The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race was the 13th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It started in Alicante, Spain, and concluded in The Hague, Netherlands. NOS.nl (2016): Den Haag wordt in 2018 Champs-Elysees van Volvo Ocean Race 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.
During Leg 7 of the race, John Fisher, 47, a British citizen who lived in Adelaide, was swept overboard from Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag and lost at sea 1400 miles west of Cape Horn.
Yachts
For the second edition running, the race was one-design, racing the Volvo Ocean 65. The VO65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70.
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:
TeamSkipper Team AkzoNobel Simeon Tienpont Dongfeng Race Team Charles Caudrelier MAPFRE Xabi Fernández Vestas 11th Hour Racing Charlie Enright Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag David Witt Turn the Tide on Plastic Dee Caffari Team Brunel Bouwe Bekking — Skipper Simeon Tienpont was released from Team AkzoNobel on 13 October, one day before the first in-port race, and replaced by Brad Jackson. 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 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, and the 2017 Fastnet Race.
EventStart dateFinish dateStartFinishDistanceIn-Port Race14 October 2017 AlicanteLeg 122 October 2017 28 October Alicante Lisbon1,650 nmIn-Port Race3 November 2017 LisbonLeg 25 November 201724 November Lisbon Cape Town7,000 nmIn-Port Race8 December 2017 Cape TownLeg 3 10 December 201727 December Cape Town Melbourne6,500 nmLeg 42 January 2018 19 January Melbourne Hong Kong6,000 nmIn-Port Race27 & 28 January 2018 Hong KongLeg 5 (non-scoring)1 February 2018 Hong Kong Guangzhou100 nmIn-Port Race3 February 2018 GuangzhouLeg 5 (non-scoring)5 February 2018 Guangzhou Hong Kong100 nmLeg 67 February 201827 February 2018 Hong Kong Auckland5,600 nmIn-Port Race10 March 2018 AucklandLeg 718 March 20183 April 2018 Auckland Itajaí7,500 nmIn-Port Race20 April 2018 ItajaíLeg 822 April 20188 May 2018 Itajaí Newport5,500 nmIn-Port Race 19 May 2018 NewportLeg 920 May 201829 May 2018 Newport Cardiff3,300 nmIn-Port Race8 June 2018 CardiffLeg 1010 June 201814 June 2018 Cardiff Gothenburg1,230 nmIn-Port Race17 June 2018 GothenburgLeg 1121 June 201824 June 2018 Gothenburg The Hague520 nmIn-Port Race30 June 2018 The Hague
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 Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Leg 4 Leg 5 Leg 6 Leg 7 Leg 8 Leg 9 Leg 10 Leg 11 Bonus Total Dongfeng 5 6 12 6 1 4 12 4 10 4 7 2 73 MAPFRE 6 7 14 4 1 5 6 7 6 6 5 3 70Team Brunel 2 4 8 3 1 2 14 6 14 7 4 4 69 AkzoNobel 4 3 2 5 1 7 10 3 12 5 6 1 59 Vestas 11th Hour 7 5 10 Ret DNS DNS Ret5 8 2 1 1 39 Turn the Tide on Plastic 1 1 4 2 1 3 8 2 4 3 3 - 32Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 3 2 6 7 1 6 Ret 1 2 1 2 1 32 Source:Scoreboard
— 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" — 1 point for leg win, 1 point for elapsed time. — 3 points for leg win, 1 point for first around Cape Horn.
In-port series AliLisCTHKGzuAucItaNPCarGotDHTotal MAPFRE 7 6 6 6 7 5 7 6 6 5 364 Dongfeng 6 5 7 7 2 7 5 3 7 1 656Team Brunel 4 7 2 4 6 3 3 7 5 2 750 AkzoNobel 2 4 5 5 5 6 6 2 4 6 550 Vestas 11th Hour5 3 4 DNS DNS 4 25 3 7 235 Turn the Tide on Plastic 1 1 3 2 3 1 4 1 1 4 425Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 3 2 1 3 4 2 DNS 4 2 3 125 Source:Scoreboard
Overall Results
Pos Sail Number Yacht Country Yacht Type LOA(Metres) Skipper Points 1 CHN 1969 Dongfeng Race Team China Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 Charles Caudrelier 73 2 ESP 1 MAPFRE Spain Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 Xabier Fernández 70 3 NED 8 Team Brunel Netherlands Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 Bouwe Bekking 69 4 NED 65 Team AkzoNobel Netherlands Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 Simeon Tienpont 59 5 USA 11 Vestas 11th Hour Racing United States Denmark Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 Charlie Enright 39 6 UN 65 Turn the Tide on Plastic United Nations Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 Dee Caffari 32 7 HKG 65 Team Sun Hung Kai-Scallywag Hong Kong Farr Volvo Ocean 65 20.37 David Witt 32 References:
References
External links