Volvo Ocean Race

Offshore Yachting, Oct-Nov, 2008

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The eight boats competing in the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race), held every three years, are competing in an in-port race on 4 October before leaving on the first leg of the round-the-world classic on 11 October, to Cape Town.

The route for the 2008-2009 edition of the race covers nearly 39,000 nautical miles, and will take over nine months to complete. The race schedule is as follows:

Alicante         In-Port Race   04 October 2008
Alicante         Leg 1 START    11 October 2008    6,500nm
Cape Town        Leg 2 START    15 November 2008   4,450nm
Cochin (India)   Leg 3 START    13 December 2008   1,950nm
Singapore        Leg 4 START    18 January 2009    2,500nm
Qingdao          Leg 5 START    14 February 2009   12,300nm
Rio De Janeiro   Leg 6 START    11 April 2009      4,900nm
Boston           Leg 7 START    16 May 2009        2,550nm
Galway           Leg 8 START    6 June 2009        950nm
Goteborg         Leg 9 START    14 June 2009       525nm
Stockholm        LEG 10 START   25 June 2009       370nm
St Petersburg    RACE FINISH    27 June 2009

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The eight competing boats are:

DELTA LLOYD (NED)

Designer: Juan Kouyoumdjian

Builder: Killian Bushe

Skipper: Get O'Rourke IRL

ERICSSON RACING TEAM INTERNATIONAL (SWE)

Designer: Juan Kouyoumdjian

Builder: Killian Bushe

Boatyard: Kista, Stockholm

Skipper: Torben Grad BRA Navigator: Jules Salter GBR

ERICSSON RACING TEAM NORDIC (SWE)

Designer: Juan Kouyoumdjian

Builder: Killian Bushe

Boat-yard: Kista, Stockholm

Skipper: Anders Lewander SWE Navigator: Aksel Magdahl NOR

PUMA OCEAN RACING (USA)

Designer: Botin Carkeek

Builder: Goetz Custom Boats

Boatyard: Newport, Rhode Island

Skipper: Ken Read USA Navigator: Andrew Cape AUS

TEAM RUSSIA (RUS)

Designer: Rob Humphreys Yacht Design

Builder: Green Marine

Boatyard: Lymington, England

Skipper: Andreas Hanakamp AUT Navigator: Wouter Verbraak NED

TELEFONICA BLACK (ESP)

Designer: Farr Yacht Design

Boatyard: Southern Ocean Marine, New Zealand

Skipper/Patron: Fernando Echavarri ESP Navigator: Roger Nilson SWE

TELEFONICA BLUE (ESP)

Designer: Farr Yacht Design

Boatyard: King Marine, Valencia

Syndicate Management: Pedro Campos

Skipper: Bouwe Bekking NED Navigator: Simon Fisher

GREEN DRAGON RACING (IRL)

Designer: Reichel Pugh Yacht Design

Boatyard: McConaghy Boats, China

Skipper: Ian Walker (GBR) Navigator: Ian Moore (IRL)

While there's no Aussie team, there's a strong contingent of Antipodeans aboard the boats. The two Ericsson boats alone have five Kiwis (Brad Jackson, Dave Endean, Stuart Nell Bannatyne, Tony Mutter, Phil Jameson) and Aussie Ryan James-Godfrey aboard. The Irish boat, built by McConaghy's yard in China, includes Aussies Tom Braidwood, Phillip Harmer and Anthony Merrington and Kiwi Andrew McLean.

There will be a television journalist embedded on each boat, and organisers expect to draw a huge television audience. For a look inside a round-the-world sailor's mind, be sure to check out Dutch sailor Bouwe Bekking's personal website. Skipper of one of the Spanish boats, Bekking will be competing in his sixth Round The World Race after participating in three Whitbread Races (1985/86, 1993/94, 1997/98) and two Volvo Ocean Races (2001/02, 2004/05).

For further information visit www.volvooceanrace.org and www.bouwebekking.com