The Volvo Ocean race is coming back to Newport in 2018. The international sailing event drew more than 100,000 people to the city by the sea this summer.
According to state officials, the final tally was nearly 130,000 spectators, who came for the races at Fort Adams State Park.
Newport was the only North American stop on the grueling international sailing race, which spans some 40-thousand nautical miles and takes nine months to complete.
And Newport was a special homecoming for one team, which had several native Rhode Islanders onboard. The city-by-the-sea, is home to many sailing events, and famously hosted the America’s Cup for many year until it lost the Cup in the 1980’s.
State officials pushed for improvements to Fort Adams, as a way to attract new sailing events.
A report from the group Sail Newport finds the Volvo Ocean race generated about 47-million dollars for the state.
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