Whitbread Round the World Race
Some of the Volvo Ocean Race participants in Baltimore Inner Harbor, United States, in 2006
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Established: | 1973 |
| Headquarters: | Alicante, Spain |
| Title Sponsors: |
Whitbread (1973–2001) Volvo (2001–Present) |
| Race Partners: | Inmarsat |
| Race Sponsors: | HCL Technologies,MUSTO, GAC Pindar, Cobham, Inmarsat |
| Most recent winner: |
 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (2014–15) |
| Current Race | |
| Start: | Alicante, Spain October 2017 |
| Finish: | The Hague, The Netherlands June 2018 |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Legs: | 10 |
| Yachts Used: | Volvo Ocean 65 |
| Similar Events: | Sailing at the Summer Olympics, America's Cup, Vendée Globe, Global Challenge |
| Websites: | www |
The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. Originally named after its initiating sponsor, British Whitbread brewing company, it today carries the name of its current owner, Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars and Swedish multinational manufacturing company, the Volvo Group. Presently, the Netherlands holds the record of three wins, with Dutchman Conny van Rietschoten the only skipper to win the race twice.
Though the route changes to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs Europe in October, and in recent editions has had either 9 or 10 legs, with in-port races at many of the stopover cities. The 2008–09 race started in Alicante, Spain, on October 11, 2008. The route for the 2008–2009 race was altered from previous years to include stopovers in India and Asia for the first time. The 2008–09 route covered nearly 39,000 nmi (72,000 km), took over nine months to complete, and reached a cumulative TV audience of 2 billion people worldwide.
During the nine months of the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain in October 2011 and concluded in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012, the teams were scheduled to sail over 39,000 nmi (72,000 km) of the world’s most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajaí, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient.
Each of the entries has a sailing team of 9 professional crew (in the 2014-2015 race) who race day and night for more than 20 days at a time on some of the legs. The crew members are required to be more than sailors, some of them will be trained in medical response, sail-making, diesel engine repair, electronics, and hydraulics. There is also a dedicated media crew member who does not contribute to the sailing of the boat. In the 2017-2018 race the number of crew can between 9-11 depending on the gender ratio.
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Wikipedia