Media Introduction

The good The bad The ugly

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WHAT IS THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE?

Since 1973, the Volvo Ocean Race has provided the ultimate test of a team and a human adventure like no other. Over four decades it has kept an almost mythical hold over some of the greatest ever sailors – and the 2017-18 edition will take the teams 46,000 nautical miles around the world, across four oceans, touching six continents and 12 landmark Host Cities.

The Volvo Ocean Race is often described as the longest and toughest professional sporting event in the world, sailing’s toughest team challenge and   one of the sport’s Big Three events, along with the Olympics and America’s Cup.Put simply, the Volvo Ocean Race is an obsession, and many of the world's best sailors have dedicated years, decades even, in trying to win it.The race sits, just as it always has, at the intersection of human adventure, and world class competition. Thanks to the work of the Onboard Reporters embedded with every team, fans are given a unique insight into just what it takes to win a race that is relentless in its demands – as teams of sailors give everything they have, 24 hours a day, in pursuit of the tiny advantages that can make all the difference.Because make no mistake – the competition is fierce. There is no prize money for the winners, but seeing your name etched into one of the silver rings of the Volvo Ocean Race Trophy is a prize beyond compare for sailors who grew up with dreams of emulating the legends of the race – heroic figures who dedicated their professional lives to chasing victory.The race’s concept is simple: it’s a round-the-clock, relentless pursuit of competitive edge and the ultimate ocean marathon, pitting the sport’s best sailors against each other across the world’s toughest waters. It’s relentless: the importance of winning, the adventure of life on board, the transformative effect on the sailors — all of these combine to give the race its power and depth.In 2017-18, there is a renewed emphasis on the Southern Ocean and a new set of rules too – incentivising mixed crews of male and female sailors and more strategic innovation out on the racecourse.A total of 2.4 million people visited the Race Villages in the last edition, to get a first-hand taste of the race. Tens of millions more followed the action on our digital platforms , and this time fans will be able to get even closer in person and online, with a newly imagined pit lane experience at the Host Cities and more live updates from the boat than ever.After 12 editions and half a million miles, racing resumes again on October 22 when the teams set sail from our home port of Alicante.

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Embracing the chaos of a round the world race

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The full route now features a total of 10 legs taking in 12 landmark Host Cities on six continents.

The teams will leave Alicante, Spain on 22 October and race on to Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne and Hong Kong before a non-scoring transition to Guangzhou in China.

After a stopover in Guangzhou that will include a race in the In-Port Series, the ocean legs will resume with a leg to Auckland before stopping in Itajaí, Brazil, Newport, Rhode Island,  Cardiff  and Gothenburg, before the big finish in the Dutch city of The Hague.

The two Southern Ocean legs – from Cape Town to Melbourne, and Auckland to Itajaí – plus the North Atlantic leg near the end of the race, Newport to Cardiff – will all score double points. The longest leg of the 46,000-nautical mile lap of the planet will now be the 7,600-nautical mile leg from Auckland to Itajaí.You can review all the key dates in the Volvo Ocean Race calendar here

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“I don’t think the perfect Volvo Ocean Race sailor exists. I think it’s about forming the perfect team”

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- Abby Ehler, Team SCA

Crew combos:

Designed to add flexibility for teams, and create a clearer pathway for female sailors to take part in the race, the new rules mean that skippers have the option to change the line up of their crew on a leg-by-leg basis.

With the return to more Southern Ocean racing meaning that teams are likely to face gruelling conditions for longer, skippers can take up to three extra sailors members by opting for a mixed crew – and that will have huge implications in terms of life on board, such as the watch system, and general duties.- The number of sailors allowed in an all-male crew has been reduced from eight to seven, but a team may take up to two female sailors, to make a total of nine.

- Skippers can take 10 sailors if the team consists of an even male/female split, and an all-female team may take 11 crew members.

Exhaustion

Frustration

Battle

Innovation

Human Adventure

Heritage

Excitement

Ultimate test of a team Obsession

Determination

Speed

Anger

Strategic

FearCompetition

Winners and losers

Relentless

Tough

Around the world

Technology

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How to win

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The 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race introduces a new scoring system designed to encourage strategic risk-taking and open up the fleet in an era of ultra-close One Design racing.

The new system will give extra reward for those teams putting in the strongest performances in the two Southern ocean legs and the classic transatlantic leg from Newport to Cardiff.The new rules state:

• Scoring will return to a high-points system.

• The two Southern Ocean legs – from Cape Town to Hong Kong, and Auckland to Itajaí, plus the North

Atlantic leg near the end of the race, Newport to Cardiff – will all score double points.

• The winner of every leg will score one bonus point (9+1 bonus point for a win, 8 for second, 7 for third,

etc).

• There will be a bonus point for the first team to round Cape Horn in a nod to the historic significance of

this turning point in the race.

• A further bonus point will be awarded for the team with the best total elapsed time overall in the race.

• The In-Port Series won’t count in the overall points but will remain the tiebreaker should teams be tied on

points at the finish in The Hague.

