Media
Guide
Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 12 route
Key dates 2011-12 edition
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Host Port
Village Open
In-Port Race
Leg Start
Alicante
14 Oct - 5 Nov
29 Oct
5 Nov
Cape Town
25 Nov - 11 Dec
10 Dec
11 Dec
Abu Dhabi
30 Dec - 14 Jan
13 Jan
14 Jan
Sanya
4 Feb - 19 Feb
18 Feb
19 Feb
Auckland
8 Mar - 18 Mar
17 Mar
18 Mar
ItajaĂ
4 Apr - 22 Apr
21 Apr
22 Apr
Miami
6 May - 20 May
19 May
20 May
Lisbon
31 May - 10 Jun
9 Jun
10 Jun
Lorient
17 Jun - 1 Jul
30 Jun
1 Jul
Galway
3 Jul - 9 Jul
7 Jul
Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012 Media Guide
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The race in numbers `` Eleven crewmembers on each of the race
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Volvo Ocean Race
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`` The Volvo Ocean Race is the longest professional sporting event in the world. `` The event is a nine-month marathon of the seas, passing through four oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian `` `` `` `` `` `` 6
and Southern Oceans) and five continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe). The competitors risk their lives every day in the most extreme conditions of any sailing event. The race covers the greatest distance of any professional sailing event, in total 39,270 nautical miles. The Volvo Open 70 racing yacht is the fastest monohull in the world. It boasts a heritage of excellence stretching back to the first race in 1973 - 74, when Sayula II won what was then called the Whitbread Round the World Race. The Volvo Ocean Race shares cutting-edge technology with respect for the environment. It is contested by the best sailors in the world. Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012 Media Guide
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boats push themselves to the limit of human endurance over periods as long as 25 days at sea, in the most hostile oceans of the world. The teams will face extremes of temperature ranging from -15 degrees in the Southern Ocean to 45 degrees at the equator. Three of the onboard sailing team must be aged 30 or under. This allows young sailors to gain Volvo Ocean Race experience and helps secure the legacy of the race. The 2011-12 race is the 11th edition of the event. In addition to the offshore legs, in-port racing will give the public front row seats to watch a spectacular show of speed, technology and skill as the Volvo Open 70s race in the Host Port harbours. There are 10 Host Ports: Alicante (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajaí (Brazil), Miami (USA), Lisbon (Portugal), Lorient (France) and Galway (Ireland). The race starts in Alicante, Spain on October 29, 2011 and finishes on July 7, 2012 in Galway, Ireland. Ericsson 4 (Leg 1, 2008-09) holds the world monohull 24-hour speed record, 596.6 nautical miles. That is an average speed of 24.9 knots. Sailors in the 2011-12 race have 8 Olympic medals between them, 4 gold and 4 silver. Team Telefónica have 5 while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have 3. The race has sailors from 18 nations, 22 NZL, 10 AUS, 10 FRA, 9 ESP, 7 USA, 5 GBR, 2 IRL, 3 RSA, 2 SWE, 2 UAE, 1 GER, 1 NOR, 1 BRA, 1 DEN, 1 FIN, 1 CHN, 1 BEL and 1 ANT. 221,000 people played the official Volvo Ocean Race game during the last race. The prediction for this race is for over a million players. Close to 4 million people came to the Volvo Ocean Race villages in the last race.
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The Volvo Open 70 Mainsail
Shrouds Spreader
Runner
Mast
Boom
Skipper
Boat Captain
Helmsman
Pitman Media Crew Member
Pushpit
Daggerboard
Stern
Foredeck
Bowman Pulpit
Rudder
Trimmer Navigator
Bowsprit
Fin Canting Keel
Bow
Bulb
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Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012 Media Guide
volvooceanrace.com/mediazone
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Crew Descriptions
`` Skipper
`` Boat Captain
The Skipper has the widest role with the biggest weight of responsibility: team manager, captain and chief executive all rolled into one. On the racecourse the Skipper has the final say on strategy and tactics, working in tandem with the navigator. Skipper backgrounds are varied, usually with a very high level of success. Olympic medallists are not unusual and most skippers are very accomplished helmsmen in their own right. They thrive under pressure and are solid in motivation and manmanagement.
