Volvo Ocean Race Stops Downtown

The Volvo Ocean Race sailboats are making a pit stop in New York in their race around the world. They are docked at the North Cove in Battery Park behind the Winter Garden for the next few days before leaving for England.
We braved the wind and drizzle to go down to Battery Park tonight to see what was going on. The boats were parked together on the north side and a smattering of people were milling about. No sign of Phil Keoghan though.
Pirate of the Caribbean (aka Disney) is sponsoring the American boat. Note the pirate talking on his plundered cellphone.
Unfortunately they weren't letting people on to the docks to get any closer than this. There was a free simulator ride but we passed after noticing that they were giving out ponchos to people entering and water was oozing out of the door. Volvo also had a stage set up with a band playing and costumed dancers as well as the life size Lego Volvo. Despite all this, the crowd was somewhere between thin and nonexistent. In summary- dreary weather and parked sailboats with their sails down that I'm not on= boring. It would be way cooler to see these boats on the move full sail. They leave the harbor Thursday at 10:40am. And of course, when you think sailboats, think Volvo.
.category: nyc_