Sailors in the around-the-world Volvo Ocean race are coursing through the Atlantic Ocean on their way to New England.
The endurance sailing event arrives in Newport this week.
Thousands of visitors are expected in the City by the Sea to greet the seven teams arriving at the only North American stop in this grueling race, which covers 45,000 nautical miles of open ocean.
The sailors last touched land in Brazil more than two weeks ago. Newport stopover organizer Brad Read says the boats are expected in Rhode Island on Tuesday.
“And without anything too definitive, we do believe that the boats will be arriving during, hopefully the daylight hours,” said Read.
Read says there may be no clear front runner until the sailors get closer to port.
“It gets very tricky with a very messy weather picture, so the boats could really really compress, and even the guys that are in the back, they could end up being right in the mix and eventually winning the leg,” Read said.
Rhode Island last hosted the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015. An estimated 120,000 people turned out during the two-week stopover.
The sailors are all wearing armbands in memory of John Fisher, the sailor who fell overboard and was lost at sea during an earlier leg of the race in March.
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