The Ocean Race

The Ocean Race
Vehicle type	Volvo Ocean 65
Country or region	International
Current name	The Ocean Race
First season	1973

Ericsson 4 (the overall winner 2008/09, left) and Ericsson 3 in Stockholm on June 17, 2009

The Ocean Race (formerly Volvo Ocean Race , previously The Whitbread Round the World Race ) is a sailing regatta that has been held every four years since 1973 and every three years since 2006 and runs once around the world. The regatta starts in autumn in Europe, the further route leads through the Atlantic, circles Africa at the Cape of Good Hope , leads through the Indian Ocean over the South Pacific and around Cape Horn to South and North America and from there back to Europe. Due to the wind and weather conditions, especially in the South Pacific (wave heights of 30 m and wind speeds of 110 km / h), the regatta is one of the toughest challenges in sailing. The regatta is carried out in stages ( leg or legs ). A total of 24,000 nautical miles (about 45,000 km) to 45,000 nautical miles must be covered, depending on the number and choice of stage destinations .

history

The competition was initially carried out as compensatory regattas. The winner was determined according to the boat class-adjusted total time sailed. From 1989 to 1994 a class system was used so that the boats only competed against each other within their class. Since 1997 boats of one class have been sailed, and the stages are individually rated in a point system. The winner is not determined according to the total time sailed, but according to the total number of points. In 2014 the change to unit boats took place.

The first six events were called The Whitbread Round the World Race after the main sponsor at the time, the British brewery Whitbread . For the seventh edition (1997/98) the name was changed due to the participation of Volvo for the main prize in Whitbread (Round the World) Race for the Volvo Trophy (but also abbreviated to Whitbread ). The eighth regatta (2001/02) was first held under the new name Volvo Ocean Race after a complete change of sponsors . This regatta was won by the Illbruck team under skipper John Kostecki , which started under the German flag .

In 2006 it was decided to start the Volvo Ocean Race every three years. Seven teams took part in the twelfth regatta, which started in Alicante in October 2014. In 2017, the organizer announced a further shortening. The competitions should be held every two years from now on, so that regattas are sailed every calendar year. After the 2017/18 event, the following Volvo Ocean Race was scheduled for 2019/20. Shortly before the start of the 2017 regatta, sponsor Volvo withdrew from this plan. The organizer's managing director, Mark Turner, resigned in response after just 16 months in office. Volvo then transferred the management to Richard Brisius and Johan Salén, who had already worked as managers for various teams in the past. As a result, Volvo withdrew completely from the organization and will only act as a sponsor in the future. The ownership was transferred to the Atlant Sports Group , behind which Brisius and Salén stand. At the same time, the event was renamed The Ocean Race .

Regattas

Pen Duick VI , the winner of the 2nd stage (picture 2007)

Peter von Danzig (today: Peter von Seestermühe ), German participant 1973/74 (picture 2008)

Whitbread 1973/74

The first regatta started in Portsmouth on September 8, 1973. Seventeen yachts of various sizes and shapes took part. Three sailors drowned during the regatta, Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking.

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner
1	Portsmouth	Cape Town	South Africa	Great Britain II
2	Cape Town	Sydney	Australia	Pen Duick VI
3	Sydney	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Great Britain II
4th	Rio de Janeiro	Portsmouth	England	Sayula II

The regatta was won by Sayula II , a series yacht of the type Swan 65 from the Finnish shipyard Nautor's Swan , piloted by Ramon Carlin (Mexico) in a time of 133 days and 13 hours.

Off Cape Horn , the leading Yacht Adventure was greeted by the British patrol ship HMS Endurance with nine gun salutes . One of the shots accidentally went through the yacht's genoa .

The first German participant and last boat to finish ( Last Ship Home ) was the Kiel Yawl Peter von Danzig , built in 1936 under Reinhardt Laucht from the Academic Sailing Association in Kiel . For the young students there was at least the prize “ for the best performance of a losing yacht ” and the Schlimbach prize for skipper Reinhardt Laucht .

The race was a great success - apart from the tragic deaths. The most important lesson was that in extreme conditions, safety is at least as important as speed.

Whitbread 1977/78

On August 27, 1977, 15 boats started in Southampton in storms and rain for the second edition of the regatta around the world. Whitbread also sponsored the second running of the race, and it has been announced that it will be held every four years. The regatta took place between August 1977 and March 1978 and went again over four stages, with the change that Auckland ( New Zealand ) was instead of Sydney stage destination.

