The Farewell Ceremony will commence at 11.30am and spectators are advised to arrive at the Race Village as early as possible after the Race Village opens at 10am on Saturday in order to get a good position from which to watch the ceremony.
The ceremony will start with a parade of the crews down the pontoon to their boats; the skippers will be accompanied by young people who were chosen as mascots at last Monday’s “Meet the Sailor” event. The fleet will then be blessed and President McAleese will wish the crews a safe journey to the next stopover port on the race, Marstrand in Sweden.
The boats will leave Galway Harbour one by one to the sound of their theme tune. This will be one last occasion to wish Green Dragon a safe journey by singing along to “Galway Girl”.
When the fleet departs the harbour gates at 12.45pm, we are calling on all boats in the area to take to the water to show the last of good Irish hospitality. A call is being made to the sailing community to bring their RIBs and boats to Galway for this historic moment.
From Salthill Promenade there will be one last opportunity to see the boats as they will be sailing around the bay while waiting for the Volvo Ocean Race to officially re-commence at 2.30pm. The boats will then cross the start line in Galway Bay, bound for Marstrand, a distance of 1250 nautical miles. The fleet will sail south down the West Coast, then south-east across the Irish Sea to England, eastwards up the English Channel into the North Sea and finally to the entrance of the Baltic. The first of the boats are expected to arrive in Marstrand on Wednesay 10th June.
Aran Ferries are running a one and a half hour trip to watch the farewell for €60 per adult, €30 per child departing at 1.30pm from the Harbour (go to www.aranislandferries.com
