Galway preparing for Volvo Ocean Race finish

Who will ever forget the jubilant scenes and huge crowds that flocked to Galway two years ago for a stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race, writes Trish Whelan.

In May 2009, over 600,000 supporters visited the race village during the visit in brilliant weather, with the seaside resort of Salthill drawing a further 120,000 more to watch the dramatic close-combat race from the shoreline.

Once again the Volvo Ocean Race will visit this ancient west coast city, this time for the finish line of the race which started in Alicante, Spain, on 5 November last. A fleet of up to 12 Volvo 'Open 70' class boats will arrive at Galway Docks on the penultimate leg from Lorient in France. The Galway Race Weekend sees the Pro-Am Race on Friday 6 July, and the In-Port Race on Saturday 7 July.

The Volvo Ocean Race is the longest professional sporting event in the world, a nine-month marathon of the seas where the elite of the sailing world battle it out over 39,000 nautical miles of gruelling ocean racing. The course of the race included stopovers in Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya in China, Auckland, Itajai in Brazil, Miami, Lisbon and Lorient. It has taken the teams over 39,000 nautical miles, that's 45,000 miles or 72,000 kilometres.

The Galway Race Village is located at Dock Road and will open on Saturday, 30 June. Alas, there's no Green Dragon competing in the 2011-12 race, which was a firm favourite with Irish fans last time round.

The above picture of race leaders Groupama Sailing Team, skippered by Franck Cammas from France, followed by a huge spectator fleet after finishing first on Leg 8 from Lisbon to Lorient in France. Photographer: Paul Todd.