The Boat Captain’s ultimate responsibility is to make sure the boat is in optimum working condition throughout the race. On the racecourse that means making sure routine maintenance and repairs of all types are completed effectively to keep the boat at 100 percent.
They will often have business responsibilities to help deliver return for their team’s sponsors, fulfil budgets and deal with personnel issues within the team.
`` Trimmer
`` Navigator The Navigator’s responsibility is to ensure the consistent best positioning of the boat to take maximum advantage of wind and current, getting it from point to point as fast as possible. The Navigator has an increasingly advanced armoury of hardware and software at his fingertips. As no two-boat testing is allowed before this race, one key feature of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 12 will be performance data collection, analysis and processing. Most navigators are specialist meteorologists who love crunching numbers.
`` Watch Leader The Watch Leader is responsible for everything that happens on their ‘watch’, from pure boat speed to overseeing smooth sail changes. They come in matched pairs, each one running a team on deck. They make sure each watch (normally four hours) unfolds minute by minute, hour by hour with the boat performing at its optimum. The Watch Leader ensures the crew rotates positions to the best of the team’s abilities, making sure the right people are doing the right job at the right time. Key attributes are knowing how to keep the boat moving fast, race experience, anticipation and excellent motivational skills.
`` Helmsman The best Volvo Ocean Race drivers are prized assets, who have that innate sixth sense of how to steer the boat fast in different conditions for long periods. In fact, at least four or five of the crew and often the skipper, too, will be drivers of high ability, but the person named Helmsman and Trimmer will steer for 70-90 per cent of their watch, locked in for hours at a time. Often Helmsman come from a high performance dinghy background and their touch is light and subtle. 10
Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012 Media Guide
The required skill set is wide and varied, but usually set against an engineering and/or boatbuilding background. The Boat Captain needs to know every last detail of the boat, making sure that every possible kind of repair is prepared for. He works very closely with the shore crew manager. The sails provide the motive force to move the boat along and the trimmers are responsible for optimising their shape to deliver the maximum speed according to the conditions. The Trimmer’s role is a demanding one and requires non-stop concentration to keep the boat always travelling as fast as possible.
`` Pitman A Pitman controls all the halyards (ropes) and control lines and is the lynchpin of every operation. He coordinates between the helmsmen and the bow team. The Watch Captain will make the call when to change sails or make a manoeuvre, but it is the Pitman who organises the finer detail. He releases and takes up the different halyards or control lines with split second timing through the sequence. In essence he choreographs the manoeuvre and leads the timing throughout.
`` Bowman The Bowman is responsible for everything that happens forward of the mast. At the sharp end of all the action, the key attributes of top bowmen are rock solid reliability, speed and dexterity, a cool head and strength and agility. In many respects they are a breed apart not least because during sail changes and manoeuvres so much depends on their skills. When the pressure is on, they work mainly solo at the wettest, coldest and most exposed and dangerous end of the boat.
`` Media Crew Member (MCM) Two initiatives have helped to expand television coverage of the event: the switch to High Definition programming and the introduction of an embedded reporter on each boat – the Media Crew Member (MCM). The MCMs have a perfect vantage point to capture the trials and tribulations of the teams on the race, from the high winds of the Southern Ocean to the calms of the Doldrums. Their mission is to be a fly on the wall documentarian, providing a 24/7 news feed from the yachts, through HD video, audio, photography and the written word. volvooceanrace.com/mediazone
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Volvo Ocean Race
IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record Challenge
Offshore legs
In-port racing
The Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 consists of nine offshore legs between the 10 Host Ports, amounting to at least 39,270 nautical miles of racing. The Volvo Open 70s and their professional crews battle each other across the freezing and mountainous seas of the Southern Ocean, the roasting heat of the Doldrums and record extremes of conditions in the Atlantic.
