Volvo Ocean Race

The Galway leg of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race was another huge success for the city. More than 20,000 people turned out to welcome the boats into harbour for what proved to be a memorable finish to this year’s event. The race is the worlds premier offshore race, 6 boats compete around the world over nine ocean and ten in-port races starting on the 29th October and finishing up in Galway on the 7th of July.

An event of this scale involved the erection of a large Marina Village which was expected to attract more than 600,000 visitors during the course of the stopover. Inland and Coastal Marina Systems were contracted to install a new pontoon system to cope with this volume of traffic during the event. Galvanized by Galco these pontoons enabled the competitors and other visitors ease of access to the boats, the village and Galway city.

Galco also helped show off Galway’s artistic side. Sculptor Donnacha Cahill approached us to galvanize a sculpture he was exhibiting. The piece based on a submarine symbolizes among other things Galway’s link with the sea. Pictured admiring this sculpture are Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina Coyne.

Share on:
Scroll to Top