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04.10.2014
Volvo know-how changed offshore sailing’s big race
- Volvo Ocean Race used expertise to start boat production line
- Follow the Race through nine months here
ALICANTE, Spain, October 4 – Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad today revealed how he and his team used know-how from the event’s parent companies to pull off the game-changing introduction of a new strictly one-design boat for the event.
He surprised many in the sailing world by introducing the concept two years ago for the 2014-15 edition of sailing’s leading offshore event which starts today in Alicante, Spain with an in-port race. The same boats will also be used for the 2017-18 race.
Previously, competing teams in the 41-year-old competition had been able to make their own modifications within certain restrictions, similar to Formula 1 motor racing.
Now all teams must use a boat which is identical to the last detail and weighs exactly the same (12,500 kilograms).
Frostad explained to a news conference also attended by the Volvo Cars Group CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, and President of AB Volvo and CEO of the Volvo Group, Olof Persson, that he needed the race’s owners’ assistance to achieve his vision of a production line of race boats.
“We asked Volvo Cars and Volvo Group how they start a new production line,” he said. “We used the Volvo Cars model a lot – how to do it in industry. We had to change not just ourselves but our suppliers’ mind-sets.
“These suppliers had never made two identical pieces. If we didn’t have the backing (of the Volvo companies) we wouldn’t have undertaken the risk.”
The two Volvo companies’ CEOs confirmed to the conference that the change to one-design yachting including a centralised maintenance resource, which puts the onus on the sailors not their vessels to succeed, had their full backing.
“It’s a big improvement putting the focus on the people on board. Our concept at Volvo Cars is that we design around you – you can see similarities between the two. We use technology to achieve both,” said Samuelsson.
Persson explained why his companies had put more focus than ever on the event as a marketing tool at a time when many rival attractions are competing for their support.
“The endurability and the thrill of going around the world are key for us. We can interact with customers around the world in a setting that goes along with what we want to achieve. This world class event gets so much attention around the world. We’re very happy to drive the development of that.”
The Race CEO also took the opportunity to confirm that the next edition, in 2017-18, will also be starting in the event’s home port of Alicante as part of a long-term contract with local authorities there.
Frostad concluded: “I’ve never been more optimistic than I am today. The biggest game changer is the attitude I see in the race now. It reminds me of when I started as a young sailor. Teams have realised that sharing works, this is about them. I see a lot of optimism about future editions.”
The first leg of the nine-month, 38,739-nautical mile event that takes in 11 ports on the way to its conclusion in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 27, 2015, starts next Saturday (October 11). The boats leave for Alicante for Cape Town and should arrive in around three or four weeks depending on conditions.
Teams from Spain, Turkey/USA, Sweden, Denmark, Abu Dhabi, The Netherlands and China are competing.
Carmen Hidalgo - Picture desk and Photography Manager
images@volvooceanrace.com
The Volvo Ocean Race
The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be the 12th running of the 40-year-old event, which started in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World Race.
The race will start on October 4, 2014, day of the first In-Port Race in Alicante, Spain, and finish with one last In-Port Race on June 27, 2015 in Gothenburg, the Swedish home of Volvo.
The 38,739-nautical mile route will include stopovers in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajaí (Brazil), Newport (Rhode Island, US), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France). A 24-hour pit-stop in The Hague is scheduled between France and Sweden.
The next two editions will be contested in a new high-performance boat, the Volvo Ocean 65, designed by Farr Yacht Design in the United States and built by a consortium of boatyards in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Switzerland.
The new 65-foot (19.8-metre) monohull racing yachts will be strictly one-design and delivered “ready to sail”. The boats incorporate the latest video, satellite and content production facilities to further enhance the Onboard Reporter programme that has been in place since 2008-09.
Seven teams have been announced for the 12th edition. The all-female Team SCA are the first all-women's team to compete in the race since 2001-02. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are once again skippered by Britain's twice Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker. Dongfeng Race Team come from China and are backed by Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle. Team Brunel from the Netherlands are skippered by race veteran Bouwe Bekking. Team Alvimedica with a double flag (Turkey/USA) will be headed by Rhode Island's Charlie Enright. A Spanish team was announced in June and is backed by insurance giant MAPFRE. Denmark's Team Vestas was the final boat to be announced in August. Chris Nicholson will be skipper.
The previous Volvo Ocean Race started in October 2011 in Alicante and was won by Groupama sailing team, skippered by Frenchman Franck Cammas, in July 2012.
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