race around the world, held every three years. It is named after its current sponsor,
Though the route is changed to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs Europe in September or October, and in recent years has had either 9 or 10 legs, with in-port races at many of the stopover cities.
, on October 11, 2008. The route for the
for the first time. This latest route covers nearly 39,000 nautical miles, will take over nine months to complete, and is expected to reach a cumulative TV audience of 2 billion worldwide.
17 yachts and 167 crew started the first race of 27,500 nautical miles, which began from
on September 8, 1973. Approximately 3000 spectator boats set out to witness the historic start.
gers, which had carried cargo around the world during the 19th Century.
and the race was renamed the ‘Volvo Ocean Race’. Stopover ports were added in
Winning the race does not attract a cash prize, as the feat of competing is presented as sufficient reward; however
where waves sometimes top 100 feet (30 m) and winds can reach 60 knots (110 km/h).
The Volvo Open 70 is the current class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race.
| Edition |
No. of legs |
Starters |
Start |
Finish |
Winning boat |
Winning skipper |
| 1973-74 The first race started off from Portsmouth, England on September 8, 1973. Seventeen yachts of various sizes and shapes took part. During the race three sailors were swept over board and died: Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking...
|
4 |
17 |
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city located in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the United Kingdom's only island city and is located on Portsea Island. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey...
, UK |
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city located in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the United Kingdom's only island city and is located on Portsea Island. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey...
, UK |
MEX Sayula II |
Ramón Carlin |
| 1977-78 On August 27, 1977, 15 boats started out from Southampton under gale force winds and driving rain.Final Standings:Flieer a Sparkman & Stephens designed yacht skippered by Cornelius van Rietschoten won the race. All 15 boats finished the 26,780 nautical mile race....
|
4 |
15 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
NED Flyer |
Conny van Rietschoten Cornelis van Rietschoten is a former Dutch yacht skipper.He won 1977-1978 Whitbread race with his yacht Flyer and again in the 1981-1982 race with Flyer 2....
|
| 1981-82 On August 8, 1981, 29 boats started out from Southampton.Final Standings:Flyer, a German Frers designed maxi skippered by Cornelius van Rietschoten , winner of the 1977 to 1978 race, won the race. Unusually, Flyer won both on line honours AND on handicap. Only 20 finished the race out of the 29...
|
4 |
29 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city located in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the United Kingdom's only island city and is located on Portsea Island. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey...
, UK |
NED Flyer |
Conny van Rietschoten Cornelis van Rietschoten is a former Dutch yacht skipper.He won 1977-1978 Whitbread race with his yacht Flyer and again in the 1981-1982 race with Flyer 2....
|
| 1985-86 On September 28, 1985, 15 boats started out from Southampton.Final Standings:L'Esprit d'Equipe skippered by Lionel Péan won the race in a corrected time of 111 days 23 hours. Phillips Innovator was second, and Fazer Finland third. On September 28, 1985, 15 boats started out from Southampton.Final...
|
4 |
15 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city located in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the United Kingdom's only island city and is located on Portsea Island. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey...
, UK |
FRA L'Esprit d'Equipe |
Lionel Péan |
| 1989-90 Final standings:The race was run with several classes . This race featured the first all-woman crew on Tracy Edwards' Maiden. Although in a much smaller boat than many of their male counterparts the ladies fared well—claiming two leg victories in class...
|
6 |
23 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
NZL Steinlager 2 |
Peter Blake Sir Peter James Blake, KBE was a New Zealand yachtsman who won the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Jules Verne Trophy – setting the fastest time around the world of 74 days 22 hours 17 minutes 22 seconds on catamaran Enza, and led his country to successive victories in the America’s Cup...
|
| 1993-94 The 1993 to 1994 Whitbread was run to "mixed class" rules . New for the 93/4 race was a purpose built Whitbread boat—the W60. As with previous years a handicap was applied to different boats based on their race rating. The competitors were none too keen or running both Maxis and W60's together...
|
6 |
14 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
NZL NZ Endeavour |
Grant Dalton |
| 1997-98 Race run for the first time with all W60 boats and to a "points vs time" scoring system to enhance the value of the shorter race legs. Also, in an effort to attract additional media coverage, the Whitbread race committee divided the race into no less than 9 legs for the 1997 to 1998 race...
|
9 |
10 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
SWE EF Language |
Paul Cayard Paul Pierre Cayard is an American yachtsman who has participated in a broad range of world championship level sailing events including the America's Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He was elected into the Sailing World...
|
| 2001-02 For the 2001 to 2002 race the sponsorship of the race was taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars. The race was renamed the Volvo Ocean Race. Stopovers were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being the Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe. In addition the points system had been modified...
|
10 |
8 |
Southampton Southampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, UK |
KielKiel is the capital and most populous city of the northern German state Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of over 236,000 .Kiel is approximately to the north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore...
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
|
GER Illbruck Challenge |
John Kostecki |
| 2005-06 thumb|Pirates of the Caribbean near the finish line of last leg of 2005/06 race.thumb|Brunel finishing the New York Legthumb|The competitors at port in Annapolis....
|
9 |
7 |
VigoVigo is the largest city in Galicia, Spain, located in the province of Pontevedra.It has a population of 295,703, with an extended metropolitan population of 468,654, making it the 14th-largest metropolitan area of Spain. Vigo is the largest city in Spain which is not a provincial...
, SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. [The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
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GothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest amongst the Nordic countries. Situated on the south-west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 502,833 with 622,287 in the urban area and total of 911,406 inhabitants in the metropolitan area.The City of...
, SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
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NED ABN Amro I |
Mike Sanderson Mike Sanderson is a New Zealand sailor. In 2006 he married British round-the-world yachtswoman Emma Richards in Cowes, UK....
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| 2008-09 The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race was a yacht race held between October 4, 2008, and June 27, 2009—the 10th edition of the round the world Volvo Ocean Race....
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10 |
8 |
Alicante Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 331,750, estimated , ranking as the...
, SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. [The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
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Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad...
, RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
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SWE Ericsson 4 |
Torben Grael Torben Schmidt Grael is one of the most well known Brazilian sailors, renowned in international competitions. A descendant of Danes, he was taken sailing by his grandfather at five years old on the sailboat Aileen, of the extinct 6 meter class, which was the boat used by the silver medal winning...
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The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race has been confirmed to start in 2011. Details of the exact dates and route will be made available in 2010.