Volvo Ocean Race

Grant Dalton (NZ)82' Ketch129 d 21 h3 Merit CHE Pierre Fehlmann (F)80' Sloop130 d 10 h4 Rothmans GBR Lawrie Smith (GB)80' Sloop131 d 4 h5 The Card SWE Roger Nilson/Ann Lippens (S)80' Ketch135 d 7 h18 Maiden GBR Tracy Edwards (GB)58' Sloop167 d 3 h21 La Poste FRA Daniel Mallé (F)51' Sloop181 d 22 h

The race was run with several classes (for size of boat). 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. The tradition of the Whitbread including an all-female crew remains to this day.

The boat "Creighton's Naturally" suffered a serious broach on leg 2, at about 3 in the morning. Crew members Anthony (Tony) Philips and Bart van den Dwey were swept over board. They were both pulled back on deck. Van den Dwey successfully resuscitated, but, after three hours of trying, crewmembers were unable to revive Philips. A few days later, by radio agreement with relatives ashore, Philips was buried at sea [http://www.volvooceanrace.org/abouttherace/history/whitbread89_90/leg02/] .

1989 to 1990 Leg winners

Leg	Start	Finish	Leg winner	Skipper
1	Southampton, England	Punta del Este, Uruguay	"Steinlager 2"	Peter Blake(NZ)
2	Punta del Este, Uruguay	Fremantle, Australia	"Steinlager 2"	Peter Blake (NZ)
3	Fremantle, Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	"Steinlager 2"	Peter Blake (NZ)
4	Auckland, New Zealand	Punta del Este, Uruguay	"Steinlager 2"	Peter Blake (NZ)
5	Punta del Este, Uruguay	Fort Lauderdale, USA	"Steinlager 2"	Peter Blake (NZ)
6	Fort Lauderdale, USA	Southampton, England	"Steinlager 2"	Peter Blake (NZ)

"Steinlager 2" skippered by Peter Blake won the race easily. For the first time since 1981 to 1982 (when the race comprised just four legs), the victor won every leg (albeit closely chased by both Grant Dalton's Fisher & Paykel NZ and Pierre Fehlmann's Merit entries). The vast difference in speed and capability of the many different boats involved in the 1989 to 1990 race lead to the creation of a committee to examine the commission of a Whitbread class boat for use in future races. Many of the Maxi yachts in this years race were nearly twice the size (LOA) of the smallest, and carried well over twice the sail area. The net result of this was that many of the smaller boats finished the longer legs more than ten days after the leg winner. In the overall results, the last finisher was some 52 days behind Blake's Steinlager 2 128 day aggregate time. In addition, the expense of the big yachts was getting to be too much - even for the well funded teams like Steinlager, Rothmans and Merit. Eventually, the new class would be called the W60 - but its gestation would not be quick or lack controversy.

Whitbread 1993 to 1994

The 1993 to 1994 Whitbread was run to "mixed class" rules (as with prior races). 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. The two competing classes battled throughout with protest flags always at the ready. Many entrants wanted the old maxis banned for this year, however owing to concerns over whether enough new boats would be ready (not to mention the large investments the Maxi owners had made in previous years), several Maxis were allowed to compete in the 1993 to 1994 race. The W60 skippers almost unanimously insisted they were in a 'completely different boat race', to the fury of Grant Dalton skippering a maxi. Dalton conceded afterwards however that the race should only have one class in future, to avoid similar squabbles.

1993 to 1994 Final Standings

Pos	Boat	Nat	Skipper	Class	Aggregate
1	NZ Endeavour	NZL	Grant Dalton (NZ)	Maxi	120 d 5 h
2	Yamaha	JPN/NZL	Ross Field (NZ)	W60	120 d 14 h
3	Merit Cup	GBR	Pierre Fehlmann (F)	Maxi	121 d 2 h
4	Intrum Justitia	Europe	Roger Nilson (S) / Lawrie Smith (GB)	W60	121 d 5 h
5	Galicia 93 Pescanova	ESP	Javier de la Gandara (Esp)	W60	122 d 6 h
6	Winston	USA	Dennis Conner (USA) /Brad Butterworth (NZ)	W60	122 d 9 h
7	La Poste	FRA	Éric Tabarly (F)	Maxi	123 d 22 h
8	Tokio	JPN	Chris Dickson (NZ)	W60	128 d 16 h
9	Brooksfield	ITA	Guido Maisto (I)	W60	130 d 4 h
10	Hetman Sahaidachny	UKR	Eugene Platon (Ukr)	W60	135 d 23 h
11	Reebok/Dolphin Youth	GBR	Mathew Humphries (GB)	W60	137 d 21 h
12	Heineken	USA	Dawn Riley (USA)	W60	138 d 16 h
13	Odessa	UKR	Anatoly Verba (Ukr)	W60	158 d 4 h
NF	Fortuna	ESP	Lawrie Smith (GB)	Maxi	WD

"Intrum Justitia" was originally skippered by Roger Nilson, who was injured on the first leg.