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The races themselves are short, action packed and held as close as possible to land. Winning the start is often the key to victory and the fight for the best starting position in the final minutes before the sound signal can be fascinating.

From the five-minute gun, teams will attempt to force their competitors into a poor start, or even push them on to the wrong side of the starting line. A boat starting early will have to return to the other side of the line.

The crew for the In-Port Race will consist of crew members who sailed the previous leg or who will start in the next leg, with any changes having to be approved by Race Management.

In-Port Races are scheduled in all of the Host Cities, with the exception of Melbourne, a late addition to the route. In Hong Kong, the scores for the In-Port Race on Saturday and the Round the Hong Kong Island Race on Sunday will be added together to give an overall position for the HKG In-Port race. That overall position is scored as one race in the overall Race In-Port series.

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In-Port Race SeriesThe In-Port Races are scored separately from the ocean legs but the series is used as a tie-breaker in the final points tally, so teams will take the discipline very seriously.

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Before the introduction of the Volvo Ocean 65, a combination of three factors would generally be key in winning the Volvo Ocean Race:

• The race organisers would regulate the major speed-defining parameters, controlling things like length, weight, and the sails. The  designers on each team would then try and produce the fastest possible boat complying with those rules.

• Next, the design team would give the plans to a boat builder and they would go to the ends of the earth to search for the best technology. Mission: to make the boat as light and strong as possible.

• Finally, the builders would give the boat to the athletes. They would focus their talent, endurance, strategy and technique into the sum total of the designers and builders efforts... and race it as hard and fast as it would go.

Unfortunately for the sailing crews, sometimes it wouldn’t go very fast at all. They would often discover that either the design team, or the builders had dropped the ball somewhere along the line. They were stuck on a slow boat to China. And South America. And the USA. And... you get the idea.

Then, everything changed. The Volvo Ocean 65, introduced for the 2014-15 edition, is built to a single, tightly controlled set of plans from Farr Yacht Design. No longer do the teams need designers; the boat is designed for them. 

One benefit of this was the cost reduction made possible by just one set of plans, and one team of builders. The boats were much more affordable than the previous generation. Much more importantly, it meant that the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race was won and lost by the athletes, out on the water. With no one and nothing to blame, the crews embraced the fact that the buck stopped with them.

It has been incredibly close. Match-racing in the Southern Ocean. Teams in sight of each other for thousands of miles. The speed difference between the boats was smaller than ever before, but the speed on the water was just as fast as it ever had been.

The Volvo Ocean 65: one-design, high-performance, tough, affordable, world-class – let the best athletes win.

One Design racing – The Volvo Ocean 65The introduction of the One Design Volvo Ocean 65 revolutionised the race, leading to closer competition and ensuring that the race is won on the oceans rather than at the design stage.

“If it hadn't been for the

new one-design rule,

then I probably wouldn't have

done the Volvo Ocean Race

again”

Ian Walker, Abu Dhabi Ocean

Racing

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You can review all the technical specifications of the Volvo Ocean 65

here

volvooceanrace.comVolvo Ocean Race features a unique approach to reporting its story. The race embeds a frontline, multimedia journalist in every team with a mission to tell the real story of life, and competition, on board.

The race is committed to getting raw content off the boats and onto the screens of our fans. That means supplying meaningful race data, videos, photos and blogs in close to real time. The 2017-18 edition will still feature live video calls with the teams while racing, and the sailors will send live social media updates via a brand new Crew Communicator.

The race boat was designed and built as a mobile digital production facility. This race it will have seven in-built cameras, with three on-deck microphones to help ensure every moment is captured. A crash cam on the stern records the action on deck 24/7, keeping four minutes either side of an incident to ensure that nothing is missed. Each team’s Onboard Reporter has access to slow-mo, night vision, POV, drones and 360-degree cameras.

The OBR is the race’s secret weapon to telling the authentic story of the race – peeling back the layers of complexity to tell the full story: the Raw story.

Secret Weapon: Onboard

Reporters (OBRs)O

nboa

rd R

epor

ters

(O

BR

s)

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We are committed to telling the story of our race on a global scale. All our content is royalty-free and we can deliver bespoke media packages depending on what your areas of interest are.

For example, extreme sports? We’ll give you the best damn wave wipe outs you've ever seen.

General sports? We’ll give you behind the scenes footage of the most bitter on-water competitions. Sweat, blood, tears… the lot.

Fitness & Health? A full breakdown of how to stay fit onboard with gruelling images and footage to match.

The possibilities are endless and we’re just getting started.

Royalty-free content,

24/7

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Get Involved

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Don’t worry, we’re not asking you to sail around the world…

However, we are inviting you to become a part of our community, offer you the possibility of

getting to know the mad characters involved and document this race in a way that is interesting to your audience.

We believe we have raw, exciting and (at times) unbelievable content that we want to share with

fans around the world but we can’t do it alone.

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Contact:

PR & Media Manager amy.monkman@volvooceanrace.com

Volvo Ocean Race S.L.U. Muelle nº10 de Levante Puerto de Alicante 03001 Alicante, Spain

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