The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race was the 13th edition of the round-the-world

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

. It started in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

, Spain, and concluded in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. NOS.nl (2016)
Den Haag wordt in 2018 Champs-Elysees van Volvo Ocean Race
/ref> GAC Pindar provides logistic support for the race. At the stopovers, teams had premium bases for better fan interaction. Volvo made a number of changes to this edition. Sailors were able to provide social media updates, new male/female ratios were introduced, Onboard Reporters rotated between teams, a new scoring system was used, the yachts were upgraded with Hydro generators for back-up power and all teams sailed the 2017

Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fast ...

. During Leg 7 of the race, John Fisher, 47, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

citizen who lived in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, was swept overboard from '' Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag'' and lost at sea 1400 miles west of

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

Yachts

For the second edition running, the race was one-design, racing the

Volvo Ocean 65 The Volvo Ocean 65 is a class of monohull racing yachts. It is the successor to the Volvo Open 70 yacht used in past editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. It was announced at a conference in Lorient, France, during a stopover in the 2011–12 Volvo O ...

. The VO65 was designed by

Farr Yacht Design Farr Yacht Design, founded by Bruce Farr in Auckland, New Zealand, is a racing yacht design firm based in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The firm is led by Patrick Shaughnessy. Its yachts measure from to . Farr develops custom and pro ...

to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive

Volvo Open 70 The Volvo Open 70 (sometimes referred to as a Volvo Ocean 70) is the former class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was first used in the 2005–06 race (replacing the Volvo Ocean 60 yachts which were first used in 1993). ...

. All Volvo 65's have undergone repairs and refits by The Boatyard. This ensured that all the yachts are the same. The estimated cost of the refit was 1 million euros per boat.

Participants

Despite an eighth boat being produced for this edition, only seven teams participated, as in the previous edition: * — Skipper Simeon Tienpont was released from Team AkzoNobel on 13 October, one day before the first in-port race, and replaced by

Brad Jackson Bradley Michael Jackson (born January 11, 1975) is a former linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He grew up in Anaheim, California and Akron, Ohio. He played six seasons in the NFL, from 1998–2003, for the Baltimore Ravens and the ...

. Two hours before the start of leg 1, Tienpont was re-instated by an arbitration panel.

Route

The full route for this edition was announced in June 2016, with the announcement of the addition of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

in January 2017. This edition of the race included "Leg 0", a set of 4 offshore races to help generate interest. They included the 2017

Round the Island Race The Round the Island Race is an annual yacht race around the Isle of Wight. It starts and finishes in Cowes, and is organised by the Island Sailing Club. The course is about long. It was first held in 1931, it was sponsored by JP Morgan Asse ...

, and the 2017

. Notes (134 sailing days for race winners and 10 In-port racing days):

Results

As opposed to the previous edition, scoring was based on a high-points system, with the winner of every leg scoring one bonus point (7+1 bonus point for a win, 6 for second, 5 for third, etc.). The two Southern Ocean legs – from Cape Town to Melbourne, and Auckland to Itajaí, plus the North Atlantic leg near the end of the race, Newport to Cardiff – all scored double points. There was a bonus point for the first team to round Cape Horn in a nod to the historic significance of this turning point in the race. A further bonus point was awarded for the team with the best total elapsed time overall in the race. The In-Port Series didn't count in the overall points but remained the tiebreaker should teams be tied on points at the finish in The Hague.

Overall Leg standings

* — Retired from leg after damage sustained from collision with commercial fishing vessel approximately 30 miles from the finish in Hong Kong. The collision resulted in the loss of the fishing vessel and the fatality of one of the crew members several hours later in a local hospital. Vestas 11th Hour Racing issued a Mayday distress call on behalf of the other vessel and undertook a search and rescue mission immediately following the incident."Fatality Confirmed of Fishing Vessel Crew Member"
/ref> * — 1 point for leg win, 1 point for elapsed time. * — 3 points for leg win, 1 point for first around

In-port series

Overall Results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race 2017 in sailing 2018 in sailing 2017 in Spanish sport 2017 in Portuguese sport 2017 in South African sport 2017 in Australian sport 2018 in Australian sport 2018 in Chinese sport 2018 in New Zealand sport 2018 in Brazilian sport 2018 in American sports 2018 in Welsh sport 2018 in Swedish sport 2018 in Dutch sport Sports competitions in Cardiff