All teams arrive in Newport for the Volvo Ocean Race
By Matt Blanchette
The celebration continues in Newport today after all the teams arrived in the Volvo Ocean Race.
It’s extra meaningful for a local skipper arriving at his home port just before 3:30 this morning.
Sleep is optional at this point for the sailors, especially for the local ones. A 4 a.m. arrival followed by a family homecoming will do that. But Bristol’s Charlie Enright and Newport’s Nick Dana say it’s all worth it to bring the Volvo Ocean Race to the Ocean State.
Nick Dana, a Newport native, is the boat captain for Team Alvimedica, and for the next ten days he will be balancing work and family time. After a year away at sea, that’s quite alright with him.
“Yeah, my family has some chickens so I went home this morning and picked some eggs and had a nice home cooked meal, so that felt pretty good. I have been craving eggs for a while now,” said Dana.
The Alvimedica boat took a less-than-direct route back into port, zigg-zagging through Narragansett Bay thanks to a lack of wind. But, Enright said it gave him more time to enjoy Newport and the thousands that came out to see him.
“It was amazing really, to come in last night at such an obscure hour in not the greatest conditions. It took us about three hours to get from Castle Hill to Fort Adams… but it gave us time to savor the moment, to really harness those feelings. The support from the people here in Newport has been absolutely amazing,” Enright explained.
This race comes to Newport after five years of planning and preparation. Sail Newport Executive Director Brad Read, who manages the stopover, is overjoyed with the results.
Read said he “was proud that Newport showed up. Rhode Island showed up. It was satisfying to see six to seven thousand people here at 11 o’clock at night to bring in a sail boat race.”
The teams get a well deserved day off tomorrow and will be around for most of the next 10 days, participating in different events and getting their boats ready for the next leg of the race. They depart on May 17th, bound for Portugal.
© WLNE-TV 2015
