THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE - WHITBREAD HISTORY RESULTS

HOME    SITE INDEX   CATAMARAN HULL    SOLAR PANELS    ELECTRIC MOTORS    BATTERIES   CREW    EXPEDITION    SPONSORS 

 

 

 

Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) is a yacht race around the world. Held every four years, the race takes the competing yachts through some of the worst sailing conditions in existence. Though the route is changed to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs England in September. 

 

The general route leads down into the southern ocean, round the tip of Africa, and then around the southern ocean—where waves sometimes top 100 feet and winds can reach 60 knots. Competitors eventually round Cape Horn and turn back into the Atlantic for the trip back to England. The route generally covers in excess of 28,000 miles over open ocean—not for the faint of heart.

 

In 1972 England's Whitbread company and the British Royal Naval Sailing Association agreed to sponsor a globe-circling regatta, which would be called the "Whitbread Round the World Race". The race has been greatly modified in the ensuing thirty odd years, but remains true to its original goal: A test of will, courage and skill against the best (or more accurately, worst) nature has to offer. Along with the Vendee Globe, the Whitbread (now Volvo Ocean Race) is the ultimate sailing adventure.


Whitbread 1973–1974

 

The first race started off from Portsmouth, England onSeptember 8, 1973. Seventeen yachts of various sizes and shapes took part. During the race three sailors were swept over board, never to be seen again.

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

1

Portsmouth, England

Cape Town, South Africa

Great Britain II

2

Cape Town, South Africa

Sydney, Australia

Pen Duick VI

3

Sydney, Australia

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Great Britain II

4

Rio de Janeiro

Portsmouth, England

Great Britain II

 

 

Sayula II skippered by Ramon Carlin won the overall race in a time of 133 days 13 hours.

 

 

Whitbread 1977–1978

 

On August 27, 1977, 15 boats started out from Southampton under gale force winds and driving rain.

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

1

Southampton, England

Cape Town, South Africa

Flyer

2

Cape Town, South Africa

Auckland, New Zealand

Heath's Condor

3

Auckland, New Zealand

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Great Britain II

4

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Southampton, England

Great Britain II

 

 

Flyer a Sparkman & Stephens designed yacht skippered by Cornelius van Rietschoten won the race. All 15 boats finished the 26,780 nautical mile race.

 

 

Whitbread 1981–1982

 

On August 8, 1981, 29 boats started out from Southampton.

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

1

Southampton, England

Cape Town, South Africa

Flyer

2

Cape Town, South Africa

Auckland, New Zealand

Flyer

3

Auckland, New Zealand

Mar del Plata, Argentina

Flyer

4

Mar del Plata, Argentina

Portsmouth, England

Flyer

 

 

Flyer, a German Frers designed maxi skippered by Cornelius van Rietschoten (a.k.a Conny van Rietschoten), winner of the 1977–78 race, won the race. Unusually, Flyer won both on line honours AND on handicap. Only 20 finished the race out of the 29 that started it.

 

 

Whitbread 1985–1986

 

On September 28, 1985, 15 boats started out from Southampton.

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

1

Southampton, England

Cape Town, South Africa

L'Esprit d'Equipe

2

Cape Town, South Africa

Auckland, New Zealand

Atlantic Privateer

3

Auckland, New Zealand

Punte del Este, Uruguay

UBS Switzerland

4

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Portsmouth, England

L'Espirit d'Equipe


 

L'Esprit d'Equipe skippered by Lionel Péan won the race in a corrected time of 111 days 23 hours. Phillips Innovator was second, and Fazer Finland third. (UBS Switzerland was named first on elapsed time, with Lion New Zealand as runner-up. Drum (carrying owner/pop star Simon Le Bon) finished just a breath behind.)


 

Whitbread 1989–1990

1989–90 Overall Final Standings

 

 

Pos

Boat

Nat

Skipper

LOA/Des

Aggregate

1

Steinlager 2

New Zealand

Peter Blake (NZ)

84' Ketch

128d 9h

2

Fisher & Paykel NZ

New Zealand

Grant Dalton (NZ)

82' Ketch

129d 21h

3

Merit

Switzerland

Pierre Fehlmann (F)

80' Sloop

130d 10h

4

Rothmans

UK

Lawrie Smith (GB)

80' Sloop

131d 4h

5

The Card

Sweden

Roger Nillson/Ann Lippens (S)

80' Ketch

135d 7h

18

Maiden

UK

Tracy Edwards (GB)

58' Sloop

167d 3h

21

La Poste

France

Daniel Mallé (F)

51' Sloop

181d 22h

 

 

The race was run with several classes (for size of boat). This race featured the first all-woman crew on Tracy Edwards' Maiden. Although in a much smaller boat than many of their male counterparts the ladies fared well—claiming two leg victories in class. The tradition of the Whitbread including an all-female crew remains to this day.