After the success of the first race there was again a large field of participants. 15 yachts from 6 countries registered for the circumnavigation, and all of them made it to their destination. The safety rules stipulated, among other things, lifebelts to prevent deaths like in the first implementation of the regatta. This considerably reduced the risk of getting lost overboard and in the sea.

Three of the participating boats took part in the previous race:

• Great Britain II , led by Rob James and with 16 paying crew members,
• 33 Export , re-rigged as a 7/8 sloop, with the youngest skipper in the field, 23-year-old Alain Gabbay
• Adventure , again as a training boat for the UK Ministry of Defense, with the extensive crew changes in the stage ports causing great controversy.

Overall rating

space	yacht	nationality	Skipper	Calculated time
1	Flyer	Netherlands	Cornelis van Rietschoten ( Netherlands )	119 days 1 hour
2	Kings's Legend	United Kingdom	Nich RatCliffe, Mike Clancy (both United Kingdom )	121 days 11 hours
3	Traité de Rome	European Union	Philippe Hanin ( France )	121 days 18 hours
4th	Disque d'Or	Switzerland	Pierre Fehlmann ( Switzerland )	122 days 10 hours
5	ADC Accutrac	United Kingdom	Clare Francis ( United Kingdom )	126 days 20 hours
6th	Gauloises II	France	Eric Loizeau ( France )	127 days 7 hours
7th	Adventure	United Kingdom	James Watts, David Leslie, Ian Bailey-Willmot, Robin Duchesne (all United Kingdom )	128 days 2 hours
8th	Neptune	France	Bernard Deguy ( France )	130 days 11 hours
9	B&B Italia	Italy	Corrado di Majo ( Italy )	132 days 2 hours
10	33 Export	France	Alain Gabbay ( France )	133 days 00 hours
11	Tielsa	Netherlands	Dirk Nauta ( Netherlands )	133 days 00 hours
12	Great Britain II	United Kingdom	Rob James	134 days 10 hours
13	Debenhams	United Kingdom	John Ridgway ( United Kingdom )	135 days 19 hours
14th	Japy-Hermes	France	Jean Michel Viant	143 days 6 hours
15th	Heath's Condor	United Kingdom	Leslie Williams, Robin Knox-Johnston ( United Kingdom )	144 days 00 hours

The Great Britain II won the Line Honors again with the lowest total travel time of 134 days , but victory went to a Dutch participant, Cornelis van Rietschoten , with his 65-foot Ketch Flyer built by Sparkman & Stephens , which took 136 days to travel and it took 119 days according to the calculated time.

One of the special features of the race was that Clare Francis became the first woman to skipper a Whitbread competitor, the Swan 65 ADC Accutrac . Skip Novak made his debut at Whitbread as a navigator on board the King's Legend , a Swan 65 as well as the Disque d'Or .

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner according to time sailed	Stage winner according to calculated time
1	Southampton	Cape Town	South Africa	Flyer	Flyer
2	Cape Town	Auckland	New Zealand	Heath's Condor	33 Export
3	Auckland	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Great Britain II	Gauloise II
4th	Rio de Janeiro	Southampton	England	Heath's Condor	Gauloise II

Whitbread 1981/82

On August 8, 1981, 29 boats started in Southampton for the third edition of the regatta around the world. It won the Maxi-Yacht Flyer II designed by German Frers (Argentina) , which was piloted by the winner of the last regatta, Cornelius van Rietschoten. Remarkably, the winning yacht won in terms of both total time and calculated (corrected) time. Twenty of the 29 yachts that started crossed the finish line. Walross III of the Academic Sailing Association in Berlin took part in this world regatta .

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner according to time sailed	Stage winner according to calculated time
1	Southampton	Cape Town	South Africa	Flyer II	Criterion IX
2	Cape Town	Auckland	New Zealand	Flyer II	Ceramco NZ
3	Auckland	Mar del Plata	Argentina	Flyer II	Mor Bihan
4th	Mar del Plata	Portsmouth	England	Flyer II	Ceramco NZ

Whitbread 1985/86

On September 29, 1985, 15 boats took off from Southampton. The L'Esprit d'Equipe, piloted by Lionel Péan, won the regatta in a corrected time of 111 days and 23 hours. Phillips Innovator was second and Fazer Finland third. ( UBS Switzerland was the fastest boat in terms of time, followed by the Lion New Zealand and the Drum (owner Simon Le Bon ) just behind.)

