Volvo Ocean Race

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Volvo Ocean Race 2008 - 2009 logo
Volvo Ocean Race 2008 - 2009 logo

Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) is a yacht race around the world, held every four years - until upcoming edition which will start after just 3-year break. It's named after its sponsor, Volvo. Though the route is changed to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs Europe in September. The general route runs south through the Atlantic Ocean, around the tip of Africa, and then around the Southern Ocean. The worst weather conditions are usually encountered in this leg, where waves sometimes top 100 feet (30 m) and winds can reach 60 knots (110 km/h). Competitors eventually round Cape Horn and turn back into the Atlantic for the trip back to England. The route generally covers in excess of 28,000 statute miles (45,000 km) over open ocean.

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 Race". The race has been greatly modified in the ensuing thirty odd years, but remains true to its original goal: A test of will, courage and skill against the best (or more accurately, worst) nature has to offer. Along with the Vendée Globe , VELUX 5 Oceans Race and Global Challenge, the Whitbread (now Volvo Ocean Race) is the ultimate sailing adventure.


Contents

[edit] 2008 to 2009 Volvo Ocean Race

The first offshore leg of the 10th Volvo Ocean Race will start in Alicante, Spain, on October 11, 2008, with in-port race seven days earlier.

2008-2009 Race Schedule

Event Start Date Nautical Miles
In-Port Race Alicante, Spain October 04, 2008
Leg 1 Alicante, Spain October 11, 2008 6,500
Leg 2 Cape Town, South Africa November 15, 2008 4,450
Leg 3 Kochi, India December 13, 2008 1,950
Leg 4 Singapore January 18, 2009 2,500
Leg 5 Qingdao, China February 14, 2009 12,300
Leg 6 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil April 11, 2009 4,900
Leg 7 Boston, USA May 16, 2009 2,550
Leg 8 Galway, Republic of Ireland June 6, 2009 950
Leg 9 Göteborg, Sweden June 14, 2009 525
Leg 10 Stockholm, Sweden June 25, 2009 370
Finish St Petersburg, Russia June 27, 2009

2008-2009 Teams

Boat Sponsor Nat Designer Builder Skipper Website
ERICSSON RACING TEAM 1
(Ericsson 3)
Ericsson Flag of Sweden Sweden Juan Kouyoumdjian Killian Bushe(Kista, Stockholm) Torben Grael [1]
ERICSSON RACING TEAM 2
(Ericsson 4)
Ericsson Flag of Sweden Sweden Juan Kouyoumdjian Killian Bushe (Kista, Stockholm) Anders Lewander [2]
IL MONSTRO (The Monster) Puma Ocean Racing - Botin Carkeek Goetz Custom Boats (Bristol, Rhode Island)
& Customline Yachts
Ken Read [3]
TELEFONICA BLUE Telefonica Flag of Spain Spain Farr Yacht Design King Marine (Alginet, Valencia) TBA [4]
TELEFONICA BLACK Telefonica Flag of Spain Spain Farr Yacht Design Southern Ocean Marine (Tauranga, New Zealand) TBA [5]
TEAM RUSSIA WDCS Flag of Russia Russia Humphreys Yacht Design (UK) Green Marine (UK) Andreas Hanakamp [6]
GREEN TEAM - Flag of Ireland Ireland Reichel Pugh McConaghy Boats (China) Ian Walker -

Russian Ocean Racing Club and Carbon Challenge have made provisional entries.

The 2008-2009 race will be tracked using a Race Management System developed by UK company Cybit's maritime division [7].

[edit] The boats

The Volvo Open 70 is the current class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race.

