Created in 1973, it was then called the Whitbread . Today it is the biggest and most coveted offshore race in the world of sailing. It lasts nine months and takes place on four oceans, five continents, with 11 stopovers in 11 different countries, covering a total of 38,739 miles.
A global journey
On October 4, an In-Port race will be organized from Alicante, Spain, and the departure will take place a week later in the direction of Cape Town. After the stopover and the In-Port race in Cape Town, the crews will head to the north of the Indian Ocean, to Abu Dhabi for the Asian part of the course. Then, they will head for Sanya, on the island of Hainan in the extreme south of China. Once again, the race heads towards the southern hemisphere, in the Pacific, to the sailing capital, Auckland in New Zealand. Halfway through the race, the participants will then cross the South Pacific to Cape Horn and then sail along the coast of South America. They will stop in Itajai, Brazil, then in North America in Newport and Rhode Island, USA. Finally, it will be necessary to cross the North Atlantic again to Lisbon in Portugal, then Lorient in France, Göteberg in Sweden, after a pit stop in The Hague in the Netherlands. The race will end on June 27, 2015 after an In-Port race in Göteberg.
7 crews to take on the Volvo Ocean Race
Seven crews, composed of nine people on board, plus a reporter, will take the start of the biggest round-the-world race. Participants from all over the world, newcomers and experts, will compete for nine months, including an all-female crew, Team SCA, which will race under the flag of the United Kingdom and will be made up of 11 female sailors. It has been since 2001/2002 that no women's crew has started the Volvo Ocean Race. They are the only ones who are allowed to have an extra crew member. Opposing them will be Team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (United Arab Emirates), Dongfeng Race Team (China), Team Brunel (Netherlands), Team Alvimedica (America/Turkey), Team MAPFRE (Spain) and Team Vestas Wind (Denmark). The French will be present in this new edition but no French team will be at the start. In the previous edition, the French team Groupama 4 won the race.
A race conducted on the Volvo Ocean 65
The new one-design Volvo Ocean 65 is the boat that will be used for the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. Performing, extreme, solid and less expensive, it will be the ideal partner for our seven crews. Discover the race boat.
The Volvo Ocean 65, one-design for the Volvo Ocean Race