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner according to time sailed	Stage winner according to calculated time
1	Southampton	Cape Town	South Africa	UBS Switzerland	L'Esprit d'Equipe
2	Cape Town	Auckland	New Zealand	Atlantic Privateer	Philips innovator
3	Auckland	Punta del Este	Uruguay	UBS Switzerland	L'Esprit d'Equipe
4th	Punta del Este	Portsmouth	England	UBS Switzerland	L'Esprit d'Equipe

Whitbread 1989/90

Various boat classes took part in the regatta. An all-women team also competed for the first time, on the Maiden controlled by Tracy Edwards . Although the women's team drove in a smaller boat than their male competitors, they were able to achieve two stage wins in their class. From this point on, an all-women team was involved in every Whitbread race.

The boat Creighton's Naturally got out of hand on the second stage around 3 o'clock in the morning ( sun shot ). The crew members Anthony (Tony) Philips and Bart van den Dwey were washed overboard. Both could be brought back on board. While Van den Dwey was successfully resuscitated, Philips did not succeed, despite a three-hour struggle for his life. A few days later, Philips was buried at sea with the consent of his family.

Overall rating

space	boat	nation	Skipper	Ship type	time
1	Stone camp 2	New Zealand	Peter Blake (NZL)	84- foot - ketch	128 days 9 hours
2	Fisher & Paykel NZ	New Zealand	Grant Dalton (NZL)	82-foot ketch	129 days 21 h
3	Merit	Switzerland	Pierre Fehlmann (SUI)	80 foot sloop	130 days 10 hours
4th	Rothmans	United Kingdom	Lawrie Smith (GBR)	80 foot sloop	131 days 4 hours
5	The Card	Sweden	Roger Nillson / Ann Lippens (SWE)	80 foot ketch	135 days 7 hours
18th	Maiden	United Kingdom	Tracy Edwards (GBR)	58 foot sloop	167 days 3 hours
21st	La Poste	France	Daniel Mallé (FRA)	51 foot sloop	181 days 22 hours

It was an easy win for Steinlager 2 , driven by Peter Blake . Since the regatta 1981/82 the winner has won all stages again.

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner	Skipper
1	Southampton	Punta del Este	Uruguay	Stone camp 2	Peter Blake (NZL)
2	Punta del Este	Fremantle	Australia	Stone camp 2	Peter Blake (NZL)
3	Fremantle	Auckland	New Zealand	Stone camp 2	Peter Blake (NZL)
4th	Auckland	Punta del Este	Uruguay	Stone camp 2	Peter Blake (NZL)
5	Punta del Este	Fort Lauderdale	USA ( Florida )	Stone camp 2	Peter Blake (NZL)
6th	Fort Lauderdale	Southampton	England	Stone camp 2	Peter Blake (NZL)

Based on experience with the different boat classes in races, it was decided to develop a uniform boat class for future regattas. The maxi yachts were almost twice as large as the smallest yachts and had more than twice the sail area. The result of these differences was that the smaller boats took around ten days longer to complete each stage. At the finish the last one was 52 days behind Blake's stone camp 2. In addition, the large ships were very expensive. The newly created class was called the W60.

Whitbread 1993/94

Once again, different boat classes were used, including the special Whitbread class W60 for the first time. As there was fear of not having enough new boats available for the competition, the maxi yachts were allowed to participate despite protests. Handicap rules made up for the differences. There were close races between maxi yachts and the W60.

Overall rating

space	boat	nation	Skipper	Ship type	time
1	NZ Endeavor	New Zealand	Grant Dalton (NZL)	Maxi	120 days 5 hours
2	Yamaha	Japan / NZL	Ross Field (NZL)	W60	120 days 14 hours
3	Merit Cup	United Kingdom	Pierre Fehlmann (SUI)	Maxi	121 days 2 hours
4th	Intrum Justitia	European Union	Roger Nilson (SWE) / Lawrie Smith (GBR)	W60	121 days 5 hours
5	Galicia 93 Pescanova	Spain	Javier de la Gandara (Esp)	W60	122 days 6 hours
6th	Winston	United States	Dennis Conner (USA) / Brad Butterworth (NZL)	W60	122 days 9 hours
7th	La Poste	France	Eric Tabarly (FRA)	Maxi	123 days 22 hours
8th	Tokyo	Japan	Chris Dickson (NZL)	W60	128 days 16 hours
9	Brooksfield	Italy	Guido Maisto (ITA)	W60	130 days 4 hours
10	Hetman Sahaidachny	Ukraine	Eugene Platon (UKR)	W60	135 days 23 hours
11	Reebok / Dolphin Youth	United Kingdom	Mathew Humphries (GBR)	W60	137 days 21 hrs.
12	Heineken	United States	Dawn Riley (USA)	W60	138 days 16 hours
13	Odessa	Ukraine	Anatoly Verba (UKR)	W60	158 days 4 hours
DNF	Fortuna	Spain	Lawrie Smith (GBR)	Maxi	given up