For more information, see article: Volvo Open 70

[edit] Previous Volvo Ocean Races/ Whitbread Round the World Races

Edition Winner Starters Start Finish No. of legs
2008- 09 TBD 7 confirmed Alicante, Spain St.Petersburg, Russia 10
2005- 06 ABN AMRO One 7 Vigo, Spain Gothenburg, Sweden 9
2001- 02 Illbruck Challenge 8 Southampton, England Kiel, Germany 10
1997- 98 EF Language 10 Southampton, England Southampton, England 9
1993- 94 NZ Endeavour 14 Southampton, England Southampton, England 6
1989- 90 Steinlager 2 Southampton, England Southampton, England 6
1985- 86 L'Esprit d'Equipe 15 Southampton, England Portsmouth, England 4
1981- 82 Flyer 29 Southampton, England Portsmouth, England 4
1977- 78 Flyer 15 Southampton, England Southampton, England 4
1973- 74 Sayula II 17 Portsmouth, England Portsmouth, England 4

[edit] Whitbread 1973 to 1974

The first race started off from Portsmouth, England on September 8, 1973. Seventeen yachts of various sizes and shapes took part. During the race three sailors were swept over board and died: Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking. Waterhouse and Guillet were never to be seen again.

Leg Start Finish Leg winner Skipper
1 Portsmouth, England Cape Town, South Africa Great Britain II Chay Blyth
2 Cape Town, South Africa Sydney, Australia Pen Duick VI Éric Tabarly
3 Sydney, Australia Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Great Britain II Chay Blyth
4 Rio de Janeiro Portsmouth, England Great Britain II Chay Blyth

The smaller Mexican yacht Sayula II, skippered by Ramon Carlin, won the overall race in a handicapped time of 133 days 13 hours; actual time was 152 days[8]. Taking handicapping into account, the Sayula would have won the second leg.

[edit] Whitbread 1977 to 1978

On August 27, 1977, 15 boats started out from Southampton under gale force winds and driving rain.

Leg Start Finish Leg winner
elapsed time
Leg winner
corrected time
1 Southampton, England Cape Town, South Africa Flyer Flyer
2 Cape Town, South Africa Auckland, New Zealand Heath's Condor 33 Export
3 Auckland, New Zealand Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Great Britain II Gauloise II
4 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Southampton, England Heath's Condor Gauloise II

Flyer a Sparkman & Stephens designed yacht skippered by Cornelius van Rietschoten won the race. All 15 boats finished the 26,780 nautical mile (50,000 km) race.

[edit] Whitbread 1981 to 1982

On August 8, 1981, 29 boats started out from Southampton.

Leg Start Finish Leg winner
elapsed time
Leg winner
corrected time
1 Southampton, England Cape Town, South Africa Flyer Kriter IX
2 Cape Town, South Africa Auckland, New Zealand Flyer Ceramco NZ
3 Auckland, New Zealand Mar del Plata, Argentina Flyer Mor Bihan
4 Mar del Plata, Argentina Portsmouth, England Flyer Ceramco NZ

Flyer, a German Frers designed maxi skippered by Cornelius van Rietschoten (a.k.a Conny van Rietschoten), winner of the 1977 to 1978 race, won the race. Unusually, Flyer won both on line honours AND on handicap. Only 20 finished the race out of the 29 that started it.

[edit] Whitbread 1985 to 1986

On September 28, 1985, 15 boats started out from Southampton.

Leg Start Finish Leg winner
elapsed time
Leg winner
corrected time
1 Southampton, England Cape Town, South Africa UBS Switzerland L'Esprit d'Equipe
2 Cape Town, South Africa Auckland, New Zealand Atlantic Privateer Philips Innovator
3 Auckland, New Zealand Punte del Este, Uruguay UBS Switzerland L'Esprit d'Equipe
4 Punta del Este, Uruguay Portsmouth, England UBS Switzerland L'Esprit d'Equipe

L'Esprit d'Equipe skippered by Lionel Péan won the race in a corrected time of 111 days 23 hours. Phillips Innovator was second, and Fazer Finland third. (UBS Switzerland was named first on elapsed time, with Lion New Zealand as runner-up. Drum (carrying owner/pop star Simon Le Bon) finished just a breath behind.)

