www.SPINNAKERWEB.net - Green Dragon in Galway

The Green Dragon Volvo Ocean Race sailing team arrived into the port of Galway, Ireland Sunday, after a short delivery from their current training base in Cork. The Galway Bay Sailing Club greeted the Volvo Ocean Race team with a flotilla of boats in Galway Harbour.

The team, who will be based in Cork until the end of August, are using Ireland as a training ground before the 37,000 mile Volvo Ocean Race which kicks off from Alicante in Spain on October 11th. The short delivery from Cork, allowed another opportunity for the Green Dragon crew to test some of the systems, skipper Ian Walker reported from onboard;

"It seems appropriate that the first report from onboard our new Volvo Open 70 "Green Dragon" should be as we round the legendary Fastnet Rock, at the southernmost tip of Ireland. This rock has a special place in sailing folklore and one can't help but think back to the tragic events in the 1979 Fastnet and of all friends and colleagues we know who have been lost at sea. It is also a stark reminder of the importance of safety and never is that more important than in these awesome boats. Fortunately we should have no problems today as we are sailing under full main and mast head zero in a 10 knot southerly breeze.

We are leaving the Fastnet Rock to Starboard having sailed the 50 miles from Cork and we now head north for the future Volvo Ocean Race stopover port of Galway on the west coast of Ireland. This has been an amazing journey for this boat having started life on the mould in McConaghy boatyard in Zhuhai, China, then shipped to the UK, where the team commissioned and wo! rked her up over a month in both Gosport and Cork.

Galway marks the end of this particular journey but the start of a new chapter. At only 220 miles this will be a short trip � estimated at 22 hours right now and we are not only breaking in some new systems but sail testing as we go. We are trying to learn how best to sail the boat but deadlines for ordering new sails are fast upon us and design decisions have to be made."

The Green Dragon Volvo Open 70 will be based in Galway until Thursday 31st July, after which they will return to Cork for a short re-fit before heading into the Atlantic for their 2000-mile race qualifier.