Final Preparation for Volvo Ocean Race

With the start of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 coming up in October, the seven teams have relinquished their Volvo Ocean 65 boats to race organizers for a mandatory pre-race review of all systems in Lisbon, Portugal.

One of the unique elements of the One Design era is that all major maintenance is done by a central Boatyard facility, run by Volvo Ocean Race staff, instead of by the teams themselves. Just like dropping your Volvo car off at the dealer for a 50,000-mile service, the Boatyard takes charge.

But instead of getting a coffee and waiting in the customer lounge, this final preparation stage from September 18 to 30 gives Volvo Ocean Race teams some invaluable time on shore for a rigorous sea survival course occurring now in Newcastle, UK.

With nearly 9,000 nautical miles until the next big service in Cape Town, the Boatyard will do a lot more than just kick the tires. The masts will all come out to be scanned by non-destructive testing specialists to confirm all is well, and that’s just the start.

To guarantee the best level of service the Boatyard uses the original manufacturers to maintain the equipment on the Volvo Ocean 65s.

This means that, for example, Harken will work alongside the Boatyard hardware specialists to service the winches, Dutch Mastervolt electricians will check the Lithium Ion batteries, Italian hydraulics specialists will service the Cariboni keel system, and British electronics experts from B&G will calibrate the instruments.

“We’re confident they’re in great shape and by the time we’re done with them the boats will be fit to go the distance, all the way to Cape Town,” reports Neil Cox, Head of the Boatyard.

Different legs will put different levels of wear and tear on the boats and their crews, and the level of service waiting on shore reflects that. Major overhauls (where the boats will be taken out of the water, and the boats given a full service) are reserved for Cape Town, Hong Kong, Auckland, Itajaí and Cardiff.

Lighter touch ups are reserved for Melbourne, Newport and Gothenburg where the boats must stay in the water during the stopover.

Beyond carefully checking over the boats after an estimated 12,000 miles of pre-race testing, the Boatyard is charged with confirming that the boats are perfectly identical and will issue the measurement certificates that allow them to race as a one design fleet.

This involves adding corrector weights to individual components like the boom and the mast so that the boats weigh exactly the same, piece by piece and as a whole boat.

Once the teams get the boats back after September 30, they return to Alicante, Spain to ready for the first In-Port Race on October 14 and then Leg 1 which starts October 22 and will take the fleet approximately 700 nm from Alicante to Lisbon.

Race details – Race route – Facebook

2017-18 Edition: Entered Teams – Skippers
• Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED)
• Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA)
• MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
• Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR)
• Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED)

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands on June 30 2018. In total, the 11-leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents: Alicante, Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff, Gothenburg, and The Hague. A maximum of eight teams will compete.

Source: Volvo Ocean Race