“India is a safe destination” says Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni.

The gates opened and they came in the thousands, upwards of  50,000 every day and doubling that on a public holiday. All up, nearly a million people came to enjoy the 14 day stopover in Cochin the first Asian and Indian Stopover ever in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Today, at the departure ceremony and the start of Leg 3 of the Race from Cochin to Singapore the chief guest Smt  Ambika Soni, the Union Minister Tourism and Culture said that the country would not let itself be marred by terrorism, and this Stopover proves that India can put on a great event while taking care of the welfare and safety of foreigners in the country.

She also pledged that she will do everything possible to get an Indian sailor on a boat in the next race. “We here on the dais will do everything in our power and see that there is an Indian on board in the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race”. The crowd loved it.

When the time came for the sailors from the eight crews to be paraded through the crowds and down to the pontoons, it made for one of the most spectacular departure ceremonies this event has ever seen. The crowd loved the presence of Bollywood superstar, Dino Morea, who paraded with the PUMA team.

Though unfamiliar with this race and its history, visitors at the Race Village showed incredible enthusiasm. They pressed deep into the passage walked by the sailors and, with arms waving and voices coarse, mobbed the crews and took pictures as they walked one-by-one to their boats.

What should have been a quick 200-metre walk took most crews seven or eight minutes. No one seemed to mind. In fact, quite the opposite. “Unbelievable,” Bouwe Bekking skipper, Telefonica Blue said.

“Its clear that India has taken in this race with open arms and the race has taken India in with open arms” added the skipper for PUMA, Ken Read.

The feedback from the Race organisers is that this stopover is regarded as a huge success from every angle  including the  commercial front. Ola Rembe, Vice President Ericsson Sweden, a major sponsor of the event says that from a business point of view it makes good sense to be in India.

“In the last race we went to Australia and New Zealand and together they have 25 million people. Then you look at India and you are talking about a billion people. We have some 150 key customers come here, probably even more than we expected, and the feedback has been excellent”, he added.

Ericsson 4 was the winner of LEG 2 (Cape Town to Cochin).

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