Countdown to Volvo Ocean Race 2016-17

Alicante, Spain (October 21, 2016) – The Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 will begin October 2017 when the starting gun is fired in Alicante and the teams set out to complete a total of 45,000 nautical miles of offshore racing, over a course that takes in 11 landmark cities in five continents over eight months.

The first official action of the 2017-18 edition will be the Alicante In-Port Race on Saturday, October 14 before the Volvo Ocean Race itself begins on Sunday, October 22 with Leg 1 – a 700-nautical mile sprint to Lisbon, Portugal. It will be the fourth-consecutive time that the event has started from its Home Port of Alicante.

After arriving in Lisbon, the boats will take part in the In-Port Race on Saturday, October 28 before the start of Leg 2 on Sunday, November 5.

That will see them battle it out over 7,000 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Town, South Africa. The racing will take over three weeks to complete, and will mark the 11th occasion in 13 editions that the Volvo Ocean Race has visited the city.

The Cape Town In-Port Race will take place on Friday, December 8 and Leg 3 will begin two days later on Sunday, December 10.

The decision to tweak the format of race weekends at many of the stopovers by moving the In-Port Race from the Saturday to the Friday gives teams an extra 24 hours to prepare for the rigours of ocean racing to come.

“With just a year to go, the countdown to the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 has begun,” said Race CEO, Mark Turner.

“The sailors can look forward to an unforgettable send-off from Alicante, our Home Port, and the fact that they’ll be thrown into a high intensity sprint to Lisbon straight off will make Leg 1 especially exciting.

“Our Boatyard facility is based in Lisbon, and it will be very well known to teams who will use it as an Atlantic training base in the lead-up to the start.”

He continued: “Cape Town also has a special connection with the Race – our boats have been heading there since the very first edition, back in 1973 – so there will be a lot that is very familiar before the teams head towards the Southern Ocean, which is such an important focus for the Race.”

Route Details*
Leg 1. Alicante, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal – 700 nm (3-4 days)
Leg 2. Lisbon, Portugal to Cape Town, South Africa – 7,000 nm (22 days)
Leg 3. Cape Town, South Africa to Hong Kong – 11,900 nm (32 days)
Leg 4. Hong Kong to Guangzhou, China to Hong Kong – (non-scoring leg**)
Leg 5. Hong Kong to to Auckland, New Zealand – 6,000 nm (20 days)
Leg 6. Auckland, New Zealand to Itajai, Brazil – 7,500 nm (21 days)
Leg 7. Itajai, Brazil to Newport, USA – 5,500 nm (19 days)
Leg 8. Newport, USA to Cardiff, UK – 3,300 nm (8 days)
Leg 9. Cardiff, UK to Gothenburg, Sweden – 1,230 nm (5 days)
Leg 10. Gothenburg, Sweden to The Hague, Netherlands – 520 nm (3 days)

* Approximate distance and time (43,700 nm; 130-140 days at sea)
** This is a transit leg as the route is not raceable, but will bring the fleet to a valued city in mainland China for an In-Port Race.

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain in October 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands in June 2018. The race visits 11 cities across five continents. The full fleet has yet to be announced but there expects to be a minimum of 7 teams with a possibility of 1 or 2 more.

Source: Volvo Ocean Race