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Cape Town hosts Volvo Ocean Race

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The prestigious Volvo Ocean Race is currently in Cape Town after a long leg from Lisbon, Portugal, which took just under three weeks.

The Boatyard has become a central figure of each Race Village used as a Host City in the round the world yacht race.

It is sailing’s equivalent of a Formula 1 pit crew, but instead of servicing just one team, the Boatyard must take care of all seven boats in the race.

The Volvo Ocean Race yachts started arriving in Cape Town on Friday with Spanish boat, Mafre with double Olympic medallist Xabi Frenandez at the helm, winning the stage.

For the sailors, it’s all about resting before the boats depart for Melbourne on the 10th of December.

For the boatyard, it’s about putting in almost 6 000 man hours to make sure the yachts are ready for the next stage.

Head of the boatyard Neil Cox says, “Basically, the boats have just completed 7.5000 leg from Lisbon here to Cape Town the boatyard here facilitates the entire fleet everything that is required from sail making, boat building, electronics, engineering, painting, rigging is covered within the 80-foot tent.”

The race sees the boats racing to cities like Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Auckland, Gothenburg, the Hague and Hong Kong.

The Boatyard ensures that the full fleet is seaworthy and ready to race.

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