing out the first pitch. That’s what Kenny Read did at the Red Sox game during the 2009 Boston stopover, except Kenny bounced it. I am hitting all glove.”