No Irish entry for Ocean Race

SAILING:AFTER MONTHS of speculation surrounding the identity of a seventh boat for the Volvo Ocean Race, it has been confirmed that Ireland will not have an entry in the 39,000-mile marathon which begins in Alicante in just four months.

Instead, past winning skipper Mike Sanderson from New Zealand has been hired to pull together a Chinese entry, to be named Team Sanya, dedicated to that city where the race will stop-over early next year.

The race will finish in Galway in July 2012 where a repeat of the highly successful 2008 stop-over is intended to repeat the economic boost to the region.

In a conference-call from Beijing yesterday, Sanderson confirmed details of the project that is funded by the Chinese government and intended to be a “stepping-stone” campaign towards the following race by building interest and the country’s ocean-racing prowess.

However, an Irish sailor on board the line-up is probable, according to the 2005-06 race-winning skipper, while the “Discover Ireland” brand will be a secondary sponsor of the team alongside Helly Hansen, the Norwegian clothing brand.

Two weeks ago, the Irish Times reported the Galway entrepreneur Enda O’Coineen claimed a “joint-Irish” project was at an advanced stage of negotiation, including talks with a high-profile international skipper.

Last night, he added that the full Irish involvement will be announced on July 1st.

Sanderson said: “It’s still very early from a crew selection viewpoint. It’s been important to keep this team under the radar, so going out and getting 10 sailors wouldn’t achieve that.”

The Kiwi didn’t name his boat, confirming only that a number of existing, second-generation Volvo 70-footers were being surveyed and an announcement would be made in the coming weeks.

It understood the Green Dragon is unlikely to be used, and there were strong hints that one of the Spanish Telefonica boats would be purchased or chartered for the late-entry team.

Meanwhile, the first team to announce its campaign for this year’s race began its 2,000-mile qualifying passage on Wednesday. Franck Cammas’ Groupama 4 was christened last weekend and Ireland’s Damian Foxall is on board as watch-leader in their quest for the race win.