[edit] Whitbread 1989 to 1990

1989 to 1990 Overall final standings

Pos Boat Nat Skipper LOA/Des Aggregate
1 Steinlager 2 New Zealand Peter Blake (NZ) 84' Ketch 128 d 9 h
2 Fisher & Paykel NZ New Zealand Grant Dalton (NZ) 82' Ketch 129 d 21 h
3 Merit Switzerland Pierre Fehlmann (F) 80' Sloop 130 d 10 h
4 Rothmans UK Lawrie Smith (GB) 80' Sloop 131 d 4 h
5 The Card Sweden Roger Nilson/Ann Lippens (S) 80' Ketch 135 d 7 h
18 Maiden UK Tracy Edwards (GB) 58' Sloop 167 d 3 h
21 La Poste France Daniel Mallé (F) 51' Sloop 181 d 22 h

The race was run with several classes (for size of boat). This race featured the first all-woman crew on Tracy Edwards' Maiden. Although in a much smaller boat than many of their male counterparts the ladies fared well—claiming two leg victories in class. The tradition of the Whitbread including an all-female crew remains to this day.

The boat Creighton's Naturally suffered a serious broach on leg 2, at about 3 in the morning. Crew members Anthony (Tony) Philips and Bart van den Dwey were swept over board. They were both pulled back on deck. Van den Dwey successfully resuscitated, but, after three hours of trying, crewmembers were unable to revive Philips. A few days later, by radio agreement with relatives ashore, Philips was buried at sea[9].

1989 to 1990 Leg winners

Leg Start Finish Leg winner Skipper
1 Southampton, England Punta del Este, Uruguay Steinlager 2 Peter Blake (NZ)
2 Punta del Este, Uruguay Fremantle, Australia Steinlager 2 Peter Blake (NZ)
3 Fremantle, Australia Auckland, New Zealand Steinlager 2 Peter Blake (NZ)
4 Auckland, New Zealand Punta del Este, Uruguay Steinlager 2 Peter Blake (NZ)
5 Punta del Este, Uruguay Fort Lauderdale, Florida Steinlager 2 Peter Blake (NZ)
6 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Southampton, England Steinlager 2 Peter Blake (NZ)

Steinlager 2 skippered by Peter Blake won the race easily. For the first time since 1981 to 1982 (when the race comprised just four legs), the victor won every leg (albeit closely chased by both Grant Dalton's Fisher & Paykel NZ and Pierre Fehlmann's Merit entries). The vast difference in speed and capability of the many different boats involved in the 1989 to 1990 race lead to the creation of a committee to examine the commission of a Whitbread class boat for use in future races. Many of the Maxi yachts in this years race were nearly twice the size (LOA) of the smallest, and carried well over twice the sail area. The net result of this was that many of the smaller boats finished the longer legs more than ten days after the leg winner. In the overall results, the last finisher was some 52 days behind Blake's Steinlager 2 128 day aggregate time. In addition, the expense of the big yachts was getting to be too much—even for the well funded teams like Steinlager, Rothmans and Merit. Eventually, the new class would be called the W60—but its gestation would not be quick or lack controversy.

[edit] Whitbread 1993 to 1994

The 1993 to 1994 Whitbread was run to "mixed class" rules (as with prior races). New for the 93/4 race was a purpose built Whitbread boat—the W60. As with previous years a handicap was applied to different boats based on their race rating. The competitors were none too keen or running both Maxis and W60's together. The two competing classes battled throughout with protest flags always at the ready. Many entrants wanted the old maxis banned for this year, however owing to concerns over whether enough new boats would be ready (not to mention the large investments the Maxi owners had made in previous years), several Maxis were allowed to compete in the 1993 to 1994 race. The W60 skippers almost unanimously insisted they were in a 'completely different boat race', to the fury of Grant Dalton skippering a maxi. Dalton conceded afterwards however that the race should only have one class in future, to avoid similar squabbles.

