Report: Itajaí to be the Brazilian stopover of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race

Update: According to the prefect of Itajaí, the four finalist cities in the bidding process for the South American VOR stopover, were, in addition to his town, Rio de Janeiro and São Sebastião in Brazil and Punta del Leste in Uruguay.

According to an article that appeared in the Brazilian yachting magazine Nautica, the prefecture of Itajai has confirmed the information that the port city will be the Brazilian stopover of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race. According to the same article, the port city outbid Rio, Florianópolis, São Sebastião, Santos and Angra dos Reis in the race to become the country's host of the round-the-world race.

Located about 100km north of the capital Florianópolis, Itajaí is a city of just over 170 thousand inhabitants with a strong nautical vocation. It's Brazil's 2nd largest port, it is a prominent fish producer and several boatyards, for commercial vessels as well as fishing and leisure boats, are located there. This year, Itajaí celebrates the 150 anniversary of its foundation and the official announcement of the choice of the city as a stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race, next Tuesday, is part of this year's celebrations.

According to the same article, despite a massive naval structure in which there is no shortage quay cranes, piers and qualified workforce, Itajaí has no major marina or yacht club to serve leisure boats. The city is expected to announce next week that a new area will be constructed or, more likely, that an existing infrastructure will be used to accommodate the Volvo Ocean Race port.

You can read the entire article here, in Portuguese.