Entrepreneur Denis O'Brien and the Bank of Ireland Chairman Richard Burrows, a leading sailor, are among Irish businessmen listed in an announcement this afternoon from the Irish-Chinese Green Dragon entry aiming to raise further funding for the boat. The Volvo Ocean race starts in ten days time.
Ireland lays claim to two entries in the 7 boat race but both make the start line with international dimensions to their line-ups. Limerick's Ger O'Rourke is racing his yacht under a Dutch flag following a sponsorship package agreed with Netherland's firm Delta Lloyd.
The Green Dragon counts the sole Chinese crew member in the race. It has a British skipper, Ian Walker. The boat construction and design was funded by a syndicate of Irish business people. The campaign is funded through a group of companies from China. Failte Ireland is also a partner sponsor of the sailing team.
The named members of the syndicate that owns the Green Dragon boat were named yesterday as John O'Sullivan, Richard Burrows, Jed Pierse, Gerard Barrett, Eamon Conneely, Michael Cotter, Tom Roche, Denis O'Brien, John Killeen, Gerard O'Hare, Brian Lynch, John Flaherty, Enda O'Coineen, John Coyle, Anne Heraty & Paul Carroll.
The Government through Failte Ireland support includes hosting the race stop over bid in Galway next May.
Commenting on the syndicate announcement, Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said: "The Irish Government is proud to be associated with this ambitious project to secure an Irish stopover in Galway. An independent benefit analysis, conducted by Deloitte on behalf of Fáilte Ireland, estimates the total value to the local economy of the race event at €43 million. This is a good example of a productive partnership between the State and private investors to bring another prestigious international sporting event to Ireland as part of Fáilte Ireland's International Sports Tourism Initiative. "
The special purpose boat, built on time and on budget, reflects the latest in technology and design. It is performing beyond expectations and has successfully qualified to enter the race by completing a tough qualification sail of 2,000 miles taking the team almost as far as Iceland. At one stage the yacht exceeded 30 knots - or nearly 50 kilometres an hour.
"On a personal basis, I am delighted to support the Green Dragon team skippered by Ian Walker, a double Olympic medalist and former America's Cup Skipper. It is an impressive team and they have set high, yet achievable, targets for the race." stated Richard Burrows. "With Irish world class sailors on the team such as Damian Foxall, Justin Slattery and Ian Moore, this boat ownership syndicate is a great way to get behind a worthwhile venture to promote Ireland and our maritime potential".
The statement says the project is being run on a high level business-like basis with the best professional managers available while the directors are giving their time on a voluntary basis. The Lets Do It Global organisation, under the Chairmanship of Enda O'Coineen, plans to reach out to the Irish Diaspora around the 11 countries that the race visits in addition to the schools program in Ireland. "Green Dragon is something all Irish people around the world can be proud of" stated O'Coineen.
The Volvo Ocean Race commences this (Saturday, 04 October) with the inport racing. The teams depart from Alicante the following Saturday 11 October to sail to Capetown. They are expected to arrive in Capetown on 03 November. The race will continue to Cochin, Singapore, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston before arriving in Galway on 23 May for a two week stopover. The race then continues to Stockholm, Maarstrand and St Petersburg where it finishes in late June 2009.
