The Volvo Comes to the Chesapeake

For those of you in or near the Chesapeake Bay region, seven or so Volvo 70s are docked at the Inner Harbor during the Baltimore Waterfront Festival April 27-30 and at Annapolis City Dock during the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival May 4-7. As well the scheduled In-Port Race will draw thousands of spectators on April 29...the Leg 6 start on May 7 will likewise be a huge event. Says this article from the AP, " ...a lack of major American participation and little television exposure has made it hard for the around-the-world race to get attention on the U.S. sports landscape." Personally, I've never thought that most Americans desire to view a sailing regatta as they might watch, say, a NASCAR race or a football game. As far as the general public is concerned, sailing is esoteric and elitist...and if it's not something they've participated in then there's no reason they are going to care about watching it on TV...even if it was playing Saturday afternoon.