The seven Volvo Ocean 65s entered in the 44 e edition of the Volvo Ocean Race took the start of the Prologue of the Volvo Ocean Race from Lisbon on Sunday 8th October 2017. This stage, which does not count towards the rankings, will take the crews to Alicante, the Spanish city where the race starts on 22nd October. A real dress rehearsal, as the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race will take place on the same route (but in the opposite direction: Alicante - Lisbon).
Teams will be able to measure themselves against each other before the big start and assess each other's progress since the Leg Zero . " This is our last opportunity for all the boats to compete before the start. We'll all be in the same frame of mind as we look at the progress we've made over the last few weeks compared to the other teams" said Mark Towill, co-skipper of Vestas 11th Hour Racing. The American/Danish crew trained against AzkoNobel's Dutch team and were able to check their sail choices and performance.
On the yacht Turn the Tide on Plastic (United Nations), skipper Dee Caffari has chosen to leave the helm to the less experienced sailors, to get their hands on the helm before the big start.
The sailors of Sun Hung Kai /Scallywag, disappointed with their result on Leg Zero (last place in the ranking with 9 points), will have new sailors on board. The opportunity to put into practice the last weeks of training. "We've trained hard, we've sailed as many nautical miles as the others, so it's a great opportunity to see the changes. There's nothing like going out sailing to see how you measure up against the others, and we've clearly improved our performance since Leg Zero" said the navigator for the Chinese team, Steve Hayles.
This round - for nothing - will be an opportunity for everyone to check that everything is ready: boats, crew, equipment..
