Signed, Sealed and Delivered….

Friday, January 29th 2010 was the deadline for ports interested in hosting a stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race (May 2012) to send a signed “Host Port Contract” to Volvo Event Management.
The Host Port Contract details what you agree to do, and not agree to do in hosting a stopover of the VOR.  Nine months of effort negotiating these requirements has led us to today.  Hours of pouring over the 100 pages of port requirements, rights and benefits that the stopover entails.  

WayPoint Rhode Island with support from the   City of Newport, State of Rhode Island, Newport Shipyard and dozens of advisers and friends has entered a detailed contract to Volvo.

We have hit every deadline and have negotiated this contract in an attempt to bring the largest event to Newport since the LPGA Women’s US Open. This event had an economic impact in Galway in Ireland of nearly 65 million euro.  Thanks go to the NCCVB, the Newport Hotel Industry, the Governor’s Office, Stephen Coyne, Kate Leonard, Senator Whitehouse’s Office, Newport Harbor Corp, Sail Newport Staff, the RI Sailing Foundation the Newport Shipyard and so many others who have put their support and commitment to our bid.

We now wait on Volvo for the timeline for their decision between Newport RI and Miami FL as the North American Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race.  March 31st is the date which Volvo announces the race route.  Wish us luck and email brad.read@sailnewport.org with questions or comments. 

Brad Read

Background:  Volvo Event Management runs a “competitive tender process” to choose the ports for stopovers of the Volvo Ocean Race.  Ports from South America, Middle East, China, North America, Australasia and Europe compete against each other in a bidding process much like Olympic Games Host Cities bid… 

Newport was asked by Volvo to bid in the spring of 2009.  Initially there were 6 bidding ports that were in play.  At the end of the line, only Newport and Miami remain as bidding ports for the North American Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race.   The race will be coming to North America in Spring 2012.

Volvo Stopover in RI: Just Say Yes!

Thanks to the Governor’s office, the Newport Shipyard, the Newport County Convention and Visitors Center, the Newport Harbor Corp, Sail Newport and the Rhode Island Saililng Foundation and the greater sailing community at large, Rhode Island is a front runner to host the North American Stopover of the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race.
Deadline for submitting our proposal to Volvo Event Management is this Friday. From there, the Volvo Event Management group puts our proposal up against that of Miami Florida to see which group has the best package. Marh 31 is the date that the Volvo Ocean Race will announce it’s port stopovers and the race route for the 2011-2012 VOR.
The help and support we have gotten from all over the State has been a great help in getting us this far in the process. We started off with 6 ports vying for the stopover. We have hit every deadline in regards to the bid process with detailed CAD drawings of the proposed village, letters of support from Governor Carcieri, Senator Whitehouse, the Newport City Council and many other supporting documents.
Working through the 100 page port requirements and negotiating with Volvo on the scale and scope of what we can offer has been quite a challenge. With an event on the line that is potentially larger than the LPGA US Open at Newport Country Club, our group has put every effort forward to secure RI as the stopover. 10’s of millions of euro in potential tourism income is at stake. Galway in Western Ireland’s 2009 Stopover generated 65 million euro of direct economic stimulous into the region.
What we have:
The best on the water race management group in the World. Combining all of the Yacht Club talent from around Narragansett Bay, no one in America could run the scale of events we can.

Infrastructure. The Newport Shipyard. A thriving shipyard catoring to the cruising, racing and megayacht market with the land space to accomodate a full Volvo Village.
Hospitality Industry: Newport and Rhode Island’s hospitality industry is a major attraction for these types of events. Our properties include waterfront venues as well as mansions, hotels, and outdoor pavillions are a huge draw for sponsors of the Stopover and of the Race itself.
What we are in need of is conditional financial support as the process continues through February. So far, we have had some real successes in cash sponsors and real “budget reducing” in kind support. With our web presense being low key for the time being, we thank RI Yachting for the chance to blog here.

Help Bring a Volvo Stop to Newport

Rhode Island sailors you can help bring a Volvo stopover to Newport!

Check back here Thursday Dec 3rd for instructions on how to text message the Volvo Race committee showing local support for the Rhode Island stopover. The campaign will coincide with Sail Newport’s annual meeting for members and volunteers at the New York Yacht Club’s Carriage House. December 3, 2009 – 6:30 PM

Rhode Island’s Bid to Host the 2011-2012 North American Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race

The North American Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race is up for bid.
Boston MA, Miami FL, (supposedly) Baltimore MD and Newport Rhode Island are finalists for the NA Stopover in May of 2012.

The historic relevance of Narragansett Bay, its maritime heritage, our community’s link to previous and current major sailing and yachting events and our commitment to the growth of sailing locally and regionally make a Newport Stopover a unique opportunity for the Volvo Ocean Race. The partnership between Newport RI and VOR will enhance the race and heighten the worldwide impression of our City for international tourism. Those goals are mutually inclusive and are in the forefront of Newport’s bid. Collectively we can grow the sport and the image / brand of the Volvo Ocean Race and Newport Rhode Island.

The Boston to New York media market would focus in on the resort community of Newport Rhode Island with majestic coastline and incredible vistas. The Volvo Ocean Race will be celebrated in Newport as the keynote event for 2012. The VOR would be the epicenter of public attention on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States of America. With the power of vor.org and .tv, the World will be brought to Rhode Island, America’s first resort. The link with this resort sailing community will fulfill your needs and grow the sport in real and measurable ways. The ability to grow sailing, our quantity of distinctive properties for corporate hospitality and the ability for showcasing the race to a public that would be a stone’s throw from the racecourse make our venue the obvious choice for Volvo Ocean Race organizers. We enthusiastically anticipate a partnership with Volvo and with the teams competing in the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race.

Our deep water port, our access to the North Atlantic, our scenic backdrop, our wind and weather, our people, our drive to succeed and our roots in international sport will make Newport RI the right choice for a US Stopover. Through our connections with international sailing and our deep understanding of the magnitude of VOR Stopovers, we feel that we are very well positioned for the VOR.

Join Eli Dana of the Newport Shipyard, Brad Read of Sail Newport and Dr. Robin Wallace in support of the Newport Bid.
email brad.read@sailnewport.org to learn how you can help us achieve the goal of winning the bid!