The ocean race anchors in Cape Town

The City-sponsored race is making its 12th stop in the Mother City – the most visited  – and most anticipated – stopover in the event’s 50-year history.

The City of Cape Town is ready to welcome The Ocean Race back to the Mother City after five years. The race takes place every four to five years.

The City of Cape Town is ready to welcome The Ocean Race back to the Mother City after five years. The race takes place every four to five years.

Five teams of five sailors are expected in Table Bay Harbour later this month for the Cape Town stopover after sailing from Carbo Verde for three weeks.

The Cape Town stopover includes three weeks of activities at The Ocean Race Village based at the V&A Waterfront.

Spectators at the village will be treated to a lighted boat parade, water sports games, in-port races, recycled art exhibitions, learning programmes for pupils, an ocean conservation puppet show and live music performances at the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre.

‘The Ocean Race has provided us with the opportunity to showcase our beautiful oceans, promoting Cape Town to the rest of the world and raising awareness about ocean conservation. The economic benefits for local businesses, tourism attractions as well as job opportunities from this stopover, means so much to the people who call this city their home. It is therefore thrilling to welcome back an event which has been a mainstay on our city’s events space for the last 50 years,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Benefits to the local economy

Cape Town will be the first of three “haul-out” stops, where the boats will be lifted from the water for maintenance while crew take a break.

This will give the local boat-building industry the chance to showcase its strengths and capabilities and provide future opportunities for local experts in the global maritime sector.

During the 2017 stopover, seven local boat-building companies assisted the race boatyard with repairs.

The event’s total economic impact for 2017 was estimated at R560 million. It also brought over 3 000 national and international visitors to Cape Town.

The event also provided opportunities for local event suppliers, hotels, restaurants, traders and technicians who constructed the race village.

Sustainability

The Ocean Race will collect more data about the environment than any other sporting event in the world.

Crews will measure microplastic pollution, gather information about the impact of climate change on the ocean and collect data to improve global weather forecasting.

Every boat will have specialist equipment on board to measure a range of variables which will be analysed by scientists from eight leading research organisations.

Sailing through some of the most remote parts of the planet seldom reached by scientific vessels, teams will have a unique opportunity to collect vital data where information is lacking on two of the biggest threats to the health of the seas: climate change and plastic pollution.

You can visit The Sustainability Pavilion with your friends and family (located at the V&A Waterfront).

This will provide an immersive experience for children and adults to educate and inspire about the ocean, its health and rights.

Once spectators have been inspired they can go through to the action room which has an ocean rights-themed selfie booth, a science area with experiments, an interactive AI bin to teach the whole family about recycling and more. School tours will also be on offer.

The Ocean Race’s One Blue Voice Campaign is an initiative to drive public support for ocean rights.

The campaign aims to give the ocean a voice and put in place a global framework for protecting the marine environment.

In addition, there’s an ocean education video with a driver booth and the “Ocean is Hiring Board”, which advertises local and international opportunities to get involved in ocean-related projects.

The Ocean Race Village opens from Wednesday 8 February from 10:00 daily during the event duration. Entry is free.

A full programme of activities is available at https://loom.ly/j6tq5Gc

Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town