1993 to 1994 Final Standings

Pos Boat Nat Skipper Class Aggregate
1 NZ Endeavour New Zealand Grant Dalton (NZ) Maxi 120 d 5 h
2 Yamaha Japan/NZL Ross Field (NZ) W60 120 d 14 h
3 Merit Cup GBR Pierre Fehlmann (F) Maxi 121 d 2 h
4 Intrum Justitia Europe Roger Nilson (S) / Lawrie Smith (GB) W60 121 d 5 h
5 Galicia 93 Pescanova Spain Javier de la Gandara (Esp) W60 122 d 6 h
6 Winston USA Dennis Conner (USA) /Brad Butterworth (NZ) W60 122 d 9 h
7 La Poste France Éric Tabarly (F) Maxi 123 d 22 h
8 Tokio Japan Chris Dickson (NZ) W60 128 d 16 h
9 Brooksfield Italy Guido Maisto (I) W60 130 d 4 h
10 Hetman Sahaidachny Ukr Eugene Platon (Ukr) W60 135 d 23 h
11 Reebok/Dolphin Youth GBR Mathew Humphries (GB) W60 137 d 21 h
12 Heineken USA Dawn Riley (USA) W60 138 d 16 h
13 Odessa Ukr Anatoly Verba (Ukr) W60 158 d 4 h
NF Fortuna Esp Lawrie Smith (GB) Maxi WD

Intrum Justitia was originally skippered by Roger Nilson, who was injured on the first leg.

  • Corrected time takes the boat's handicap into account

Leg Results:

Leg Start Finish Leg winner Skipper
1 Southampton, England Punta del Este, Argentina NZ Endeavour Grant Dalton (NZ)
2 Punta del Este, Uruguay Fremantle, Australia Intrum Justitia Lawrie Smith (GB)
3 Fremantle, Australia Auckland, New Zealand NZ Endeavour Grant Dalton (NZ)
4 Auckland, New Zealand Punta del Este, Uruguay NZ Endeavour Grant Dalton (NZ)
5 Punta del Este, Uruguay Fort Lauderdale, Florida Yamaha Ross Field (NZ)
6 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Southampton, England Tokio Chris Dickson (NZ)

[edit] Whitbread 1997 to 1998

Race run for the first time with all W60 boats and to a "points vs time" (instead of aggregate leg time) scoring system to enhance the value of the shorter race legs. Also, in an effort to attract additional media coverage, the Whitbread race committee divided the race into no less than 9 legs for the 1997 to 1998 race. Volvo had its first major association with the race in 1997 to 1998 by sponsoring the trophy (thus the race was officially known as the Whitbread 'round the world race for the Volvo Trophy) and some of the media coverage. For the first time running to W60-only specification, this year's Whitbread attracted just 10 entries—the fewest to date.

Overall results:

Pos Boat Nat Skipper Points
1 EF Language Flag of Sweden Sweden Paul Cayard (USA) 836
2 Merit Cup Flag of Monaco Monaco Grant Dalton (NZ) 698
3 Swedish Match Flag of Sweden Sweden Gunnar Krantz (S) 689
4 Innovation Kvaerner Flag of Norway Norway Knut Frostad (N) 633
5 Silk Cut Flag of England England Lawrie Smith (GBR) 630
6 Chessie Racing Flag of the United States United States George Collins / John Kostecki (USA) 613
7 Toshiba Flag of the United States United States Dennis Conner (USA) / Paul Standbridge (NZ)* 528
8 Brunel Sunergy Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Hans Bouscholte / Roy Heiner (NL) 415
9 EF Education Flag of Sweden Sweden Christine Guillou (F) 275
dnf America's Challenge Flag of the United States United States Ross Field (NZ) 58
  • Toshiba was originally skippered by Chris Dickson. Dickson was fired after Leg 1. Hans Bouscholte was also replaced by Roy Heiner after leg 1. America's Challenge syndicate withdrew prior to the start of leg two for financial reasons.