*Corrected time takes the boat's handicap into account

Leg Results:

Leg	Start	Finish	Leg winner	Skipper
1	Southampton, England	Punta del Este, Argentina	"NZ Endeavour"	Grant Dalton (NZ)
2	Punta del Este, Uruguay	Fremantle, Australia	"Intrum Justitia"	Lawrie Smith (GB)
3	Fremantle, Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	"NZ Endeavour"	Grant Dalton (NZ)
4	Auckland, New Zealand	Punta del Este, Uruguay	"NZ Endeavour"	Grant Dalton (NZ)
5	Punta del Este, Uruguay	Fort Lauderdale, USA	"Yamaha"	Ross Field (NZ)
6	Fort Lauderdale, USA	Southampton, England	"Tokio"	Chris Dickson (NZ)

Whitbread 1997 to 1998

Race run for the first time with all W60 boats and to a "points vs time" (instead of aggregate leg 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. Volvo had its first major association with the race in 1997 to 1998 by sponsoring the trophy (thus the race was officially known as the Whitbread 'round the world race for the Volvo Trophy) and some of the media coverage. For the first time running to W60-only specification, this year's Whitbread attracted just 10 entries—the fewest to date.

Overall results:

Pos	Boat	Nat	Skipper	Points
1	EF Language	SWE	Paul Cayard (USA)	836
2	Merit Cup	MON	Grant Dalton (NZ)	698
3	Swedish Match	SWE	Gunnar Krantz (S)	689
4	Innovation Kvaerner	NOR	Knut Frostad (N)	633
5	Silk Cut	ENG	Lawrie Smith (GBR)	630
6	Chessie Racing	USA	George Collins / John Kostecki (USA)	613
7	Toshiba	USA	Dennis Conner (USA) / Paul Standbridge (NZ)*	528
8	Brunel Sunergy	NED	Hans Bouscholte / Roy Heiner (NL)	415
9	EF Education	SWE	Christine Guillou (F)	275
dnf	America's Challenge	USA	Ross Field (NZ)	58

* Toshiba was originally skippered by Chris Dickson. Dickson was fired after Leg 1. Hans Bouscholte was also replaced by Roy Heiner after leg 1. America's Challenge syndicate withdrew prior to the start of leg two for financial reasons.

Leg winners:

Leg	Start	Finish	Leg winner	Skipper
1	Southampton, England	Cape Town, South Africa	"EF Language"	Paul Cayard (USA)
2	Cape Town, South Africa	Fremantle, Australia	"Swedish Match"	Gunnar Krantz
3	Fremantle, Australia	Sydney, Australia	"EF Language"	Paul Cayard (USA)
4	Sydney, Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	"Merit Cup"	Grant Dalton (NZ)
5	Auckland, New Zealand	Sao Sebastiao, Brazil	"EF Language"	Paul Cayard(USA)
6	Sao Sebastiao, Brazil	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	"Silk Cut"	Lawrie Smith (GB)
7	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Baltimore, Maryland	"Brunel Sunergy"	Roy Heiner (NL)
8	Annapolis, Maryland	La Rochelle, France	"Toshiba"	Paul Standbridge (NZ)
9	La Rochelle, France	Southampton, England	"Merit Cup"	Grant Dalton (NZ)

Volvo Ocean Race 2001 to 2002

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 significantly in an effort to keep the race competitive until the final leg. The previous "points" race having been effectively won two full legs before the final gun.

2001 to 2002 overall final standings:

Pos	Boat	Nat	Skipper	Points
1	Illbruck Challenge	DEU	John Kostecki (USA)	61
2	ASSA ABLOY	SWE	Neal Mcdonald (GB)	55
3	Amer Sports One	USA	Grant Dalton (NZ)	44
4	Team Tyco	BMU	Kevin Shoebridge (NZ)	42
5	News Corp	AUS	Jez Fanstone (Aus)	41
6	Djuice Dragons	NOR	Knut Frostad (N)	33
7	Team SEB	SWE	Gunnar Krantz (S)	32
8	Amer Sports Too	USA	Lisa McDonald (US)	16

Leg	Start	Finish	Leg winner
1	Southampton, England	Cape Town, South Africa	"Illbruck"
2	Cape Town, South Africa	Sydney, Australia	"Illbruck"
3	Sydney, Australia	Hobart, Australia	"Assa Abloy"
4	Hobart, Australia	Auckland, New Zealand	"Assa Abloy"
5	Auckland, New Zealand	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	"Illbruck"
6	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Miami, USA	"Assa Abloy"
7	Miami, USA	Baltimore, USA	"Team News Corp"
8	Baltimore, USA	La Rochelle, France	"Illbruck"
9	La Rochelle, France	Gothenburg, Sweden	"Assa Abloy"
10	Goteborg, Sweden	Kiel, Germany	"Djuice Dragons"

John Kostecki, who had co-skippered with George Collins on Chessie Racing in the 1997 to 1998 Whitbread to great effect, captained his first Volvo Ocean race winner in 2002. Assa Abloy's new composite mold technique proved very quick, but not quite quick enough, while long time Whitbread skipper Grant Dalton's two boat syndicate suffered badly from a lack of preparation time (the Amer boats were last in the water).

