The route for the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race has been announced with Galway hosting the race finish.

The route for 2011-12 is now set and includes: start port Alicante/Spain, Cape Town/South Africa, Abu Dhabi/UAE, Sanya/China, Auckland/New Zealand, Itajai/Brazil, Miami/USA, Lisbon/Portugal, Lorient/France and finish port Galway/Ireland.

Following the huge success in Galway when it was the finish of the transatlantic leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, Ireland, will again feature in the new route for 2011-12. The fleet will race from Lorient in France back to Galway on Ireland's west coast.

Galway, whose twin town is Lorient, has fought an intense contest against the other bidding ports to win back the event for a second edition and the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 will complete its lap around the globe in Ireland's ‘cultural heart', where the final prizegiving will be held.

The Taoiseach (the prime minister of Ireland, Brian Cowen), stated:

"The 2009 stopover in Galway made an abiding impression on the sailors, support crews, organisers and media, who were immersed in the warmth of an Irish welcome.

"Their presence, in turn, had an enormous beneficial impact on Galway, the west of Ireland and indeed the entire country. Their arrival here was spectacular and their visit helped generate a massive 55 million Euros for the regional economy, more than one third higher than the original projections

"Given its economic benefits and its importance to Irish tourism, I am more than happy to welcome the return of the Volvo Ocean Race to our shores and pledge our support for the event".

The stopover in Galway during May 2009 fuelled the public imagination as never before.  Over 600,000 supporters visited the race village during the stopover, with the crowd peaking at 62,000 people on in-port race day alone.  The seaside resort of Salthill drew a further crowd of 120,000 to watch the dramatic close combat race from the shoreline. 

Galway's ‘home town boat', Green Dragon, became Ireland's second entry in the race - the first was NCB Ireland in1989-90.  Double Olympic medallist, Ian Walker, guided the team to a fifth place finish overall and claimed the third spot on the podium when the fleet crossed the finish in Galway, delighting the huge crowd that had gathered to welcome them.

"The interest in hosting the Volvo Ocean Race, particularly in Europe, has been quite overwhelming," said Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad, as the last of the European ports was unveiled. "I am very proud to confirm Ireland's participation and Galway will be a magnificent port to stage the finish of the event.  We have already experienced the enthusiasm that abounds in Ireland for the race and we are looking forward to bringing the competition to its conclusion in a country that really knows how to celebrate," he said.

The Volvo Ocean Race traces its origins back to 1973 and is the world's premier offshore sailing race. The Volvo Open 70 racing boat is sailed by professional athletes, who race around the world with the prevailing winds.  

Auckland, New Zealand, is back in the Volvo Ocean Race after a gap of 10 years.  The city, which has fielded some of the world's best sailors in the Volvo Ocean Race, last hosted the event in 2001-02. It will stage the leg four finish from Sanya in China and the start of leg five, which will take the fleet into the Southern Ocean once again, round the infamous Cape Horn and up to a finish in Itajai, Brazil.

"It is with the greatest pleasure I can confirm Auckland, New Zealand has won its bid to become a stopover port in the next Volvo Ocean Race. The local people have an immense appreciation of sailing, and the Volvo Ocean Race in particular," said Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad. "Many of the world's best-known sailors are from New Zealand, and we are proud to bring the race back to the City of Sails, where we will be sure of a huge reception." 

"This announcement completes the route and our goal of contracting all the ports before the end of March 2010, significantly earlier than in previous race cycles. The preliminary course will be published during April," Frostad added.

Auckland Mayor John Banks says he is pleased to see Auckland included as a stopover for this major international event. "This event is a great fit with Auckland's maritime location and of significant economic benefit for our city," says Mr Banks. 

"Auckland has a proud history associated with this event and we look forward to welcoming the fleet and many spectators to our city once again."

New Zealand has fielded many of the world's greatest sailors, including Sir Peter Blake who competed five times in The Whitbread Round the World Race, which became the Volvo Ocean Race in 2001. He finally won it comprehensively in 1989-90 on the great Steinlager 2. 

Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand,  has also been a prolific competitor in the event, competing six times, being part of the winning crew onboard Flyer in 1981-82, and winning the maxi class with New Zealand Endeavour in 1993-94. Whilst fellow New Zealander Ross Field won the Whitbread 60 division with Yamaha the same year.

More recently, Mike Sanderson drove ABN AMRO ONE to a resounding victory in 2005-06, with Brad Jackson and Stu Bannatyne, as his watch captains. They carried on their winning streak as watch captains onboard 2008-09 winner Ericsson 4 and were jointly name Sailor of the Year at the 2009 Yachting New Zealand Excellence Awards. Along with Mark Christensen, Jackson and Bannatyne are the only sailors to have won the race three times.