Leg winners:

Leg Start Finish Leg winner Skipper
1 Southampton, England Cape Town, South Africa EF Language Paul Cayard (USA)
2 Cape Town, South Africa Fremantle, Australia Swedish Match Gunnar Krantz
3 Fremantle, Australia Sydney, Australia EF Language Paul Cayard (USA)
4 Sydney, Australia Auckland, New Zealand Merit Cup Grant Dalton (NZ)
5 Auckland, New Zealand Sao Sebastiao, Brazil EF Language Paul Cayard (USA)
6 Sao Sebastiao, Brazil Fort Lauderdale, Florida Silk Cut Lawrie Smith (GB)
7 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Baltimore, Maryland Brunel Sunergy Roy Heiner (NL)
8 Annapolis, Maryland La Rochelle, France Toshiba Paul Standbridge (NZ)
9 La Rochelle, France Southampton, England Merit Cup Grant Dalton (NZ)

[edit] Volvo Ocean Race 2001 to 2002

For the 2001 to 2002 race the sponsorship of the race was taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars. The race was renamed the Volvo Ocean Race. Stopovers were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being the Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe. In addition the points system had been modified significantly in an effort to keep the race competitive until the final leg. The previous "points" race having been effectively won two full legs before the final gun.

2001 to 2002 overall final standings:

Pos Boat Nat Skipper Points
1 Illbruck Challenge Germany John Kostecki (USA) 61
2 ASSA ABLOY Sweden Neal Mcdonald (GB) 55
3 Amer Sports One USA Grant Dalton (NZ) 44
4 Team Tyco Bermuda Kevin Shoebridge (NZ) 42
5 News Corp Australia Jez Fanstone (Aus) 41
6 Djuice Dragons Norway Knut Frostad (N) 33
7 Team SEB Sweden Gunnar Krantz (S) 32
8 Amer Sports Too USA Lisa McDonald (US) 16
Leg Start Finish Leg winner
1 Southampton, England Cape Town, South Africa Illbruck
2 Cape Town, South Africa Sydney, Australia Illbruck
3 Sydney, Australia Hobart, Australia Assa Abloy
4 Hobart, Australia Auckland, New Zealand Assa Abloy
5 Auckland, New Zealand Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Illbruck
6 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Miami, USA Assa Abloy
7 Miami, USA Baltimore, USA Team News Corp
8 Baltimore, USA La Rochelle, France Illbruck
9 La Rochelle, France Gothenburg, Sweden Assa Abloy
10 Goteborg, Sweden Kiel, Germany Djuice Dragons

John Kostecki, who had co-skippered with George Collins on Chessie Racing in the 1997 to 1998 Whitbread to great effect, captained his first Volvo Ocean race winner in 2002. Assa Abloy's new composite mold technique proved very quick, but not quite quick enough, while long time Whitbread skipper Grant Dalton's two boat syndicate suffered badly from a lack of preparation time (the Amer boats were last in the water).

For Leg 3, yachts joined the iconic Australian Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that begins on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day).

[edit] Volvo Ocean Race 2005 to 2006

"Pirates of the Caribbean" entering Gothenburg harbor at the end of the last leg of Volvo Ocean Race 2005/2006.
"Pirates of the Caribbean" entering Gothenburg harbor at the end of the last leg of Volvo Ocean Race 2005/2006.

Changes in the 2005-2006 race included the first time the race has started outside the United Kingdom, and the use of a new class of boat, the Volvo Open 70. The new boats are about 1,000 kg lighter than the VO 60s used in the previous race, have more sail area and include canting keels.

The 2005-2006 race is the first to not begin in the United Kingdom. The course, 31,000 nautical miles (57,000 km) long, will take eight months to complete, divided into nine legs. The first place finisher of each leg will get 7 points, the second place will get 6 points, etc. At seven of the stops in ports around the world, the competition will include relatively short one-day races in the vicinity of the harbor. The first place finisher of the in-port races will get 3.5 points, the second place finisher will get 3 points, etc. The in-port races will account for twenty percent of the overall points. This modification of the usual format was intended to make the race more visible for spectators and sponsors. Some of the legs are short, and finish in cities that are called "pit stops" designed to break up the longer legs into more manageable sections (and, of course, provide more media exposure). There will be no in-port races at the pit stops. There will also be 6 "gates" which are milestones along the way where boats can score points. Like in the in-port races, the first boat to cross a gate will get 3.5 points, the second 3 points, and so on.