For Leg 3, yachts joined the iconic Australian Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that begins on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day).

Volvo Ocean Race 2005 to 2006

The 2006-2006 race was the first to not begin in the United Kingdom. The course of 31,000 nautical miles (57,000 km) was divided into 9 legs, and would take over 8 months to complete.A new design of boat, the Volvo Open 70 was also used for the first time in this race. The new boats were 2m longer and about 1,000kg lighter than the VO 60s used in the previous race. They were also allowed to have more sail area and include the use of canting keels. [ http://www.sailingworld.com/ocean-racing/tech-and-design/the-volvo-ocean-70-explained-201803.html Sailing World - The Volvo Ocean 70 Explained]

During Leg 7 of the race Hans Horrevoets, 32, of The Netherlands was swept overboard from ABN AMRO TWO. Although he was recovered from the water, attempts to resuscitate him were not successful. CPR was stopped at 0420GMT, 18 May 2006. [http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2006/may/mobupdate/index.aspx Volvo Ocean Race: News - ABN AMRO TWO: Latest Statement]

The crew of Movistar abandoned ship after the aft end of their keel pivot broke away from their hull in the night of the 20th May 2006, and transferred to ABN Amro Two which had been standing by and was escorted by HMS Mersey back to land. [ http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2006/may/abandon/index.aspx Volvo Ocean Race: News - Movistar Abandons Ship. May 21 2006] Although a search was carried out for the yacht, it is believed she sank due to the damage sustained. [http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2006/may/needleinahaystack/index.aspx Volvo Ocean Race: News - Needle in a haystack. May 25 2006]

The 2005/2006 race had tighter restrictions on the number of crewmembers allowed than previous races. An all-male crew was restricted to ten, while a crew with at least 5 women could have eleven members, and an all-female crew, (of which there were none in the race), could have twelve. The only woman who served as crew was Adrienne Cahalan of Brasil 1, who was replaced after the first leg. The skipper of each team may nominate one additional person for the in-port races.

2005 to 2006 Final Standings

Leg/In Port Race Winners

The points system used works on the number of boats entering the race. As 7 yachts entered, the winner of each leg was awarded 7 points, the second 6 points, and so on.For the in-port races, the points awarded were half that of a leg. (ie. the winner was awarded 3.5, second place 3 points, and so on). The in-port races accounted for approximately 20% of the overall points on offer.

‘Gates’ were also added to the 2005-2006 race, which were milestones along some of the longer legs which allowed teams to score additional points (using the same scoring system as the in-port races). [http://www.volvooceanrace.org/abouttherace/scoring Volvo Ocean Race: About the Race – Scoring]

References

External links (Current Race)

* [http://www.volvooceanrace.org/ Volvo Ocean Race] - Official site
* [http://www.volvooceanrace.tv/ Volvo Ocean Race TV] - Official Web TV site
* [http://m.volvooceanrace.org/ Volvo Ocean Race Mobile Site] - Official Mobile site
* [http://www.volvooceanrace.org/abouttherace/vo70rule/ The Volvo Open 70 Rule] - Information on the Open 70 Rule
* [http://press.volvooceanrace.org/ Volvo Ocean Race Press Information] - Press releases etc
* [http://images.volvooceanrace.org/ Volvo Ocean Race Official Image Gallery] - (For Media Use, but browsing is unrestricted)
* [http://www.yachtinguniverse.com/index.php?name=News&catid=&topic=20 Volvo Ocean Race News and Photos]
* [http://www.volvooceanracegame.org/ Virtual Volvo Ocean Race Game] - Official game of the Volvo Ocean Race.

External links (Previous Races)

* [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/volvooceanrace/ National Geographic's Volvo Ocean Race] - National Geographic (2001-2002)
* [http://www.sailingnetworks.com/events/details/114 SailingNetworks] - Event details, boats, crew and news
* [http://www.bangthecorner.com/ Special Coverage of the VOR]
* [http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showforum=20 VOR Forum] - Sailing Anarchy Forum
* [http://www.oceanracechesapeake.org/ Ocean Race Chesapeake]
* [http://map.defoged.dk/VOR/ Online race tracker]
* [http://www.360pano.eu/volvo_ocean_race/ QTVR fullscreen panoramas] of VO70 Ericsson Racing Team boat