How do you win the Volvo Ocean Race? The race is decided on a points system, with each offshore leg weighted to be worth five times more than the in-port races. Assuming an entry of six teams, the points will be as follows: Offshore legs: 1st: 30 points 2nd: 25 points 3rd: 20 points 4th: 15 points 5th: 10 points 6th: 5 points
In-Port races: 1st: 6 points 2nd: 5 points 3rd: 4 points 4th: 3 points 5th: 2 points 6th: 1 points
If there are seven boats it will be 35 points for 1st in the offshore legs, 30 for 2nd etc, and 7 points for 1st in the in-port races, 6 for 2nd etc. The overall winner will be the team with the highest number of points at the end of the race. 12
How does it work?
Short, sharp, and intense
The start
For 2011-12 there will be one in-port race in all 10 Host Ports. The races are short and action packed, giving the teams an opportunity to gain valuable points for the overall leaderboard, while providing a great spectacle for fans.
Winning the start is essential in an in-port race. As these races are 45-60 minutes long, you have very little time to recover from a poor start. The sailors will do their best to be the first off the starting line, as the gun fires. Being at the tactically favoured end of the line is crucial too but there is only one ‘best’ place to start, so look for aggressive jockeying for position ahead of the start. In fact, this fight for position in the final minutes before the start can be one of the most fascinating moments of these races. The rules apply from the 5-minute gun, and from then on, you are free to use them to your advantage. Teams will attempt to squeeze out the competition, forcing them into a poor start, or even pushing them onto the wrong side of the starting line. A boat starting early will have to return to the other side of the line, or if many of the boats in the fleet are early, the Race Committee will make a General Recall to re-start the entire fleet. A team starting early in the subsequent start may be disqualified from the race.
The course for the in-port racing is always as close as possible to land so the public can watch the battle unfold between the high tech Volvo Open 70s.
See the In-port races live For the first time ever, all 10 in-port races will be covered with live television productions globally from host broadcaster IMG Media. The up-to-date list of broadcasters and other TV partners who will be taking the programming will be posted on the Volvo Ocean Race website. www.volvooceanrace.com/tvschedule. The in-port race will always be shown live on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanracevideos and at www.volvooceanrace.com. Each boat will have an onboard camera crew as well as the fixed cameras running to record all the action. In addition we will have helicopters following the fleet from above as well as RIBs in the middle of the fleet. There will be 2D and 3D graphics overlaid, so you can also monitor the in-port race from any angle you like and clearly see who is ahead. This will be as close as you can get to the race itself. Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012 Media Guide
The start sequence is 10-minute warning (sound signal) - 5 minutes preparatory (sound signal) - 1 minute (sound signal) – START
In-port race crew The crew for the in-port race will consist of crewmembers who sailed the previous leg or who will start in the next leg, with any changes having to be approved by the Race Director. volvooceanrace.com/mediazone
IWC is not only the Official Timekeeper of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, but will also be awarding a prize at the end of each race leg as part of the IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record Challenge. The IWC trophy will go to the team that travels the furthest distance over a 24-hour period during the leg in question. At the end of the race in Galway, Ireland, the Swiss watch manufacturer will present the 11 crewmembers of the boat that has set the fastest of all the 24-hour records during the entire event with a special award. Each team will stretch themselves to the limit every day of the race to break this record. The Volvo Open 70 monohull yachts are built to state-of-the-art engineering standards and enable the crews to maintain incredibly high speeds even in the most difficult conditions
Pro-Am race The Pro-Am in each host city does not count towards the overall scoring. These races offer the race stakeholders a unique opportunity to have their VIPs and guests on board racing the Volvo Open 70s. The racing is also an amazing demonstration of the speed of the 70-foot state-of-the-art yachts for guests and spectators alike. The racecourse is positioned in a very similar place to the in-port race, maximising the visual impact for the crowds. These guests not only get to sail with the teams but must carry out different sailing duties to assist the team in racing against the others. Guests have the opportunity to live a real ‘money can’t buy experience’, taking on tasks such as grinding, hoisting, trimming and even driving in a real racing atmosphere.
