Volvo Ocean Race
Round The World Yacht Race 2005 - 2006:
 The Volvo Ocean Race is a marathon event. For nine months, world-class racers battle each other around the globe over some 32,700 miles (52,600 kilometers).
Participants spend weeks at a time driving their boats to the limit 24 hours a day. They sacrifice sleep, privacy, fresh food, and other comforts to win each leg. But what happens when they reach the next port of call?
The race doesn't stop-it just shifts gears. Weary sailors get a chance to rest and prepare for the next leg, while the shore crew swings into action. After weeks of demanding action, and a spartan existence at sea, the first things these exhausted sailors crave are basic human needs.
The event will start on November 5, 2005 with an inport race in Sanxenxo, Galicia, Spain.
The race track will continue to follow the traditional route of the old clipper ships, sailing around the world with the prevailing winds.
An exciting new feature introduced for this event is a number of scoring gates and pit stops around the world, where the fleet will be able to score points, which will count towards the final score.
In Port Races:
- SANXENXO (GALICIA) 5th November 2005
- CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA) 26th December 2005
- MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) 4th February 2006
- RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL) 25th March 2006
- BALITMORE/ANNAPOLIS (USA) 29th April 2006
- PORTSMOUTH (UK) 29th May 2006
- ROTTERDAM (NED) 11th June 2006
History:
 It is unlikely that Colonel Bill Whitbread, of the brewing family and Admiral Otto Steiner, of the Royal Naval Sailing Association, ever envisaged the magnitude of the event they conceived 'over a pint' of beer nearly 30 years ago.
Although a 'round the world yacht race' had been considered throughout the last century, it needed the financial support and organisational expertise which Whitbread and the RNSA were able to put together. The first Whitbread Round the World Race, which got underway in September 1973, featured yachts that were little different from those cruising around the Mediterranean at the time. Since then, the ocean racing yacht has developed into a high-tech state-of-the-art speed machine, with little comfort spared for the crew but with leading-edge technology.
 This new technology has also completely altered the concept of ocean racing. In the past, skippers and navigators had little idea of where their rivals might be as they ploughed day in day out through the vast oceans. During the first race, communication between the fleet and organisers was based on a weekly position report to a local coast guard, but from 1993-94, satellite equipment enabled the yachts to file their position every six hours. This meant that although boats were not necessarily in sight of each other, rival skippers were able to follow, and track, every move when necessary. In effect, this vast ocean race, where yachts can race for days on end for thousands of miles and not once see another competitor, has become, in this sense, more like a fiercely fought dinghy race performed on any local stretch of water.
The Volvo Ocean Race simply could not have been a better sporting event, but, just as importantly, it also became a great media event. The payback in terms of media coverage was hugely successful for all the teams and their sponsors, which, for the future of the race, was imperative. Based on this overwhelming success, the management of Volvo Car Corporation and AB Volvo confirmed during the Gothenburg stopover that they would retain ownership of the event, which would be run again in 2005.
A Corinthian adventure 1973-74
 When the first gun was fired on September 8 1973, 17 boats of sizes ranging from 80' to 32' from seven countries crossed the start line just east of Portsmouth Harbour, but only 14 were to complete the circumnavigation. Sir Alec Rose, who, five years previously, had sailed around the world, single-handed, stopping only twice, fired the first-ever starting gun. Only four legs were staged - Portsmouth to Cape Town; Cape Town to Sydney; Sydney to Rio de Janeiro and from Rio the fleet raced back to Portsmouth.
The whole race lasted 144 days with the 77' Ketch, Great Britain II, skippered by Chay Blyth and crewed by paratroopers, first to finish on 9 April 1974.
Safety first 1977-78
Tragedies apart, the race was a huge success, and one of the main lessons learnt for the next race was that survival in these most exacting conditions were just as important as speed. Whitbread renewed their sponsorship and it was decided to repeat the event every four years. The next race ran from August 1977 to March 1978 and again staged four legs, only this time the port of Auckland was used instead of Sydney.
Flyer's encore 1981-82
Cornelis van Rietschoten returned on a new Flyer, which was 76' in length, with the specific aim to win the race on both elapsed and corrected time. This he achieved, crossing the finish line 119 days after the fleet had set out from Portsmouth in August 1981. Four legs were once again staged but instead of Rio de Janeiro, the third port of call was Mar de Plata, in Argentina.
