#vor – Thousands of people are expected to throng Salthill and the Galway coastline tomorrow (Saturday, July 7th) to watch some of the  world's fastest and most spectacular sailing boats in action  on Galway Bay – just 600 metres from the shore.

The final In-Port race of the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race series will take place on a course between Salthill and Mutton Island and will according to Harbour Master Captain Brian Sheridan provide  "an

unrivalled opportunity to see the boats being sailed hard at extremely close quarters"

The "Discover Ireland" sponsored race will get under way at 1pm and will last just under an hour.

The start line will be just 900 metres off Salthill close to Palmer's Rock and the boats will get even closer to the shore when they round a race mark just 600 meters south of Mutton Island.

Galway Harbour Master Capt Brian Sheridan says "The view of the boats from Grattan Road all the way through to Salthill will be spectacular"

After the Volvo fleet returns to Galway Harbour, accompanied by a Parade of Sail, the festival atmosphere will continue in Salthill with an Aer Corp air display and an Irish Coastguard/ RNLI air-sea rescue demonstration at about 3pm.

The Aer Corp display will involve formation and solo flights by four Pilatus PC-9M aircraft and an Augusta Westland AW 139 helicopter which will  also take part in a winching operation in conjunction with the naval vessel L.E. Niamh.

A coastguard helicopter will stage another simulated rescue and winching operation in conjunction with the RNLI.

Back in the Race Village in the Harbour huge crowds are also expected to attend the overall prize giving ceremony for the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race on the Main Stage at 6pm.

And the night will be rounded off by one of the highlights of the hugely successful  series of free open air concerts when Sharon Shannon and her 42 piece orchestra take to the stage.

#VOR – Galway's hurling royalty, the Connolly brothers, swapped their sticks for dock shoes today as they joined Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, the Abu Dhabi-backed team in the gruelling round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race, for a sail onboard its Azzam yacht, which means determination in Arabic.

The famous brothers, Joe, John, Padraic and Murth, who – with three other brothers - all won the 1980 All-Ireland Club Championship with Castlegar, also traded team tactics with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Irish bowman, Justin Slattery, a three time veteran of the race, and got up close to the outfit's mascot, the majestic Arabian falcon.

Sailing in the Pro-Am precursor to the final points scoring Galway In-Port Race tomorrow, the hurling legends were quick to praise the impressive team work onboard Azzam and wished the sailors luck.

"We know a lot about what it means to be a team, and how you rely on others to find that winning formula, and these guys have that. To sail these boats is incredibly tough and you need everyone at their best, it is great to see. Good luck to the guys tomorrow, we will be cheering Abu Dhabi on," said John Connolly, who led his brothers to a second place finish in the Pro-Am.

The Volvo Ocean Race is in Galway, Ireland for its final stopover after completing 39,000 nautical miles of sailing across five oceans in nine months. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, which hopes to clinch the In-Port Race series with a win tomorrow, is the first Arabian team to compete in the Everest of Sailing since it began in 1973.

Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), which backs the team, is rolling out the red carpet to woo Irish visitors to the emirate.

Two traditional Arabian sailing dhows were flown into Galway to take part in the celebrations. Travelling with them were 10 Emirati sailors as part of the UAE-Ireland Maritime Heritage Cultural Exchange to highlight social and cultural ties between the destinations. The project was a joint venture by the Galway Hooker Association, which promotes the use of Ireland's traditional 'Hooker' fishing boat and the Emirates Heritage Club.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - In final dash of colour and excitement to mark the end of Volvo Ocean Race finale week, two high performance sailing dhows – the distinctive Arabian sailing boats often compared to the famous Galway hookers – will bring an exotic flavour to the City of the Tribes.

The dhows, which are being presented to Galway City by the United Arab Emirates, will race on Galway Bay tomorrow Saturday 7 and on Sunday 8 July, crewed by 10 Emirati sailors who have flown in for the occasion.

The boats were earlier air-freighted from the UAE to Shannon Airport and taken by road to Galway where they were assembled and prepared for their weekend racing display.

The gift of the dhows to Galway is part of a newly inaugurated maritime heritage cultural exchange programme between the Galway Hooker Association and the Emirates Heritage Club in Abu Dhabi that has already seen the famous Nora Bheag and her crew set sail in the Persian Gulf city, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Padraic De Bhaldraithe, joint co-ordinator of the unusual exchange programme, said: “We were really delighted to take Nora Bheag and her crew to sail in Abu Dhabi and we were amazed by the amount of interest they attracted.

It was to be the first step in a partnership which has now seen two dhows make their way to Galway. Abu Dhabi and Galway have much in common when it comes to their maritime traditions.”

Enda O’Coineen - chairman of Let’s Do It Global, the organising committee of the nine-day festival built around the Volvo Ocean Race finale - says the arrival of the dhows is already creating huge excitement in the city, and the weekend racing should be spectacular.