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One Prize
Interesting Facts
One Prize: The Volvo Ocean Race Trophy
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As with the Olympic Games, there is no financial reward for winning this 39,270 nautical-mile race around the world. ``
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Made by Proximma Communicación, after a highly competitive bidding process.
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Made of aluminium and silver plate.
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Weighs 9kg and is 70cm high.
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Comprises 11 wave-shaped rings that represent the 11 editions of the race.
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The first 10 rings are engraved with the year of the race, the route, the winning boat and the skipper.
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The 11th ring will be engraved in Galway in July 2012, at the end of the race.
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Past winners
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Ed.
Year
Yacht
Skipper
Nat.
LOA –ft
Designer
1
1973-74
Sayula II
Ramón Carlin
MEX
65
Sparkman & Stephens
2
1977-78
Flyer
Cornelis van Rietschoten
NED
65
Sparkman & Stephens
3
1981-82
Flyer
Cornelis van Rietschoten
NED
65
German Frers
4
1985-86
L’Esprit d’Equipe
Lionel Péan
FRA
58.6
Philippe Briand
5
1989-90
Steinlager 2 (maxi class A & B)
Peter Blake
NZL
84
Bruce Farr
5
1989-90
Equity and Law 2 (class C)
Dirk Nautor
NED
63
Judel / Vrolijk
5
1989-90
Esprit de Liberté (class D)
Patrick Tabarly
FRA
58.6
Philippe Briand
6
1993-94
New Zealand Endeavour (maxi class)
Grant Dalton
NZL
84
Bruce Farr
6
1993-94
Yamaha (W60 class)
Ross Field
JPN
64
Bruce Farr
7
1997-98
EF Language
Paul Cayard
SWE
64
Bruce Farr
8
2001-02
Illbruck Challenge
John Kostecki
GER
Volvo Ocean 60
Bruce Farr
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2005-06
ABN AMRO ONE
Mike Sanderson
NED
Volvo Open 70
Juan Kouyoumdjian
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2008-09
Ericsson 4
Torben Grael
SWE
Volvo Open 70
Juan Kouyoumdjian
Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012 Media Guide
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Height of the mast: 31.5m (103.3ft) above water. which is as tall as Christ the Redeemer, in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, (excluding pedestal). Overall boat length: 21.5m (70ft), that is 1m taller than the height of the Great Sphinx of Giza. Space: Two cubic metres of space per person, the equivalent to living in a phone box made of carbon fibre. Speed: The Volvo Open 70 can exceed speeds of 40 knots (45.98mph/74kmh). The largest sail on a Volvo Open 70, the spinnaker, is 500 m². This is the same as the playing area of two tennis courts. Number of sails per boat for the race: 17 sails and two In-Port spinnakers, with the exception of storm sails. Material: The Volvo Open 70 is made of carbon fibre. Carbon fibre is as light as wood but as strong as steel. Cameras: at least seven on board including five fixed – able to shoot forwards, backwards and through 360 degrees and at least two handheld cameras operated by the Media Crew Member. The keel and bulb weigh a max of 7,400 kg, which is the same as 2 African elephants. The counterweight produced by the canting keel equates to 70 people sitting on the side of the boat. Volvo Open 70 weighs a maximum of 14.5 tonnes, with a 4.5 metre draft and 5.7 metre beam.
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Photograph credits: AAD Design Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority Dan Armstrong Chris Cameron/CAMPER2011-12 Matias Capizzano/capizzano.com CTRU Patrick Guigueno Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Frankie Leonard/Team Sanya Maria Muina Anton Paz/Telefonica Black/Volvo Ocean Race Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race Shutterstock.com Tim Stonton/Volvo Ocean Race Yvan Zedda
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