Swedish capital will be final stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race before finishing in St Petersburg

The Swedish capital of Stockholm was today announced as the final stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 before its finish in the Russian Baltic port of St Petersburg in July 2009. During the stopover (16 – 25 June 2009) Stockholm will also host an in-port race as well as a pro-am race in its famous archipelago.

Stockholm’s Mayor, Kristina Axén Olin, explained: “It is a fantastic opportunity for Stockholm to host a stopover in the Volvo Ocean Race. We will be able to present our beautiful capital city to many international visitors and [it] will be an excellent opportunity to promote our clean and green waterfront city.”

Glenn Bourke, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, responded: “This is a fantastic location and we are delighted that we have come to an agreement to bring our event to such a beautiful city. The fleet of Volvo Open 70s sailing into the harbour of Stockholm and mooring next to the royal castle will be a magnificent sight.”

Stockholm is the home port of Ericsson Racing Team which has two boats entered in the race, built by Killian Bushe in Stockholm.

The 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, starting from Alicante in Spain on 4 October 2008, will span some 39,000 nautical miles, stop at around 11 ports, take nine months to complete, and for the first time take in ports in Asia.