Bonfires greet Volvo finalists as they head into Galway

Date Published: 03-Jul-2012

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

Bonfires blazed across the Aran Islands and hundreds of enthusiasts lined the seafront at Salthill and the Galway Harbour as the completing fleet of six boats completed the 39,000 nautical mile Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) in the early hours of this morning.

The new Mayor of Galway, Terry O’Flaherty, was at the quayside to welcome the crews to the city after the closest finish in the history of the race concluded off Mutton Island.

The crews began the 550 mile journey from Lorient on Sunday in the final leg of a race which began in Alicante, Spain, last October and included stop-overs in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai (Brazil), Miami (USA), Lisbon (Portugal), and Lorient (France).

“We wanted to give the sailors as big a welcome as we could, by lighting bonfires at three points along the west coast of Inis Mor,” said Penny Fitzpatrick of Failte Aran.

The boats may have arrived into the city in the early hours of this morning, but the party began on Saturday. Organisers Let’s Do It Global were delighted by the attendances at the Global Village and Race Village, despite the inclement weather conditions.

There has been a poor take up of the ‘park and ride’ service from Ballybrit Racecourse so far, with just 1,100 people using the service on Saturday and 1,500 on Sunday.

But Galway City Council have advised motorists travelling from the east that it is the best way of getting into the city centre, with buses line up to depart from Ballybrit at five minute intervals throughout each day of the festival.

Gardai estimated that about 50,000 people attended the VOR festivities on Saturday and Sunday.

“The first three days went very well and there were no incidents of note,” said John Killeen of Let’s Do It Global. “We are expecting a lot more visitors from overseas in the coming days, including the Prince of Sweden, who is due here on Friday and Saturday.

“The success of the festival so far has exceeded our expectations and we are expecting visitors from all over the world this weekend, including sailing enthusiasts from as far away as Chicago and Boston.”

A spokesman for Galway City Council said that traffic was particularly heavy in the Headford Road area on Sunday afternoon and urged motorists, when possible, to avail of the ‘park and ride’ service.

“If you are coming from the east side, it makes sense to use a bus service which will get you into the heart of the city in just seven minutes,” he said. “The buses are literally shooting past traffic on the Old Dublin Road.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.