Hans Horrevoets, 32, of The Netherlands was swept overboard from ABN AMRO TWO and died on Leg 7, New York to Portsmouth (18 May 2006).

After the aft end of their keel pivot broke away from their hull in the night of the 20th May 2006, the crew of Movistar abandoned ship, unable to stop the flow of water into the hull. They transferred into ABN Amro Two, which had lost crew member Hans Horrevoets a couple of nights before after he was swept overboard.

2005 to 2006 Final Standings

Pos Boat Nat Designer Builder Skipper Points
1 ABN AMRO ONE Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Juan Kouyoumdjian Killian Bushe Mike Sanderson 96.0
2 Pirates of the Caribbean Flag of the United States United States Bruce Farr Green Marine Paul Cayard 73.0
3 Brasil 1 Flag of Brazil Brazil Bruce Farr ML Boatworks Torben Grael 67.0
4 ABN AMRO TWO Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Juan Kouyoumdjian Killian Bushe Sebastien Josse 58.5
5 Ericsson Racing Team Flag of Sweden Sweden Bruce Farr Green Marine Neal MacDonald 55.0
6 movistar Flag of Spain Spain Bruce Farr Boatspeed Bouwe Bekking 48.0
7 Brunel Flag of Australia Australia Don Jones Hart Marine Grant Wharington 15.5

Leg/In Port Race Winners

Race Start Finish Nautical Miles Winner
In Port Race: Sanxenxo Sanxenxo (Galicia) on November 5, 2005 - - Ericsson Racing Team
Leg 1 Vigo, Galicia, Spain on November 12, 2005 Cape Town, South Africa by December 2, 2005 6,400 ABN AMRO ONE
In Port Race: Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa on December 26, 2005 - - ABN AMRO ONE
Leg 2 Cape Town, South Africa on January 2, 2006 Melbourne, Australia by January 16, 2006 6,100 ABN AMRO ONE
In Port Race: Melbourne Melbourne, Australia on February 4, 2006 - - ABN AMRO ONE
Leg 3 Melbourne, Australia on February 12, 2006 Wellington, New Zealand by February 16, 2006 1,450 movistar
Leg 4 Wellington, New Zealand on February 19, 2006 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by March 7, 2006 6,700 ABN AMRO ONE
In Port Race: Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 25, 2006 - - ABN AMRO ONE
Leg 5 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 2, 2006 Baltimore/Annapolis, Maryland, USA by April 17, 2006 5,000 ABN AMRO ONE
In Port Race: Baltimore Baltimore, USA on April 29, 2006 - - movistar
Leg 6 Baltimore/Annapolis, Maryland, USA on May 2, 2006 New York, NY, USA by May 8, 2006 400 ABN AMRO ONE
Leg 7 New York, NY, USA on May 11, 2006 Portsmouth, UK by May 19, 2006 3,200 ABN AMRO ONE
In Port Race: Portsmouth Portsmouth, UK on May 29, 2006 - - ABN AMRO ONE
Leg 8 Portsmouth, UK on June 2, 2006 Rotterdam, Netherlands by June 7, 2006 1,500 Brasil 1
In Port Race: Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands on June 11, 2006 - - ABN AMRO ONE
Leg 9 Rotterdam, Netherlands on June 15, 2006 Gothenburg, Sweden by June 17, 2006 500 Pirates of the Caribbean

The 2005/2006 race has tighter restrictions on the number of crewmembers allowed than previous runnings. In the rules, an all-male crew is restricted to ten, while a crew with at least 5 women could have eleven members, and an all-female crew, of which there are none in the race, could have twelve. The only woman who served as crew is Adrienne Cahalan of Brasil 1, who was replaced after the first leg. The skipper may nominate one additional person for the in-port races. Only one boat can be built per team (unless you sail both of them in the race, as ABN AMRO has done).


[edit] External links

[edit] Photos and videos

http://www.volvooceanracekochi.com