via: Volvo Ocean Race
Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race gets underway this Sunday in Auckland, New Zealand. The 7600-nautical mile leg is considered one of the high points of the 9-month race, as boats will sail through huge ocean swells while battling brutal weather conditions as they round Cape Horn and return to Atlantic waters for the first time since December. The fleet then turns north headed for the warmer environs at the leg finish in Itajai, Brazil.
They say that more people have climbed Mt. Everest then have sailed around Cape Horn — South America’s southern most point — and while the Volvo Ocean Race is considered the Everest of Sailing, it has grown into more than just an around-the-world adventure. It’s a global spectacle that reaches millions of visitors in the port stopovers and millions more on television and online.
The U.S. stopover featured 125,000 visitors in May 2015 and Newport, RI is busy preparing to host the Volvo Ocean Race fleet again in less than two months time as the only North American stopover in the race from May 8-20, 2018.
