BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

The engineering team behind the renowned Green Dragon boat is working behind the scenes at Galway Docks as part of a plan for it to take to the seas again by the end of the year.

In recent weeks, engineers from around Europe were in Galway working on redesigning the Volvo Ocean Race entrant, while representatives from Let’s Do It Global – which owns the boat and also secured the Volvo Ocean Race ‘grand finale’ for Galway in 2012 – have just returned from a trip to arrange sponsorship in China.

The €1m rebuild is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and all training will take place in Galway.

At the moment, the Let’s Do It Global has secured €2.5m in funding, with another €10m required in sponsorship.

John Killeen, President of Let’s Do It Global told the Galway City Tribune: “It’s all about raising the profile of the Green Dragon and Ireland Inc. At the moment, things are going well [raising funds], we have around €2.5m raised, and another €10m to go. We are talking to three big multinationals and are hopeful of getting the rest.

“At the moment, it’s looking very likely that the Green Dragon will be an Irish-Chinese entry again.

“The Green Dragon is in a shed in Galway, and we are arranging for it to be rebuilt. We had designers over from Europe . . . it will be brought back up to Formula 1 standard and will meet the new regulations. We also learned a lot from the last time around, so we can make it more competitive by refining the design.

“All of the rebuilding will be done in Galway, and the crews will be training here from the end of this year or early next year.
 

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune