"We are extremely pleased to have a strong French presence in the race," said Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad. "It has long been our goal to reignite the passion of this classic event among the French people and we are delighted to have reached an agreement with the city of Lorient to host the event for two consecutives races," he said.
France has fielded 21 entries in the race, taking part in every race from 1973-74 up until the sixth race in 1993-94 in which La Poste finished third.
"In 10 years, Lorient has transformed its submarine base into EU-wide sailing cluster hosting a village dedicated to yachting enterprises. It is where the maxi trimarans Banque Populaire V and Groupama 3 were built and it also has an offshore sailing centre with around 50 teams taking part, including France's most famous skippers," said Norbert Métairie, Mayor of Lorient and Cap l'Orient district's President.
"Today we are particularly pleased to have shown that Lorient is a perfect site to host international events which are able to generate significant benefits like the Volvo Ocean Race does," he added.
According to Volvo, the next European port will be announced within the next few days.
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