A stay at the ultra-luxurious The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort is part of the stunning Abu Dhabi New Year competition up for grabs. Supplied image.
"Push the Boat Out this New Year" : Luxury Abu Dhabi Break for Winner of Yacht Naming Contest
by Sam Dulka
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has launched a global competition to name its Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team’s state-of-the-art Volvo Open 70 yacht, which is currently being built in Italy to contest the 2011/2012 Volvo Ocean Race. The competition winner will ‘sail’ away with a luxury, New Year’s holiday for two, valued at US $20,000*, in the UAE capital.
The VIP New Year’s break will see the winner be in one of the turn-of-the-year’s hottest spots as Abu Dhabi welcomes the Volvo Ocean Race fleet to its shores as it hosts the third leg of the gruelling, round-the-world sailing race.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing fans could win the ultimate New Year’s holiday in the UAE capital on the new website. Image copyright ADOR.
The competition - running on the newly-launched team and host port stopover website www.abudhabivolvooceanrace.ae - carries a prize which includes two business class (Pearl) return tickets on Etihad Airways*, named ‘The World’s Leading Airline’ in the 2010 World Travel Awards; seven-nights stay at the Volvo Ocean Race official Hotel Partner, The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort – the iconic luxurious brand’s first Middle East property on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi opening on November 1st, 2011; and tickets to a New Year’s Eve headline concert.
“We are looking for a name which reflects our Volvo Ocean Race campaign, which has taken Abu Dhabi into international yachting history books while leveraging our rich maritime history in a thoroughly modern context,” said HE Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA – team principal of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.
“Of course the winner gets to share the moment when the race flotilla sails into its first Middle East host destination in its 37-year history. I can promise it will be a truly memorable experience.”
Abu Dhabi’s new Volvo Open 70 racing yacht has been designed by the USA’s Farr Design and is currently being built by PERSICO S.p.A. in Italy. It is expected to be one of the most revolutionary and technologically advanced race yachts ever and could give Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing a competitive advantage in the race, which begins in Spain this October.
To keep fans up-to-date, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s new dual-language website is a one-stop information resource on the team’s progress including real-time blogs, crew insights and twitter feeds to all the latest news, videos, images and downloads.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing fans can learn everything about the Volvo Ocean Race and the team. Image copyright ADOR.
The site is also a definitive guide to all things watersports in Abu Dhabi, allowing visitors to click through and find out what’s going on, how to book and what to look out for – from marina berthing to wakeboarding lessons.
The 2011/2012 Volvo Ocean Race will end in Galway, Ireland, in summer next year, completing a nine-leg, multi-destination route which takes it past six continents and through some of the globe’s most treacherous seas.
Competing teams will be in the UAE capital from January 1-14th 2012 after they complete a punishing leg from Cape Town. The Volvo Open 70 racing yacht is sailed by professional athletes, who race around the world with the prevailing winds.
The naming contest’s deadline is June 25. Terms & conditions apply.
The Volvo Ocean Race
- The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in the Spanish port of Alicante in the autumn of 2011 and finish in Galway, Ireland during the summer of 2012
- The first 31,250 nautical-mile race first took place over 37 years ago (as the Whitbread Round the World Race 1973-74), testing the crews against some of the most ferocious elements that man can encounter
- The 2011-12 race will be the 11th edition of the event
- This will be the first time the Middle East has formed part of the route for the Volvo Ocean Race
- Lying on the Arabian Gulf, Abu Dhabi has a rich maritime tradition as a trading port. Throughout its history, the iconic dhow has plied the trade routes between the city and its neighbouring countries.
ADTA: Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has wide ranging responsibilities for managing and assisting the development of the emirate's tourism industry and the marketing and promotion of the emirate as a world-class destination of distinction. Its responsibilities include; destination marketing; infrastructure and product development and regulation and classification. A key role is to create synergy in the international promotion of Abu Dhabi through close co-ordination with the emirate's hotels, destination management companies, airlines and other public and private sector travel-related organisations.
St. Regis Hotels & Resorts
Combining classic sophistication and modern luxury, the St. Regis brand remains faithful to its commitment to excellence. Founded by John Jacob Astor IV, with the opening of the first St. Regis Hotel in New York City over a century ago, the St. Regis brand of hotels is known for its unique luxury dimension, customized service and refined elegance, in the best destinations worldwide. Plans for this brand to globally continue its legacy include long-awaited St. Regis US and Latin American hotels and resorts in Bal Harbour, Buenos Aires and the Riviera Maya. In Asia, St. Regis has also announced plans to open hotels in Bangkok, Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur, Sanya Yalong Bay and Tianjin. In Africa and the Middle East, the St. Regis brand will continue to expand in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and Mauritius. The distinctive trait of the St. Regis experience is customized service and attention, coveted locations and luxurious design. For more information on St. Regis Hotels & Resorts please visit the new www.stregis.com
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Volvo Ocean Race
