Hong Kong faces stiff competition from Chinese cities to bring back sailing’s Ocean Race in 2022
- The next edition of the race will begin in Alicante in 2021 and come to Asia in early 2022
- Xiamen, Sanya and Shenzhen are also interested in the premier sailing event after Hong Kong hosted a successful leg in 2018
Hong Kong faces stiff competition from nearby Chinese cities for the return of the Ocean Race before the organisers announce the host cities for the next edition of the sailing competition in 2021-22.
The race will visit Asia in early 2022 after departing from Alicante, Spain in the summer of the year before but there will be only one host city in the continent. Organisers are conducting a host city procurement process that will result in the full race route being announced before the end of the summer.
Other Chinese cities being considered include Shenzhen, Sanya (Hainan province) and Xiamen (Fujian province). Each is believed to be interested in hosting the prestigious round the world race. The Hong Kong government splashed out more than HK$25 million to bring the event to Hong Kong for the first time for the 2017-18 race.
“We are having ongoing discussions with the organisers and are interested in bringing the race back to Hong Kong after a successful edition last year,” said Sports Commissioner Yeung Tak-keung. “We know some other cities are also interested but have to sort out many things before we can make a decision. The organisers also have their own considerations about the route as it is a big event and they haven’t told us about any plan to announce the host cities.”
Yeung also said it is too early to talk about the cost of staging the event again after the government injected the financial resources through part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the special administrative government.
The organisers came to Hong Kong in March to discuss the next race with the government.
Hong Kong has the experience and did a good job last year when we hosted the race, but the financial side will be a big question mark
Tong Yui-shing, president of the Hong Kong Sailing Federation, said both Sanya and Xiamen, could host the race as the two Chinese cities have sufficient financial backing and Xiamen would be even more likely as its geographical location as a harbour city fits the route.
“Hong Kong has the experience and did a good job last year when we hosted the race, but the financial side will be a big question mark,” Tong said. “Also, we have to consider the legacy value for sailing in Hong Kong if we spend such an amount of money for the race.”
Richard Mason, executive director of the Ocean Race, agreed Hong Kong staged a great event last year. “The race came to Hong Kong for the first time ever in February 2018 for what was a very successful stopover,” he said. “As a leading commercial centre in Asia, Hong Kong is an attractive destination for many of our stakeholders and partners. But as an island it also has a strong nautical heritage that makes it a good fit for the race. It’s a popular place to come for the sailors, fans and our partners.
“We are currently evaluating potential stopover ports as part of our host city procurement process and Hong Kong is a strong candidate for us to return.”
Formerly known as the Volvo Ocean Race from 2001 to 2018, the Ocean Race will be without the car manufacturer as its title sponsor when it races again in 2021 but Mason assured it would not affect the event.
“We’re very excited about the future of the race,” he said. “The strength of the Ocean Race is its teams, sailors, host cities and partners and we are very optimistic on all counts. We have added a new type of boat – the foiling IMOCA 60 class – which has generated a lot of excitement for sailors and teams, and that means we are hoping to have significantly more entries than last time around.”
A global launch for the race took place in Alicante in March as its next edition will start in Alicante in 2021 and finish in Europe the following year, with up to eight additional stopovers in locations including South America, Australasia, Asia, the United States and Europe.
