VOR stopover - disappointment!

[jenku]

Visited the Stockholm Volvo Ocean race stopover today and it was a complete disappointment. You couldn't even get near anything boaty. The public was herded towards the corporate sponsor tents and beer drinking places while the seafront was guarded by grim looking men asking for ID:s and VIP-cards.
I could see the VOR boats from a distance only and I am told it was the same way when you came with your own boat. A collegue's parents tried this and were more or less pushed away by unmarked black ribs with self-important people in them.

So, it's clearly not intended for boaty people. Still may be nice for beer people or families (there was a little pool were you could match-race radio-controlled sailboats....but they have better ones at the boatshows.)

Finally the Adix, which I had come for in the first place was completely hidden behind big containers. This was the nearest I got to her...

 

[agurney]

If you like Adix, you could always pretend that you took this and this.

 

[VictorII]

So much different from the way the French handle these things. All the big race finishes become big parties along the shore. People hugging the winners, getting autographs...

It must be the Swedes.

 

[jenku]

The second pic was really great! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Also looks like a very nice sailing area..but then I did know that already. Should sail there sometimes.

 

[Refueler]

As you know Jens ... I was invited to go to Stockholm for VOR ... on Milda as part of a crew. I was interested until I was told I would have to pay for the privilege !! Bit of a cheek I thought ...

 

[bryantee]

not much different to the cochin stop over . a big wall between the boats and the people. a fairground on the shore side. mega bull [--word removed--] and no delivery. a cordon sanitaire that made the solent exclusion zone look amatuerist.

 

[SAWDOC]

I'm surprised. The Galway stopover was excellent partly because the boats were fully visible in the small harbour in the city centre. Outside the harbour, we were marshalled a little by ribs to keep the race area clear during the inport racing days but all very understandable. We had a ball! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Slowtack]

Go to Galway next time!

 

[Rabbie]

Hear Hear. Galway was best boat gathering I've been to for years. Facilities were first class and fun, games and great music each night around the harbour, very free and easy.
You could get as close as this. The teams made very complimentary speeches to the Irish for their great hosptality and facilities, in what is usually a fishing harbour.

 

[jenku]

[ QUOTE ]
..., in what is usually a fishing harbour.


[/ QUOTE ]

That may just be the reason. A smaller town, not a capital and everything gets a little more laid back perhaps?

 

[Ehbendisdonc]

Surprised and disappointed to hear this report about the Stockholm stopover.
In Galway, the VOR fleet could not have been more accessible. In fact, I feel like the only person in Galway who didn't get a spin on one. The teams were really adopted by the city; they seemed to feel at home and integrated into local life while they were here.
Everything just seemed to come together in Galway. The organisation was impeccable. The nightly free entertainment would have stood up as a very decent music festival. The fleet were right there in town, with many of the local boats rafted up close by them in view of the stage.
The welcome they got when they arrived was something else. Green Dragon of course got the biggest welcome when she arrived around 4AM, but there were thousands crammed into the Docks all night with 500 boats on the Bay and all the crews got a rockstar's welcome. Ken Read, who should be used to this kind of thing, said afterwards ""This reception is unbelievable. It's like sailing is a real sport." Of course, with E4 arriving just as the nightclubs were emptying, the scene was set for a great night.
The sun shone for the full 2 weeks. Galway Bay Sailing Club moved operations into the town docks and we ran our annual regatta from there with the VOR fleet usually in evidence out on the water. After the In-Port racing, Green Dragon cruised around spotting kids on spectator boats and plucking them off for a spin.
I could go on all night. Suffice to say that for 2 weeks Galway was an extraordinarily cool place to be, and since that first night things didn't let up until the emotional sight of the local boys along with E4 leading the fleet under spinnaker out of Galway Bay on a sleigh-ride to the Fastnet.
Better shut up now.