The Black Pearl, the Disney-sponsored U.S. yacht, heads upriver toward North Cove (© David Branigan)

Early Tuesday morning, seven 70-foot yachts arrived at the North Cove Marina in Battery Park, completing the sixth of nine legs in a year-long race. As part of its first visit to New York City, the Volvo Ocean Race, which takes place every three years, will host lunchtime and after-work concerts as well as visual theater performances on the Volvo Ocean Race Village stage on the World Financial Center Plaza in front of North Cove Harbor. Other events, including discussions with the crew, press conferences, and entertainment, will take place during the racers' stay in New York, culminating on Thursday afternoon, May 11^th, with the grand start of the race's eighth leg.  

The yachts, each named and sponsored by a different company, are crewed by 10 men and average speeds around 40 knots. "They've just broken the speed sound barrier, they've smashed it," says Michael Boswell, who coordinates the New York stage of the race. To host the race, the North Cove Marina was recently dredged to allow the 16-foot hulled ships to dock, creating an 18-foot-deep marina that can sustain much larger boats in the future.

The race began in Vigo, Spain, on November 12, 2005, and will end in Gothenberg, England, on or about June 17, 2006. Pirates of the Caribbean, The Black Pearl, the U.S. yacht sponsored by Disney, is currently in second place. Each yacht hails from a different country; corporate sponsors include ABN AMRO, Ericsson & Brunel, and others.

Join the crews for celebrations all week long, and watch their sendoff on Thursday, replete with a New York fireboat pre-show, from Battery Park.