Intrum Justitia was originally piloted by Roger Nilson. However, he fell ill during the race and was replaced by Lawrie Smith at the end of the first stage in Punta del Este.

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination port	Stage winner	Skipper
1	Southampton	Punta del Este	Argentina	NZ Endeavor	Grant Dalton (NZL)
2	Punta del Este (Uruguay)	Fremantle	Australia	Intrum Justitia	Lawrie Smith (GBR)
3	Fremantle	Auckland	New Zealand	NZ Endeavor	Grant Dalton (NZL)
4th	Auckland	Punta del Este	Argentina	NZ Endeavor	Grant Dalton (NZL)>
5	Punta del Este	Fort Lauderdale	USA ( Florida )	Yamaha	Ross Field (NZL)
6th	Fort Lauderdale	Southampton	England	Tokyo	Chris Dickson (NZL)

Whitbread 1997/98

For the first time, only yachts of one class, the W60, took part in the regatta, and scoring was based on a point system in order to also upgrade the shorter stages. In order to improve media utilization, a total of nine stages were held. Volvo first appeared as a sponsor of the trophy and television coverage. The regatta was called Whitbread round the world race for the Volvo Trophy .

Overall rating

space	boat	nation	Skipper	Points
1	EF Language	Sweden	Paul Cayard (USA)	836
2	Merit Cup	Monaco	Grant Dalton (NZL)	698
3	Swedish Match	Sweden	Gunnar Krantz (SWE)	689
4th	Innovation Kvaerner	Norway	Knut Frostad (NOR)	633
5	Silk cut	United Kingdom	Lawrie Smith (GBR)	630
6th	Chessie Racing	United States	George J. Collins / John Kostecki (USA)	613
7th	Toshiba	United States	Dennis Conner (USA) / Paul Standbridge (NZL)	528
8th	Brunel Sunergy	Netherlands	Hans Bouscholte / Roy Heiner (NED)	415
9	EF Education	Sweden	Christine Guillou (FRA)	275
DNF	America's Challenge	United States	Ross Field (NZL)	58

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner	Skipper
1	Southampton	Cape Town	South Africa	EF Language	Paul Cayard (USA)
2	Cape Town	Fremantle	Australia	Swedish Match	Gunnar Krantz
3	Fremantle	Sydney	Australia	EF Language	Paul Cayard (USA)
4th	Sydney	Auckland	New Zealand	Merit Cup	Grant Dalton (NZL)
5	Auckland	São Sebastião	Brazil	EF Language	Paul Cayard (USA)
6th	São Sebastião	Fort Lauderdale	USA ( Florida )	Silk cut	Lawrie Smith (GBR)
7th	Fort Lauderdale	Baltimore	USA ( Maryland )	Brunel Sunergy	Roy Heiner (NED)
8th	Annapolis	La Rochelle	France	Toshiba	Paul Standbridge (NZL)
9	La Rochelle	Southampton	England	Merit Cup	Grant Dalton (NZL)

Volvo Ocean Race 2001/02

Finish of the Illbruck in Kiel

Overall winner Illbruck in the port of destination Kiel

Boats of the teams SEB, tyco and News Corp in the destination port of Kiel

Volvo (more precisely: Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation jointly) took on the role of title sponsor for the following competition in 2001/02 , and the regatta was renamed the Volvo Ocean Race . Stopovers were planned in Volvo's main European markets, Germany, France and Sweden. The point system has been revised to keep the regatta exciting until the end.

John Kostecki won the Volvo Ocean Race as a skipper on the Illbruck for the first time, after he had already been successful as a co-skipper with George Collins on the Chessie Racing in Whitbread 1997/98 . Assa Abloy's newly developed boats were very fast, but not fast enough. The long development phase in particular hampered fine-tuning of the yachts.

