The Volvo Ocean Race is coming to Fan Pier in Boston.

The sailing yachts will arrive in Boston,Massachusetts USA on the 27th of May as they conclude the 4,900 mile Leg Six of the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race which began on April 11th in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil. The finish line will be in the immediate vicinity of Fan Pier and can be best viewed from the Race Village.

The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the world’s most renowned nautical competitions. The race started on October 11th,2008 in Alicante,Spain. The race will take over nine months to complete and by the end,competitor yachts will have traveled almost 37,000 nautical miles,and will have made stops in 11 ports along the way. Boston is the only North American port in which the Volvo Ocean Race will be stopping. There will be in-port racing on Saturday,May 9th.

Complete Volvo Ocean Race Leg Information:

1. Alicante,Spain –>Cape Town,South Africa (6,500 nm)
2. Cape Town,South Africa –>Cochin,India (4,450 nm)
3. Cochin,India –>Singapore (1,950 nm)
4. Singapore –> Qingdao,China (2,500 nm)
5. Qingdao,China –>Rio de Janeiro,Brazil (12,300 nm)
6. Rio de Janeiro Brazil –>Boston,USA (4,900 nm)
7. Boston,USA –>Galway,Ireland (2,550 nm)
8. Galway,Ireland –> Marstrand,Sweden (950 nm)
9. Marstrand,Sweden –> Stockholm,Sweden (525 nm)
10. Stockholm,Sweden –>St. Petersberg,Russia (400nm)

Total Miles:37,000 nm

The photo here is of the Puma Ocean rading yacht il mostro,Italian for “The Monster”. I took this photgraph while sailing in Newport,Rhode Island in the summer of 2008. Some of dimensional and technical specifications of Puma Ocean Racing sailing yacht:

• Name:il mostro
• Type: Volvo Open 70 monohull
• Length: 70 feet (21.3m)
• Width:19 feet (5.8 m)
• Height:105 feet (32 m)
• Weight:31,000 lbs (14,061 kg)
• Top Speed:40+ knots
• Crew:10