Strength of quality 1985-86
A smaller entry of 15 yachts from 10 countries entered the fourth Whitbread, but lack of quantity was more than made up for in strength of quality with all the yachts, including the new 80' maxis, being specifically built for this or an earlier race. Once again four legs were staged, but Mar del Plata was replaced by Punta del Este in Uruguay. This was also the last time for some years that a South African port, Cape Town, was used, although it was reinstated as a stopover port in the 1997-98 race.
'Big Red' 1989-90
The 1989-90 race will long be remembered as the time when the event came of age in terms of the massive publicity it achieved for the remarkable feat of seamanship shown by New Zealand's Peter Blake. Blake, on the 84' Bruce Farr designed ketch, Steinlager, claimed line honours on every one of the six legs. The race was also notable for the fact there was the first all-women entry, skippered by Tracy Edwards, on the 58' sloop, Maiden. It was also the first time six legs were staged.
Rewriting the record books 1993-94
 The 1993-94 Whitbread generated more interest than ever before, with a new class of 'box rule' flat out ocean racers being introduced. Maxi yachts were still permitted and raced as a class, with the new W60 yachts also racing as a separate division. The course remained the same as the previous race and was keenly contested for the much-prized Heineken Trophy awarded to the overall winners in each division. Five Maxis and ten of the new Whitbread 60 class crossed the start line (one of the 60s, Odessa did not actually cross the start line until just over one week after the gun). Two days into the race, however, the maxi Fortuna skippered by Britain's Lawrie Smith had to withdraw after suffering a broken mizzenmast.
The Volvo Trophy 1997-98
 The seventh and final race under the Whitbread banner changed the public face of ocean racing forever. The sheer excellence of the on board video footage and the quality and quantity of the daily emails from the crews ensured a huge media interest worldwide. In turn, this provided entertainment for the millions of sailing fans around the world and a whole new audience was introduced to the thrills of ocean water racing via the Internet.
Aside from the 35 weekly half hour television programmes produced by Trans World International, the race had its own web site, produced by Quokka Sports. On busy days, such as restarts, this web site recorded around 13 million hits, surpassing even the New York Stock Exchange.
The Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002
 Eight teams, including an all female team, were on the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line on September 23 2001 for the 2001-2002 edition of the race. The Whitbread had successfully been transformed into the Volvo Ocean Race and the 32,250-mile race around the world started from Southampton on the south coast of England and finished in style in Kiel Germany. After 32,700 nautical miles, four oceans, nine countries, and ten ports, the German boat illbruck returned home today as the winner of the marathon Volvo Ocean Race.
Navigational Information:
- Every place on Earth has its own location defined by its latitude and longitude coordinates.
- Latitude lines are called parallels because they run parallel to the Equator and to each other.
- A latitude tells your position in terms of how far north or south of the Equator you happen to be.
- The Equator is 0° latitude. The North Pole is at 90° North latitude and the South Pole is at 90° South latitude.
- The lines that run vertically around the world, connecting the North and South Poles, are called meridians and are the lines of longitude.
- The 0° longitude line, know as the Prime Meridian, passes through Greenwich, England.
- Longitude tells your position east or west of the Prime Meridian. Halfway around the world, the 180° meridian is known as the International Dateline.
Boats:
 Farr Yacht Design, designers of the last six winners of the Whitbread Round the World Race and the Volvo Ocean Race, are forging ahead with research and development for the next Volvo Ocean Race and the new Volvo Open 70.
During the month of December they have been testing one-third size scale models of their next generation Volvo Ocean Race designs including a wide variety of appendage configurations. “In order to be as prepared as possible for our future Volvo clients, Farr Yacht Design chose to fund and commence research work in advance of any confirmed design commissions.
Teams that partner with Farr Yacht Design will receive direct benefits in both technology and timing as a result of their commitment to advanced research.” said senior designer, Patrick Shaughnessy. The company began its research in earnest in August when it commissioned weather studies, began rule review, developed base designs, race modeling, and other preparatory work. This work, done in advance, enables the decision making process to be accelerated. It is the company’s goal that any team desiring and early start can be building by April of 2004 or sooner given builder availability. It is their opinion this will also give teams the time on the water they need to develop, test, train, and make changes.
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