The National Maritime Museum in Falmouth has said it fully supports plans to bring a prestigious around-the-world yacht race to Falmouth in 2018.

Following a meeting with the organisers of the Golden Globe Race 2018 last week, the museum denied that it had refused to get involved with the race, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the first solo circumnavigation of the globe by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

It had been claimed that the museum did not "see the significance" of the race, in which it had been asked to play a leading role, and as a result Falmouth could lose thousands of potential visitors as the race relocated to Plymouth.

But following a meeting at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club with Golden Globe Race Ltd, Cornwall Council, Falmouth Town Council, Falmouth BID, Falmouth Harbour, Port Pendennis Marina and the yacht clubs, the museum's director Richard Doughty said it remains "fully supportive of the event being held in Falmouth."

He said: "Our position is that we are, and always have been, enthusiastic about supporting this exciting event and indeed, when I was appointed over two years ago, one of the first things I did was to contact Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to invite him to bring Suhaili to moor on our pontoon to celebrate the anniversary."

He said that the museum would be seeking more information about how costs will be covered, expecting the organisers to have arranged sponsorship, and added that it does appear to still be "very early in the planning stages".

And he said that Golden Globe Race is still in discussion with Plymouth, with costed proposals being made for both locations. He added that a realistic number of visitors would be between 100,000 and 120,000 rather than the 350,000 which had been previously suggested.

A final decision and commitment on the venue for the race is not expected until between March and June next year.

The 2018 event will be the first Golden Globe Race since the inaugural competition which set off from Falmouth in 1968.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the victor and only finishing competitor, returning to Falmouth in 1969 having sailed non-stop around the world.