The Posidonia Games to captivate participants at Posidonia 2016

Over 2,500 shipping industry professionals from around the world will participate in this year’s Posidonia Games, a series of four sporting events spread over three consecutive days, during the build up to Posidonia 2016.

Savvy sailors, football fanatics, golf geeks and road runners will battle it out for a place on the podium or to simply let some steam off and build some stamina ahead of a demanding, week-long business fair on the floor space of the Athens Metropolitan Expo, home to Posidonia Exhibition since 2012. But it’s not only about sports: each of the four sporting events in the Posidonia Games’ calendar stimulate teambuilding and culminate in trophy-giving ceremonies, which provide participants additional networking opportunities, fun and entertainment, thereby making a Posidonia participation a truly fruitful experience.

The Posidonia Cup, which since its inception 14 years ago has grown to become one of the biggest sailing events held in Greek waters, is the agship event of Posidonia Games and will take place on Friday 3rd of June at the Faliron Bay. With over 50 yachts and 500 crew members expected to participate, co-organisers Hellenic Oshore Racing Club (HORC) are sparing no effort to provide the best sailing and hospitality experience to all competitors. The event is sponsored by Samsung and supported by ABS, Koronakis S.A., Hi Air Korea Co and Lake Vouliagmeni, and proceeds will fund the Hellenic Oshore Racing Club’s educational activities.

While the sailing regatta is the oldest and most established of the exhibition’s events, the Posidonia Running Event will be entering the sporting calendar for the 1rst time on Saturday 4 June with its debut race on the roads of Piraeus. The 5km run will commence at 09:00 am in the morning in front of the prestigious Piraeus Municipal Theatre and follow a route that passes by the picturesque Marina Zeas before nishing at the Piraeus Municipal Theatre. Over 800 runners are expected and proceeds will be donated to the Municipality of Piraeus and the Public Benet Municipal Corporation of Piraeus. The new event has already attracted strong support and is sponsored by DNV-GL, MAN Diesel and Empire Navigation Inc.

The 5th Posidonia Shipsoccer Tournament kicks off on Sunday 5 June 2016 evening when some 280 shipping professionals from 28 teams will don their polished football boots and colourful team uniforms in front of an international audience of colleagues, friends and relatives who will be cheering them. The ve-a-side tournament is always a very competitive affair and a great day out for participants and their supporters. The event’s participants include major Greek Shipping Companies, international organisations and global service providers, making it a truly ‘world cup’.  The 2016 Posidonia Shipsoccer Tournament is sponsored by Swift Marine, who will also be elding a team to compete for the prestigious trophy.

Just a short drive from Piraeus, Greece’s shipping centre, lies Glyfada’s picturesque waterfront golf course where the 3rd Posidonia Golf Tournament will also tee off on the same day. The Tournament format will be an 18-hole Shotgun for up to 24 teams of 4 players each. Companies and associations from all sectors of the maritime industry are invited to register their teams by 12 May 2016. Individual players can also register and the organisers will try to create teams for them to participate in the tournament, which is again sponsored by Thenamaris and Costamare and powered by Costa Navarino.

“As a result of the Posidonia Games, Posidonia has now become a ten-day event as shipping executives fly in much earlier to prepare, thereby expanding their stay in Greece and increasing the windfall of money spent on accommodation, transportation, catering and other tourism related services. Thanks to some 10,000 international shipping industry executives who will participate at the exhibition and the sporting events, Posidonia injects signicant foreign exchange inflows directly into a large number of tourism industry SMB’s, the spinal cord of Greece’s economy. This is estimated to be a biennial windfall of around Euro 60 million spent in tourism related activities in Athens and the Aegean islands”, said Theodore Vokos, Executive Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A.

Registration for the sailing, running and golf events is still open.

SOURCE/PHOTO: Posidonia 2016 Newsletter