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Crewmembers on ABN-AMRO 1 (foreground) fights to get the spinnaker up as his boat is passed by ABN-AMRO 2 after rounding a buoy south of the Bay Bridge during the sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. (Baltimore Sun photo by Jerry Jackson /May 7, 2006)
In the battle of waterfront towns, Newport, R.I., has beaten Baltimore for the right to host the only U.S. stopover of the around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race in 2015.
Volvo race CEO Knut Frostad and other officials were on their way to Providence for a Tuesday afternoon news conference at the Rhode Island State House. State officials have promised to spend more than $3 million to build a legacy sailing facility for the visit.
Ocean Racing USA, the Baltimore bidder, and other officials were informed of the decision in a conference call Friday. Neither the state nor the city had invested any money in the bid.
Baltimore hosted three of the global races, the last one in 2005-06. The two-week stopover attracted 350,000 visitors daily and was worth $40 million to the local economy, an economic study said.
