Yachts taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race are due to arrive in Cape Town in late November and remain there until the middle of December. In tow will be the family members of all crew taking part in the event, along with support staff and international media representatives.
The Clipper Round the World race - which takes place every second year - is also expected to bring hundreds of people to the city particularly as this even enjoys global television coverage of the 10 yachts taking part.
The first yachts are expected to arrive from Rio de Janeiro in the next few weeks and business people sponsoring the event have already been in contact with the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Wesgro, the investment promotion agency.
Both events are expected to have direct benefits for Cape Town's growing boat-building sector, as yachts are likely to need some work done to them before they set off on the next leg of the events.
According to Anna Wardley, communications officer for the Clipper event says the fleet left Rio on Saturday, 10 September 2011, but had encountered some wild conditions in the mid-Atlantic.
Worldsport's Lisa Duthie claims that the Volvo race is the third most-watched sports event on television after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. Worldsport is organising the next stop in Abu Dhabi where the race is due to be restarted after the yachts have been moved through the troubled waters of the Indian Ocean where Somali pirates are operating.
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