“Dhows are built on lines similar to the traditional Galway hooker and are capable of very high speeds when raced in the hands of experienced sailors," he explained. “They are often fixed in the western imagination as a romantic Arabian seacraft of the past but they are still used for the transport of goods today and are also undergoing a dramatic revival among sailors in the UAE who don't want to lose their traditional past.”

Clifden-based Dr Peter Vine, who has been closely involved in the Irish-Abu Dhabi partnership, says the 'Dhows for Galway' project has huge potential and could add impetus to the move to revived and foster traditional boat-building skills that were on the verge of dying out.

The exchange programme has been co-ordinated with support of Let’s Do It Global; Emirates Heritage Club; Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club; Galway Hooker Association, Cóilín Hernon and family; Royal Galway Yacht Club; long-time Irish resident of Abu Dhabi, Noeleen Saeed; Etihad Airways; AlHosn University; Peter Vine; and Padraic De Bhaldraihe.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Former Paralympic sailor and Irish National Helmsman’s Champion Feargal Kinsella will realise the dream of a lifetime when he sails on a round-the-world racing yacht in Galway as part of the Volvo Ocean Race festivities tomorrow Saturday 7 July.

The story of Feargal’s triumph over physical disability has touched the hearts of millions in recent radio and television interviews, and tomorrow morning he will finally get to fulfill one of the ten things he most wants to do in life.

"I just want to get my hands on the helm of one of the fastest and most powerful sailing boats in the world and I am absolutely thrilled that I may be able to do that on Saturday when I will join the crew of the Green Dragon on Galway Bay.”

The Green Dragon was the Chinese-Irish entry in the last Volvo Ocean Race and as part of the festival organised around the arrival of the VOR fleet in Galway, Feargal has been invited to sail it on the bay - fresh off its challenge in this year's Round Ireland Race.

A keen sailor who had sailed in many international sailing events including Fastnet and the Round Ireland Races, Feargal broke his neck in 1996. Looking back at that time. Fergal was convinced he would never sail again.

“After my first spinal injury, in 1996, my life and that of my family were thrown into turmoil. After nine months in hospital, I left in a wheelchair, paralysed from the chest down and convinced I would never sail again,” he said.

However, the Portmarnock man did take up sailing again, competing in the National Disabled Sailing Championship, the ISA Champion of Champions and representing Ireland in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. He also won the Irish National Helmsman’s Championship in 2001 against able-bodied sailors.

A second spinal injury this Christmas saw Fergal break the fourth, fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae in his spine. Following an operation on Christmas Day, Feargal has spent the last few months at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoighaire recovering.

One of the many things Feargal learned from recovering from his last injury is the importance of having goals.

“They're not all achievable,” he said, “but a person should have something to strive for. In my case, I now have a short list, to which I'm adding as I go, of things that I should most definitely do now that I have been given something of a second chance.”

High on Feargal’s list is sailing on a fast yacht. As he said himself: “The idea of actually having a sail on one of those magnificent sailing machines is just so exciting."

Feargal’s dream will finally come true tomorrow when he takes to the water with the crew of the Green Dragon.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Taoiseach Enda Kenny is currently at the VOR Global Village in Galway to open the International Sustainability Summit on ‘Enabling, Financing and Delivering Sustainable Growth’, ahead of the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race trophy this afternoon.

The striking blue and silver prize, weighing 9kg and standing 70cm high, will drop from the skies during a spectacular parachute display to be staged by the Air Corps' Black Knights parachute team.
 
The five-member team, carrying the flags of the ten countries that have participated in the race, will parachute from an Augusta Westland AW 139 helicopter to a waterfront landing zone close to the Global Village in South Park at 5pm.
 
The national flags will be displayed in formation on the beach as the helicopter lands to deliver the trophy to Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knud Frostad and John Killeen, president of the local organisers Let’s Do It Global, in the presence of the Taoiseach.
  
The prize-giving ceremony for Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race will take place on the main stage in the Race Village at 5pm.

Skipper Chris Nicholson and the crew of CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who crossed the finishing line seven minutes ahead of overall race winners Groupama, will be presented with their prize.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - The skies of Galway will explode with colour tonight with a spectacular 4th of July fireworks display to coincide with the Volvo Ocean Race finale.

The event only adds to the celebratory atmosphere in the City of the Tribes after Damian Foxall's Groupama team crossed the finish line with an unassailable lead in the overall points table - marking the first Volvo Ocean Race win for the Kerryman after four attempts.

The Independence Day event is being organised by the US Embassy in Dublin, and will include a parade through the city from Eyre Square to the Global Village at 7pm.

