Volvo Ocean Race

Some of the Volvo Ocean Race participants in Baltimore Inner Harbor, United States, in 2006
History
Established:	1973
Headquarters:	Alicante, Spain
Title Sponsors:	Whitbread (1973–2001) Volvo (2001–2018)
Race Partners:	Inmarsat
Race Sponsors:	HCL Technologies,[1] MUSTO, GAC Pindar, Cobham, Inmarsat[2]
Most recent winner:	Dongfeng Race Team (2017-18)
Most Recent Race
Start:	Alicante, Spain October 2017
Finish:	The Hague, The Netherlands June 2018
Teams:	7[3]
Legs:	10
Yachts Used:	Volvo Ocean 65
Similar Events:	Sailing at the Summer Olympics, America's Cup, Vendée Globe, Global Challenge
Websites:	www.volvooceanrace.com

The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) is a yacht race around the world, held every three years.^[4] Originally named after its initiating sponsor, British Whitbread brewing company, it today carries the name of its current owner, Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars and Swedish multinational manufacturing company, the Volvo Group. Presently, the Netherlands holds the record of three wins, with Dutchman Conny van Rietschoten the only skipper to win the race twice.

Though the route changes to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs Europe in October, and in recent editions has had either 9 or 10 legs, with in-port races at many of the stopover cities. The 2008–09 race started in Alicante, Spain, on October 11, 2008.^[4] The route for the 2008–2009 race was altered from previous years to include stopovers in India and Asia for the first time.^[5] The 2008–09 route covered nearly 39,000 nmi (72,000 km), took over nine months to complete, and reached a cumulative TV audience of 2 billion people worldwide.^[6]

During the nine months of the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain in October 2011 and concluded in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012, the teams were scheduled to sail over 39,000 nmi (72,000 km) of the world’s most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajaí, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient.

As in the previous editions the 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race started in Alicante, Spain on October 11. Destination was Gothenburg, Sweden, scheduled for June 2015, with stopovers in the ports of Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Lisbon, Lorient, and with a Pitstop at The Hague through the last leg.

Each of the entries has a sailing team of 9 professional crew (in the 2014-2015 race) who race day and night for more than 20 days at a time on some of the legs. The crew members are required to be more than sailors, some of them will be trained in medical response, sail-making, diesel engine repair, electronics, nutrition, mathematics, and hydraulics. There is also a dedicated media crew member who does not contribute to the sailing of the boat. In the 2017-2018 race the number of crew can between 7 and 11 depending on the gender ratio.

No fresh food is taken on board, so the crew lives off freeze-dried fare; they will experience temperature variations from −5 to +40 degrees Celsius and will only take one change of clothes.^[7][8]

History

In 1972 England's Whitbread company and the British Royal Naval Sailing Association agreed to sponsor a globe-circling regatta, which would be called the 'Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race'.

Volvo Ocean Race flag in Baltimore Inner Harbor, United States

17 yachts and 167 crew started the first race of 27,500 nmi (50,900 km), which began from Portsmouth, United Kingdom on 8 September 1973. Approximately 3000 spectator boats set out to witness the historic start.^[9] The first race was won by Mexican amateur Ramon Carlin in a Swan 65 yacht, Sayula II ^[10][11][12]

The original course was designed to follow the route of the square riggers, which had carried cargo around the world during the 19th Century.^[13]

From 2001 the ownership of the race was taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars and the race was renamed the ‘Volvo Ocean Race’. Stopover ports were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe.

Winning the race does not attract a cash prize, as the feat of competing is presented as sufficient reward.

Many of the crew in the Volvo Ocean Race race crew other professional teams in other high-profile events, such as Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the America's Cup, or the Fastnet Race.

The worst weather conditions are usually encountered in the Southern Ocean where waves sometimes top 150 feet (46 m) and winds can reach 70 knots (130 km/h). (Citation needed)

The 2014–15 race covered 39,379^[14] nautical miles, which is the longest route in its history.^[15]

The yachts

The Volvo Open 70 has been replaced by the Volvo Ocean 65,^[16] a new class of high performance one-design racing yacht created by Farr Yacht Design and built by a consortium of four European boatyards (Green Marine (UK), Decision (Switzerland), Multiplast (France) and Persico Marine (Italy)).

List of races

Edition	Class	Legs	In-Port Races	Entries	Start	Finish	Winning yacht	Winning skipper
1973–74	32–80 ft (9.8–24.4 m)	4	0	17	Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Sayula II	Ramón Carlin
1977–78	51–77 ft (16–23 m)	4	0	15	Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Flyer	Conny van Rietschoten
1981–82	43–80 ft (13–24 m)	4	0	29	Portsmouth	Portsmouth	Flyer II	Conny van Rietschoten
1985–86	49–83 ft (15–25 m)	4	0	15	Portsmouth	Portsmouth	L'esprit d'équipe	Lionel Péan
1989–90	51–84 ft (16–26 m)	6	0	23	Southampton	Southampton	Steinlager 2	Sir Peter Blake
1993–94	85 ft (26 m) ketchs & Whitbread 60	6	0	14	Southampton	Southampton	NZ Endeavour	Grant Dalton
1997–98	Whitbread 60	9	0	10	Southampton	Southampton	EF Language	Paul Cayard
2001–02		10	0	8	Southampton	Kiel	Illbruck Challenge	John Kostecki
2005–06	Volvo Open 70	9	7	7	Vigo	Gothenburg	ABN AMRO I	Mike Sanderson
2008–09		10	7	8	Alicante	Saint Petersburg	Ericsson 4	Torben Grael
2011–12		9	10	6	Alicante	Galway	Groupama 4	Franck Cammas
2014–15	Volvo Ocean 65	9	10	7	Alicante	Gothenburg	Azzam	Ian Walker
2017–18		10	12	7	Alicante	The Hague	Dongfeng Race Team	Charles Caudrelier
2020—21

See also

• List of Volvo Ocean Race sailors

References

Further reading

• Danger on the high seas – whales, debris and weather just some of the obstacles in the Volvo Ocean Race - Steve Elling, The National, 9 October 2014

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Volvo Ocean Race.

• Official website