The third stage was held together with the legendary Sydney-Hobart regatta .

Overall rating

space	boat	nation	Skipper	Points
1	Illbruck Challenge	Germany	John Kostecki (USA)	61
2	ASSA ABLOY	Sweden	Neal McDonald (GBR)	55
3	Amer Sports One	United States	Grant Dalton (NZL)	44
4th	Team Tyco	Bermudas	Kevin Shoebridge (NZL)	42
5	News Corp	Australia	Jez Fanstone (AUS)	41
6th	Djuice Dragons	Norway	Knut Frostad (NOR)	33
7th	Team SEB	Sweden	Gunnar Krantz (SWE)	32
8th	Amer Sports Too	United States	Lisa McDonald (USA)	16

Stage results

stage	begin	Destination port	Destination Country	Stage winner
1	Southampton	Cape Town	South Africa	Illbruck
2	Cape Town	Sydney	Australia ( New South Wales )	Illbruck
3	Sydney	Hobart	Australia ( Tasmania )	Assa Abloy
4th	Hobart	Auckland	New Zealand	Assa Abloy
5	Auckland	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Illbruck
6th	Rio de Janeiro	Miami	USA ( Florida )	Assa Abloy
7th	Miami	Baltimore	USA ( Maryland )	Team News Corp
8th	Baltimore	La Rochelle	France	Illbruck
9	La Rochelle	Gothenburg	Sweden	Assa Abloy
10	Gothenburg	Kiel	Germany	Djuice Dragons

Volvo Ocean Race 2005/06

Last stage 2005/2006: Pirates of the Caribbean (today Mean Machine 20 ) on the approach to Gothenburg

There were some innovations at this event. For the first time it was not launched in the UK. The regatta was also carried out with a new type of boat, the Volvo Open 70 . This boat is around 1000 kg lighter than the type W60, has a larger sail area and a tilting keel .

The route was around 57,000 km long and was completed in nine stages within nine months. There were also races in certain starting ports, so-called “in-port races”. As an innovation, so-called pit-stop harbors were planned, which divide the longer stages into shorter sections. There are no "in-port races" in these ports. In order to better control the course of the boats, six specific waypoints (gates) have also been introduced, and when they pass correctly, points are awarded according to the chronological order.

The point system has also been revised. On the normal stages, the winner received seven points, the second six, etc. In the "in-port races" the first got 3.5 points, the second three, etc. The points from the "in-port races" made 20 % of the total number of points. The aim was to make the regatta in the stage ports more interesting for the public.

The regatta started on November 5, 2005 in Sanxenxo ( Galicia ) in Spain and ended on June 17, 2006 in Gothenburg ( Sweden ), the headquarters of the sponsors “Volvo Car Corporation” and “Volvo Group”.

Overall rating

boat	nation	Designer	Skipper	Points
ABN AMRO ONE	Netherlands	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Mike Sanderson	96.0
Pirates of the Caribbean	United States	Bruce Farr	Paul Cayard	73.0
Brazil 1	Brazil	Bruce Farr	Torben Grael	67.0
ABN AMRO TWO	Netherlands	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Sebastien Josse	58.5
Ericsson Racing Team	Sweden	Bruce Farr	Neal MacDonald / John Kostecki	55.0
movistar	Spain	Bruce Farr	Bouwe Bekking	48.0
Sunergy and Friends ING Real Estate / Brunel	Australia	Don Jones	Grant Warington	15.5

Stage results

stage	place	Winner / First
Prologue: In-port-race	Sanxenxo ( Galicia )	Ericsson Racing Team
Stage 1	Vigo - Cape Town	ABN AMRO One
	Fernando de Noronha checkpoint	ABN AMRO One
In-port-race	Cape Town	ABN AMRO One
Stage 2	Cape Town - Melbourne	ABN AMRO One
	Kerguelen checkpoint	ABN AMRO One
	Checkpoint Eclipse Island	ABN AMRO One
In-port-race	Melbourne	ABN AMRO One
Stage 3	Melbourne - Wellington	movistar
Stage 4	Wellington - Rio de Janeiro	ABN AMRO One
	Cape Horn checkpoint	ABN AMRO One
In-port-race	Rio de Janeiro	ABN AMRO One
Stage 5	Rio de Janeiro - Baltimore / Annapolis	ABN AMRO One
	Fernando de Noronha checkpoint	Movistar
In-port-race	Baltimore	Movistar
Stage 6	Baltimore / Annapolis - New York	ABN AMRO One
Stage 7	New York - Portsmouth / UK	ABN AMRO One
	Checkpoint Lizard Point	ABN AMRO One
In-port-race	Portsmouth	ABN AMRO One
Stage 8	Portsmouth - Rotterdam	Brazil 1
In-port-race	Rotterdam	ABN AMRO One
Stage 9	Rotterdam - Gothenburg	Pirates of the Caribbean

