Chairman of 'Let's Do It Galway' John Killeen is hoping to secure enough sponsorship to enter two boats in the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race. According to Mr Killeen, almost €10 million needs to be secured to enter the Green Dragon in the race, but, should the organisational team manage to gather an additional €20 million, a second Irish boat could be entered.

"It is a long shot at the moment, but we can't rule it out," said Mr Killeen, "Should a sponsor wish to build a new boat, we'll probably enter a two-boat team. It is definitely our desire to do this but it is a long way off. It would be the ultimate dream."

Meanwhile, Mr Killeen also confirmed that last year's skipper Ian Walker is unlikely to take the helm of the Green Dragon for the next edition of the race.

"Ian Walker is not involved with this project as we speak," said Mr Killeen. "He is trying to put together another project. He may become available later on in the year, but we haven't even considered that yet.

"The skipper will depend on a number of issues. We are trying to put an international management crew together at the moment that will go out talking to the international sponsors. From that, we might get sponsor preferences. If we are going for a very high level crew and they are paying for it, we'll want a top class skipper. It is unlikely that the crew will be selected until this time next year."

With the stopover now in the bag, the chairman of Let's Do It Galway is hoping that the proposed new wharf will be completed in time for the race's arrival.

"Building the new wharf before the arrival of the 2012 event would be a great achievement," said Mr Killeen. "I believe it's possible. It is not a much bigger task than moving the tanks for the last race.

"There is no reason why it couldn't be achieved in the two years. If planning could be secured by the end of the year it'd only be a 15-month project to build it. That would be a real legacy for the project to get Galway a regular tourist attraction," he said.

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