The eight-minute pyrotechnic and musical extravaganza will commence after dark at 10.45pm on Mutton Island, just south of The Claddagh, and will be visible throughout the city - though the prime viewing spits will be South Park, Grattan Road, Dr Colohan Road and anywhere in Salthill. 

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE – With the last leg now in the final hours before the grand finale of the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway, Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton yesterday joined Tourism Ireland in the penultimate stopover port of Lorient at a reception for key French and international media contacts.

The event, which took place in the Volvo Ocean Race Village in Lorient, was an opportunity to showcase Galway and Ireland as a fantastic holiday destination – part of Tourism Ireland’s worldwide publicity drive during the race to reach a huge audience of potential holidaymakers.
 
The Volvo Ocean Race is the third largest sport event globally in 2012, attracting huge publicity around the world – with an estimated two billion people seeing it on TV, reading about it and tuning in to hear about it on the radio.

Since the race kicked off last November from Alicante in Spain, Tourism Ireland has been working in key markets where the race stopped to ensure Galway and Ireland were in the spotlight.
 
Billy Condon, Tourism Ireland’s manager for southern Europe, said: "The Volvo Ocean Race attracts huge publicity around the world and with Galway set to host the grand finale this week, the stopover here in Lorient was an ideal opportunity to showcase Galway and the west to the international media in attendance, drawing positive attention and publicity for the destination.

"The event is a great ‘hook’ for Tourism Ireland to reach a huge audience of potential French and other international holidaymakers.”
 
The 2009 stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway brought 40,500 international visitors to the city, as well as 269 journalists from around the world. 

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - TG4 will broadcast tonight’s Volvo Ocean Race arrivals from Galway live at TG4.tv.

The boats are expected to arrive in Galway sometime between 2am and 4am tomorrow morning, and live commentary will be provided online by Martin Tasker and Peter Lester as the fleet approaches the finish line.

TG4's coverage begins this evening at 7.30pm with highlights from the start of Leg 9, following the fleet along the 485 natutical miles from Lorient to Galway through the treacherous waters of the Celtic Sea.

The channel will also present live coverage of the in-port race from Galway this Saturday 7 July from 12.45pm.

After nine months, nine legs and 39,000 nautical miles, it all comes down to this one race, the final scoring opportunity for teams in the 2011-2012 edition of the race which could well decide the overall podium positions. 

The fleet will sail for an intense hour around a course positioned close to land to both challenge the crew and delight those lining the shore along Salthill and Barna. 

Later this month, on Sunday 29 July at 2pm, TG4 will broadcast the official film for this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. 

The documentary will take a look back at the 2011/2012 race as the boats left Alicante last October, sailing around the world and visiting ports and cities such as Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, Itajaí, Miami, Lisbon, Lorient and Galway. 

Delving into the world’s premier global race and one of the most demanding team sporting events in the world, the film will get close to the action in the ultimate mix of world class sporting competition and on-the-edge adventure, a unique blend of onshore glamour with offshore drama and endurance. 

Follow TG4's live coverage of the event HERE.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Team Telefónica currently leads the Volvo Ocean Race fleet on the final leg with just a day's sailing left to go to the finish line in Galway.

As of 9.15am this morning, the Spanish team were closing in fast on Fastnet Rock, just 40 nautical miles ahead.

Hot on their heels is the CAMPER team, followed by a racey PUMA and Groupama, whose watch captain Damian Foxall is on course for his first ever Volvo Ocean Race win on home waters.

At the back of the pack, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - featuring Wexford sailor Justin Slattery on deck – are in fifth place ahead of the Discover Ireland-backed entry Team Sanya, skippered by Ian Walker - who shared his strategy to make up for lost time.

“We’ll go thorough a second trough that will head the wind, so we’ll end up on the wind on much tighter angles near Fastnet Rock and a little more on the wind to get round the corner of Ireland, then the wind should come aft again to get us into Galway,” he said.

The first of the fleet is set to cross the finish line in Galway to meet the sunrise at 4am tomorrow morning, according to VOR headquarters in Alicante, Spain.

Follow rolling updates on the race fleet at the official Volvo Ocean Race website HERE.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Dave Vinell spoke to the Galway Independent recently about his longtime love of the sea ahead of the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway.

The Commodore of the Galway Bay Sailing Club, who grew up in Essex, tells how he began in kayaking but soon moved in to sailing a one-man Laser dinghy.

“Since that, I am on my tenth boat, the same type as the one I started sailing 45 years ago," he says. "I can’t seem to get away from it!”

Even today he still races his Laser, juggling his competitions with his duties as Commodore - and his responsibilities overseeing the on-water activities for the Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway Bay.

Aside from looking after the main racing events, the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) regional race officer and national judge will also be helping to get 10,000 youngsters on the water during the week's festivities.

The Galway Independent has more on the story HERE.