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Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 finale for “Telefónica” tomorrow from 13:00 local time

Tomorrow will be the final opportunity to see the boats competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 together on the water. At 12:00 UTC (13:00 local time) the crews will be racing the tenth and final in-port race of the eleventh edition of the round the world regatta. It will be in Galway, Ireland on the same race course used in the last edition of the regatta.

Although this in-port race won't have an impact on the final standings, as the finish of the offshore leg makes that mathematically impossible, “Telefónica” is approaching this leg in the same way the team approached the first in-port back in Alicante on the 29^th of October last year: aiming for the best possible finish and looking to enjoy an in-port race with some 15 knots of breeze.

“It won't change the final standings but we've got all of our sponsors here and all of the people who've come to say goodbye to the project and a good result would be a great way to round this off for everybody. Let's hope we can all ensure that everyone enjoys themselves and enjoys being here in Galway,” said skipper Iker Martínez this morning.

Once again, starting will be fundamental. There are up to four possible courses of differing lengths being considered for tomorrow, but the final route will depend on how strong the wind blows tomorrow. That decision will be taken, as always, just moments before the racing begins. “The course will be similar to recent in-ports but we don't really know yet how we'll start, if it'll be an upwind or a downwind start, as the courses are fixed but will depend on the breeze. It'll either be upwind, downwind, a reach and a reach or if the wind were different maybe downwind, upwind, reach, reach and then around once or once and a half or maybe twice... We'll have to wait and see.”

“We've had a lot of problems during the regatta with the in-ports, but we've also done some really good in-port racing so to be competitive we've got to sail at one hundred per cent  and manage an excellent start, so thats what we're going to try to do,” added Martínez.

Once the in-port is finished it will be time for the prize giving ceremony at the Race Village in Galway, which thousands of people are expected to attend. At 18:00 local time the public prize giving ceremony for the whole regatta will take place.

The final gala dinner will be held an hour later, rounding off a competition which has gone around the world over nine months.

Tomorrow Saturday 7^th July after the Galway in-port race (Ireland), Pedro Campos, CEO of the Spanish team and skipper on “Telefónica” Iker Martínez will be reviewing Team Telefónica's Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 performance at a press conference to be given at the Harbour Hotel in the Race Village.