On the picture Stephan van der Meulen, H. E. Piragibe dos Santos Tarragô, Fabiola Soto and H. E. Eduaro Ibarrola – Nicolin.
By C.A. Dailey.
On Sunday, April 19, His Excellency Piragibe dos Santos Tarragô, the Brazilian Ambassador to the Netherlands, warmly welcomed some sixty five guests to the Worldhotel Bel Air in celebration of the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) start of Leg 6 “Itajaí to Newport”. Ambassador Eduaro Ibarrola – Nicolin, of Mexico, and his wife were also present for the afternoon program.
With support from the Embassy of Brazil, the third and most recent event was again held at the Worldhotel Bel Air, the official sponsor for accommodation for this year’s 12th edition of the race, which was last held three years ago, in 2011-2012.
For a photo-album on the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) start of Leg 6 “Itajaí to Newport” ‘s celebration at Worldhotel Bel Air, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157651668410989/
This year, it is expected that all seven competing teams will be making the highly anticipated June overnight “pitstop” in the harbor of Scheveningen, before departing again on the final run of their grueling nine month long journey across four oceans. The race covers 38,739 nautical miles, to five continents and eleven countries, before finishing in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The hotel’s General Manager, Stephan van der Meulen, opened the presentation and introduced Ambassador dos Santos Tarragô, who briefly spoke about the Volvo Ocean Race’s visit to Itajaí. Remarking upon Brazil’s worldwide image as a “nation of sports,” he commented further that his country hosted the FIFA World Cup™ in 2014 and looks forward to welcoming international sports enthusiasts to the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
“Samba” dancers wearing glittery green and yellow feather costumes, Brazil’s predominant national colors, greeted guests upon entry. In addition to an exuberant performance by the samba dancers and the Legendairs, a Dutch eight-man street carnival drum squad; the program also featured light bites of Brazilian inspired culinary favorites served prior to the live “big screen” broadcast of the Leg 6 race start.
Diana Boogards, of “Diabo Sail Reporting” and the media manager responsible for reporting on the VOR in the Netherlands, spoke briefly and gave a synopsis of Leg 5 Auckland to Itajaí race. While explaining technical terms and elaborating upon some of the fine points of ocean racing sail culture specific to the Volvo Ocean Race and “Life at the Extreme,” she commented on the “match racing” which occurred at Point Nemo, the “oceanic pole of inaccessibility,” in the Southern Pacific Ocean.
Point Nemo, the location in the ocean that is furthest from land, is so remote that all six Leg 5 competing teams transported and dropped research buoys for NOAA to monitor ocean currents in the remotest ocean on earth! Also noteworthy was the 24-hour speed record set by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Bogaards closed by informing the guests that VOR teams race “for the glory” as no prize money is awarded to the winning team.
Epco Ongering, responsible for all new “boating” and water sports initiatives for the Telegraaf Media Nederland group, also spoke briefly on the race and The Hague’s exciting “Volvo Ocean Race Festival” sponsored by the Dutch “Team Brunel” and planned for June 18, 19 and 20. Annelies Putman Cramer, of Fair Focus Communications, was among the guests invited to support the race, and the city’s Volvo Ocean Race festival. Some 300,000 supporters are estimated to have visited the VOR race village in Itajaí and the municipality of The Hague is expecting that the festival will attract a similar numbers of visitors to the city in June.
