Volvo Ocean Race Academy RS:X Youth Stopover Tour

Alicante, Spain - 19 May 2011 -
The Volvo Ocean Race Academy RS:X Youth Stopover Tour
was announced by the RS:X Class Association and the Race
Organisation, today from Alicante, Spain.

The RS:X Youth Stopover Tour will be part of the Volvo
Ocean Race Academy, a youth programme which will be in
each of the ten host ports of the race.

The RS:X Youth Stopover Tour will promote high-level youth windsurfing and also leave a legacy in all the host ports.

Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race and an ex-professional windsurfer himself, looks forward to the event.

"We believe at the Volvo Ocean Race that we must support youth sailing, while leaving a tangible legacy and with the Volvo Ocean Race Academy we are starting this process. We have the Try sailing and Optimist Team Racing initiatives but we were missing the windsurfing element. By helping these young RS:X windsurfers, we are helping future Olympians and possibly Volvo Ocean Race sailors. We also believe that by bringing the RS:X racing to the race village visitors, we can excite and inspire people to go out and try windsurfing, therefore getting more people out on the water, which is one of our goals."

There will be two days of RS:X racing in the stopover ports with the girls' and boys' fleet racing. The competitors must all be under 19 years old and the local MNA's in host countries will be holding pre-trials to assist the selection process for this special event. The aim is to have a series of ten-minute races as close to the spectators as possible. This will bring a thrilling and informative spectacle to the race village while giving the keen windsurfers a great competition to hone their racing skills.

"The International RS:X Windsurfing Class is delighted to be associated with the prestigious Volvo Ocean Race and looks forward to co-operating, in providing what we are sure will be a spectacular display of close-quarter youth racing during the race stopovers," says Mike Dempsey, RS:X Class President. "We take great interest in this worldwide youth training programme and share the philosophy with the Volvo Ocean Race of encouraging young sailors of today to follow their dream and become the Volvo Ocean Race sailors of tomorrow."

NeilPryde, the windsurfing designer and manufacturer, fully supports the tour and is providing the very latest RS:X Olympic equipment, which will follow the Volvo Ocean Race.

"We are delighted to partner with the Volvo Ocean Race Youth Academy in the organisation of the RS:X Youth Stopover Tour," said Neil Pryde, CEO of Neil Pryde. "We believe that this partnership will provide the RS:X Class with a tremendous opportunity to support the growth of Olympic windsurfing programmes aimed at youth in the many developing countries where the Volvo Ocean Race has stopovers and will certainly widen the geographic spread of the windsurfing sport."

The local competitors will benefit from training camps being organised by the RS:X Class Associations. There will also be a windsurfing simulator supplied by NeilPryde in the race village to let visitors get a feel for the sport.

Download the Volvo Ocean Race Academy RS:X Youth Racing Stopover Tour - Notice of Race

Watch the RS:X video on the Volvo Ocean Race Academy YouTube channel

Join the Volvo Ocean Race Academy Facebook fan site

Join the RS:X Olympic Windsurfing fan site

Dates for The Volvo Ocean Race Academy Team Racing Clinic, Team Racing and RS:X Youth Stopover Tour

	Team Racing Clinic	Team Racing	RS:X Youth Stopover Tour
Alicante	14^th October 2011	15^th & 16^th October 2011	22nd & 23^rd October 2011
Cape Town	2nd December 2011	3^rd & 4^th December 2011	30^th November & 1^st December 2011
Abu Dhabi	5^th January 2012	6^th & 7^th January 2012	3^rd & 4^th January 2012
Sanya	10^th February 2012	11^th & 12^th February 2012	8^th & 9^th February 2012
Auckland	9^th March 2012	10^th & 11^th March 2012	12^th & 13^th March 2012
Itajai	13^th April 2012	14^th & 15^th April 2012	11^th & 12^th April 2012
Miami	11^th May 2012	12^th & 13^th May 2012	9^th & 10^th May 2012
Lisbon	1^st June 2012	2^nd & 3^rd June 2012	4^th & 5^th June 2012
Lorient	22^nd June 2012	23^rd & 24^th June 2012	20^th & 21^st June 2012
Galway	3^rd July 2012	4^th & 5^th July 2012	2^nd & 3^rd July 2012

For more information on the Volvo Ocean Race please visit www.VolvoOceanRace.com

For information on the Volvo Ocean Race Academy, please contact:
Katie Hearsum - Volvo Ocean Race Youth Sailing Coordinator
Tel: + 34 966 011 133 Mob: + 34 676 675 740
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For information on the International RS:X Class Association, please contact:
Rory Ramsden - RS:X Class Chief Operating Officer
Mob: +33 637 500988
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For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:
Sophie Luther - Communications Manager (in Spain)
Tel: + 34 966 011 152 Mob: +34 606 894 940
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Or

Lizzie (Green) Ward - Race Press Officer (in UK)
Mob: +44 7801 185 320
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Christina Gaither - Press Assistant (Spanish language)
Tel: + 34 966 011 158
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Images

High resolution images can be downloaded from http://images.volvooceanrace.com
Tim Stonton - Picture Desk Manager (in Spain)
Tel: +34 966 011 151 Mob: +34 606 905 497
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Full press information can be read and downloaded from http://press.volvooceanrace.com

Broadcast
Please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/volvooceanrace
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Editors' Notes: The Volvo Ocean Race

The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in the Spanish port of Alicante in the autumn of 2011 and finish in Galway, Ireland during the summer of 2012.
The course will include stopovers in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai (Brazil), Miami (USA), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France).
The first 31,250 nautical-mile race first took place over 37 years ago (as the Whitbread Round the World Race 1973-74), testing the crews against some of the most ferocious elements that man can encounter.
The 2011-12 race will be the 11^th edition of the event.
The design of the boat is regulated and the boat is built for speed.

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Official RS:X Olympic Windsurfing Class Website

Volvo Ocean Race Academy RS:X Youth Stopover Tour