The boat Sunergy and Friends was renamed ING Real Estate / Brunel for the third stage after the acquisition of a new sponsor . On the last long stage from New York to Portsmouth, the Dutchman Hans Horrevoets of the ABN AMRO Two team went overboard at night and was killed despite the man-overboard maneuver immediately initiated . At the same stage, the Movistar had to be abandoned because the keel swivel mechanism was damaged, which led to strong water ingress. The Movistar team was successfully rescued by ABN AMRO Two shortly after they had lost their fellow sailor.

Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09

→ Main article : Volvo Ocean Race 2008–2009

The Volvo Ocean Race was held from October 4, 2008 to June 27, 2009 again with boats of the type Volvo Open 70 . It led in ten stages from Alicante in Spain around the globe to Saint Petersburg in Russia. After eight months at sea and more than 37,000 miles sailed , the Ericsson 4 team won the overall ranking of the high seas regatta. A Russian boat in the fleet, which originally consisted of eight yachts, had to give up on the third stage for financial reasons. On the fourth stage, the fleet got caught in a typhoon. In some cases, serious damage occurred which forced some boats to stop the race. Two participants missed the next stage.

Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12

→ Main article : Volvo Ocean Race 2011–2012

At the start, Volvo had announced that it would extend its commitment to future staging of the regatta. The route led from Alicante ( Spain ) around the world to Galway in Ireland .

Some changes to the rulebook have been made. While in-port races were only held in certain ports in the past, these have now been carried out at all intermediate stops. In addition, the overseas stages were upgraded in terms of scoring compared to the in-port races and the waypoints. The construction of test boats was banned, and the number of allowed modifications to the keel , rudder and fins was limited. Limiting the number of sails and spare parts (e.g. only one replacement mast) should also allow teams with a smaller budget to participate.

The regatta took the following route:

• Alicante ( Spain ) → Start
• Cape Town ( South Africa )
• Abu Dhabi ( United Arab Emirates )
• Sanya ( China )
• Auckland ( New Zealand )
• Itajaí ( Brazil )
• Miami ( USA )
• Lisbon ( Portugal )
• Lorient ( France )
• Galway ( Ireland ) → destination

On July 2nd at 00:49:11 UTC Franck Cammas and his crew “Groupama” reached the final port of Galway as the overall winner.

Overall rating

team	nation	Designer	Skipper	Points	comment
Groupama Sailing Team	France	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Franck Cammas ( FRA )	253	winner
Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand	Spain	Marcelino Botin	Chris Nicholson ( AUS )	231	2nd place
Puma Ocean Racing powered by BERG Propulsion	United States Germany	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Ken Read ( USA )	226	3rd place
Team Telefónica	Spain	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Iker Martínez ( ESP )	213	4th Place
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team	United Arab Emirates	Bruce Farr	Ian Walker ( GBR )	131	5th place
Team Sanya	People's Republic of China	Bruce Farr	Mike Sanderson ( NZL )	51	6th place

The stage from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi made headlines in advance because it ran through one of the most dangerous sea areas in the world. To avoid piracy off the Somali coast , it has been divided into two sections. The first led to a port in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean , which was kept secret at the time , where the yachts were loaded onto a freighter and transported under gun protection to just off the coast of Abu Dhabi, while the crew members arrive separately and finally the regatta ended with a short sprint to Abu Dhabi. During the stay in particularly dangerous sea areas, the live broadcast was also interrupted.

Volvo Ocean Race 2014/15

→ Main article : Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015

On October 11, 2014, seven standard yachts of the new Volvo Ocean 65 class started the first stage in Alicante , including an all-female team again after 12 years. The route led via Cape Town , Abu Dhabi , Sanya , Auckland , Itajaí , Newport , Lisbon , Lorient and The Hague to the destination port of Gothenburg .

On the second stage, Team Vestas Wind ran into a reef in the Indian Ocean about 200 nautical miles from Mauritius and had to give up the boat. It was possible to salvage the wreck, repair it and bring it to the start for the penultimate stage. The women's team won three in-port races in a row and the eighth stage, but was only penultimate overall.

