The boat moors in Galway this weekend as the buildup for the festival begins. The Volvo 70 fleet will arrive in Galway next June on Leg 7 of the 10-leg Volvo Ocean Race, a transatlant sprint from Galway.
The eight 70-footers will moor in Galway for two weeks, during which time there will be in-port races and Ultimate 40 Catamaran racing on the bay.
This weekend, however, it's the Green Dragon who gets all the attention, as her crew pull in for a week in the western capital. The boat arrives on Sunday, and will stay alongside until she ventures south again on Thursday morning.
After that, Green Dragon heads to Cork, and on out to sea for a 2,000-mile qualifying passage.
While this is all going on, the team is trying to find one Chinese member to join them on the race.
Green Dragon is sponsored by a Chines business consortium, and the race stops in China, at the Qingdao Olympic venue, before heading into the Pacific for the monstrous 12,300-mile leg to Brazil.
Skipper Ian Walker has outlined what he is looking for in the Chinese crewmember.
'We would like to see Chinese sailors who are competing at this summer¹s Olympics applying, along with former members of the China Team AC syndicate. However, this does not preclude any sailor who is not already established from applying for the position if they feel they have what it takes.
'We will bring up to five potential Chinese crewmembers to Ireland in August to train with the team. From there we will select the final crewmember'.
