2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race

The 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race is the 12th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It started on 19 October 2014 in Alicante, Spain, and is scheduled to conclude in June 2015 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Yachts

For the first time, the race is a one-design event. The Volvo Ocean 65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design in response to concerns about safety and cost. The Volvo Ocean Race ensures a minimum of eight boats are built.^[1]

The aim is to reduce participation cost to around 15 million euros per entry.^[2]

Participants

Seven teams are participating in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. One of them, Team SCA, is a women-only team.^[3]

Team	Flag and Sail	Skipper
Team SCA	SWE 1929	Samantha Davies
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing	UAE 2	Ian Walker
Dongfeng Race Team	CHN 1969	Charles Caudrelier
Team Brunel	NED 1	Bouwe Bekking
Team Alvimedica	USA 4	Charlie Enright
MAPFRE	ESP 1	Iker Martinez
Team Vestas Wind		Chris Nicholson

Sailors by nationality^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

Country	Sailors
France	12
United Kingdom	10
Australia	8
United States	8
Spain	7
China	6
Netherlands	6
New Zealand	5
Denmark	3
Argentina	2
Switzerland	2
Belgium	1
Brazil	1
Ireland	1
Italy	1
Lithuania	1
Sweden	1
United Arab Emirates	1

Race schedule

Event	Start date	Finish date	Start	Finish	Distance
In-Port Race	4 October 2014		Alicante
Leg 1	11 October 2014	5 November 2014	Alicante	Cape Town	6,487 nm
In-Port Race	15 November 2014		Cape Town
Leg 2	19 November 2014	13 December 2014	Cape Town	Abu Dhabi	6,125 nm
In-Port Race	2 January 2015		Abu Dhabi
Leg 3	3 January 2015	27 January 2015	Abu Dhabi	Sanya	4,670 nm
In-Port Race	7 February 2015		Sanya
Leg 4	8 February 2015	28 February 2015	Sanya	Auckland	5,264 nm
In-Port Race	14 March 2015		Auckland
Leg 5	18 March 20151	5 April 2015	Auckland	Itajaí	6,776 nm
In-Port Race	18 April 2015		Itajaí
Leg 6	19 April 2015		Itajaí	Newport	5,010 nm
In-Port Race	16 May 2015		Newport
Leg 7	17 May 2015		Newport	Lisbon	2,800 nm
In-Port Race	6 June 2015		Lisbon
Leg 8	7 June 2015		Lisbon	Lorient	647 nm
In-Port Race	14 June 2015		Lorient
Leg 9	17 June 2015		Lorient	Gothenburg	1,600 nm
In-Port Race	27 June 2015		Gothenburg

Notes:

• ^1 Originally scheduled to begin on 15 March 2015, but delayed because of Cyclone Pam.^[11]

Results and standings

The point standings are done via low points. The winner of each leg/in-port race will receive 1 point, runner up will receive 2 points, and so on down to the final finisher who will receive 7 points. Failure to finish a leg is counted as 8 points. The overall winner will be the one the lowest number of leg points, with the in-port points being used for tie-breaking.^[12]

Overall standings

	Leg 1	Leg 2	Leg 3	Leg 4	Leg 5	Leg 6	Leg 7	Leg 8	Leg 9	Total
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing	1	3	2	2	1					9
Dongfeng Race Team	2	2	1	3	DNF3					16
Team Brunel	3	1	5	5	4					18
Team Alvimedica	5	42	3	4	3					19
MAPFRE	7	4	4	1	44					20
Team SCA	6	6	6	6	5					29
Team Vestas Wind	4	DNF1	DNS	DNS	DNS					36

Notes:

• ^1 - Team Vestas Wind was grounded on the Cargados Carajos Shoals near Mauritius. They are working on re-joining the race at a later stage, possibly for leg 8.^[13]
• ^2 - Team Alvimedica finished leg 2 in fifth place, but were awarded 1 point redress for standing by the grounded Team Vestas Wind^[14]
• ^3 - Dongfeng suffered a broken mast near Cape Horn and had to abandon leg 5.^[15]
• ^4 - MAPFRE were give two points penalty for rules breaches after leg 5.^[16]

In-port series

	Ali	CT	AD	San	Auc	Ita	NP	Lis	Lor	Got	Total
Team Brunel	4	2	2	4	2	1					15
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing	2	1	3	2	6	2					16
Team SCA	6	3	1	5	1	4					20
Dongfeng Race Team	5	4	4	1	4	3					21
Team Alvimedica	1	6	5	3	5	6					26
MAPFRE	3	7	6	6	3	5					30
Team Vestas Wind	7	5	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS					44

Summaries

Alicante In-Port Race

The Alicante In-Port race began the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race. Dongfeng opened the race with an aggressive port start with the remaining squads electing to go away from shore on starboard. The gutsy maneuver paid off for Dongfeng as they led after Mark 1 of 6. Abu Dhabi easily passed Dongfeng on the downwind leg and led around Mark 2. The two big moves at Mark 2 was a clean inside pass by Alvimedica to move into second in front of Dongfeng as well as a perfectly timed tack by Brunel which forced SCA to take a very slow left turn around the mark. No major moves occurred on the third leg with Abu Dhabi leading by 35 seconds over Alvimedica. However, coming into Mark 4 Abu Dhabi elected to go round the right mark, requiring an extra tack, while Alvimedica closely followed by Dongfeng stayed on course to round the left mark, closing the gap to under 5 seconds. At the tail of the regatta SCA stretched out a sizable lead over Vestas after being a few lengths behind at Mark 3. Abu Dhabi, Alvimedica, and Dongfeng pulled away on the final upwind leg with Alvimedica passing Abu Dhabi on port just shy of the mark. Alvimedica led by 18 seconds over Abu Dhabi at Mark 5. Alvimedica would hold on a late charge by Abu Dhabi to win by 2 lengths, followed by MAPFRE, Brunel, and slow finishing Dongfeng. SCA maintained sixth with Vesta bringing up the rear of the fleet.

Alicante to Cape Town

The 6,487nm leg started on 11 October 2014 and was won by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, with Dongfeng Race Team second and Team Brunel third.

Cape Town In-Port Race

Was held on 15 November 2014 and was won by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, with Team Brunel second and Team SCA third.

Cape Town to Abu Dhabi

The 6,125nm leg started on 19 November 2014 and was won by Team Brunel, with Dongfeng Race Team second and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing third.

Abu Dhabi In-Port Race

Was held on 2 January 2015 and was won by Team SCA, with Team Brunel second and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing third.

Abu Dhabi to Sanya

The 4,670nm leg started on 3 January 2015 and was won by Dongfeng Race Team, with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing second and Team Alvimedica third.

References

External links

• Volvo Ocean Race – Official site
• Dongfeng Team Page
• SCA Team Page
• Alvimedica Team Page
• MAPFRE Team Page
• Vestas Wind Team Page
• Brunel Team Page
• Abu Dhabi Team Page

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race.

Volvo Ocean Race 1973–74 1977–78 1981–82 1985–86 1989–90 1993–94 1997–98 2001–02 2005–06 2008–09 2011–12 2014–15 2017–18