Victory went to Azzam under skipper Ian Walker from the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team . The yacht was almost always in first place in the overall ranking, only after the third stage it was temporarily only second.

Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18

→ Main article : Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018

The thirteenth Volvo Ocean Race started in Alicante on October 22, 2017. The regatta went from there via Lisbon , Cape Town , Melbourne , Hong Kong , Guangzhou (only in-port races), Auckland , Itajai , Newport , Cardiff , Gothenburg to The Hague . At around 45,000 nautical miles, it was 6,000 nautical miles longer than before.

Seven boats were entered for the race: Brunel (NL), whose skipper Bouwe Bekking contested his eighth Volvo Ocean Race with it, Dongfeng Race Team (CN), Mapfre (ES), Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag (HK), Team AkzoNobel (NL ), Turn the Tide on Plastic and Vestas 11th hour racing (USA / DK). With the exception of the AkzoNobel team , all teams sailed yachts that took part in the 12th edition of the regatta, as the boats of the Volvo Ocean 65 class were designed for two competitions from the start.

The Ocean Race 2021/2022

The fourteenth Ocean Race is scheduled to start in Alicante in 2021. Two types of boat, the Volvo Ocean 65 (VOR65) and IMOCA 60 class , are to be used. For the ocean stages, the IMOCA 60 are to be equipped with lift wings, so-called hydrofoils.

Web links

Commons : Volvo Ocean Race  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official site of the Volvo Ocean Race (English)
• News about the Volvo Ocean Race. Yacht.de
• News at ostsee-action.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About the Race. Whitbread 1973-1974 . volvooceanrace.org, accessed June 8, 2007
2. ↑ Volvo Ocean Race switches to a 2-year cycle and a 2019 start for 14th edition , volvooceanrace.com, June 14, 2017, accessed August 4, 2019
3. ↑ Volvo reconsiders schedule for future Volvo Ocean Races , volvooceanrace.com, September 26, 2017, accessed August 4, 2019
4. ↑ The Ocean Race: New Zealand entry mooted for 2021/22 event , www.sail-world.com, March 22, 2019, accessed August 4, 2019
5. ↑ Welcome to The Ocean Race , www.theoceanrace.com, February 14, 2019, accessed on August 4, 2019
6. ↑ Leisure time captain in the spin cycle
7. ↑ yacht-online: Cape Horn in the wake (March 18, 2009). Accessed March 18, 2009
8. ^ NDR.de: Adventure circumnavigating the world: Five people from Kiel remember (Thomas Kahlcke), March 18, 2018 , accessed on June 28, 2018
9. ↑ Twelve women against the sailing elite (ORF 2019)
10. ↑ The Toshiba was originally driven by Chris Dickson, but he was released after the first stage. Hans Bouscholte was also replaced by Roy Heiner after the first stage. Team America's Challenge gave up after the second stage due to financial problems.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Yacht-online: Segelriss - Volvo Open 70 Accessed on February 16, 2009
12. ↑ Yacht-online: Volvo Open 70 - Insight into the racing machine. Accessed on March 18, 2009
13. ↑ Volvo Ocean Race winners: 'We fought for every mile'. In: CNN. Retrieved November 16, 2015 . 
14. ↑ First report - but rejection by the defending champion. In: yacht.de. Retrieved February 21, 2010 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 racing schedule. (PDF) (No longer available online.) VolvoOceanRace, archived from the original on July 4, 2010 ; Retrieved July 1, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ The first stop in 2011/2012 is Cape Town. In: yacht.de. Retrieved February 21, 2010 . 
17. ↑ "Groupama" wins regatta around the world . Spiegel Online , July 3, 2012
18. ^ Regatta off the pirate coast. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved December 12, 2011 . 
19. ↑ Start into a secure future. In: yacht.de. Retrieved November 2, 2011 . 
20. ↑ Team Brunel got off to a brilliant start. In: yacht.de. Retrieved November 5, 2014 . 
21. ↑ Race Schedule. In: volvooceanrace.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014 . 
22. ↑ volvooceanrace.com
23. ↑ A safe win for the Walker crew. In: yacht.de. Retrieved June 22, 2015 . 
24. ^ The Ocean Race enters new era with global launch event. In: The Ocean Race. The Ocean Race, accessed August 15, 2019 .