1989–90 Leg Winners

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

Skipper

1

Southampton, England

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Steinlager 2

Peter Blake (NZ)

2

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Fremantle, Australia

Steinlager 2

Peter Blake (NZ)

3

Fremantle, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

Steinlager 2

Peter Blake (NZ)

4

Auckland, New Zealand

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Steinlager 2

Peter Blake (NZ)

5

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Steinlager 2

Peter Blake (NZ)

6

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Southampton, England

Steinlager 2

Peter Blake (NZ)

 


Steinlager 2 skippered by Peter Blake won the race easily. For the first time since 1981–82 (when the race comprised just four legs), the victor won every leg (albeit closely chased by both Grant Dalton's Fisher & Payskel NZ and Pierre Fehlmann's Merit entries). The vast difference in speed and capability of the many different boats involved in the 89–90 race lead to the creation of a committee to examine the commission of a Whitbread class boat for use in future races. Many of the Maxi yachts in this years race were nearly twice the size (LOA) of the smallest, and carried well over twice the sail area. The net result of this was that many of the smaller boats finished the longer legs more than ten days after the leg winner. In the overall results, the last finisher was some 52 days behind Blake's Steinlager 2 128 day aggregate time. In addition, the expense of the big yachts was getting to be too much—even for the well funded teams like Steinlager, Rothmans and Merit. Eventually, the new class would be called the W60—but it's gestation would not be quick or lack controversy.


 

Whitbread 1993–1994

 

The 1993–94 Whitbread was run to "mixed class" rules (as with prior races). New for the 93/4 race was a purpose built Whitbread boat—the W60. As with previous years a handicap was applied to different boats based on their race rating. The competitors were none too keen or running both Maxis and W60's together. The two competing classes battled throughout with protest flags always at the ready. Many entrants wanted the old maxis banned for this year, however owing to concerns over whether enough new boats would be ready (not to mention the large investments the Maxi owners had made in previous years), several Maxis were allowed to compete in the 93–94 race.

 

 

1993–94 Final Standings

 

 

Pos

Boat

Nat

Skipper

Class

Aggregate

1

NZ Endeavour

New Zealand

Grant Dalton (NZ)

Maxi

120d 5h

2

Yamaha

Japan/NZL

Ross Field (NZ)

W60

120d 14h

3

Merit Cup

GBR

Pierre Fehlmann (F)

Maxi

121d 2h

4

Intrum Justitia

Europe

Roger Nillson (S) / Lawrie Smith (GB)

W60

121d 5h

5

Galicia 93 Pescanova

Spain

Javier de la Gandara (Esp)

W60

122d 6h

6

Winston

USA

Dennis Conner (USA) /Brad Butterworth (NZ)

W60

122d 9h

7

La Poste

France

Eric Tabarly (F)

Maxi

123d 22h

8

Tokio

Japan

Chris Dickson (NZ)

W60

128d 16h

9

Brooksfield

Italy

Guido Maisto (I)

W60

130d 4h

10

Hetman Sahaidachny

Ukr

Eugene Platon (Ukr)

W60

135d 23h

11

Reebok/Dolphin Youth

GBR

Mathew Humphries (GB)

W60

137d 21h

12

Heineken

USA

Dawn Riley (USA)

W60

138d 16h

13

Odessa

Ukr

Anatoly Verba (Ukr)

W60

158d 4h

NF

Fortuna

Esp

Lawrie Smith (GB)

Maxi

WD

 

 

Intrum Justitia was originally skippered by Roger Nillson, who was injured on the first leg.

Corrected time takes the boat's handicap into account


Leg Results:

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

Skipper

1

Southampton, England

Punta del Este, Argentina

NZ Endeavour

Grant Dalton (NZ)

2

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Fremantle, Australia

Intrum Justitia

Lawrie Smith (GB)

3

Fremantle, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

NZ Endeavour

Grant Dalton (NZ)

4

Auckland, New Zealand

Punta del Este, Uruguay

NZ Endeavour

Grant Dalton (NZ)

5

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Yamaha

Ross Field (NZ)

6

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Southampton, England

Tokio

Chris Dickson (NZ)


Whitbread 1997–1998

 

Race run for the first time with all W60 boats and to a "points vs time" (instead of aggregate leg time) scoring system to enhance the value of the shorter race legs. Also, in an effort to attract additional media coverage, the Whitbread race committee divided the race into no less than 9 legs for the 97–98 race. Volvo had it's first major association with the race in 1997–98 by sponsoring the trophy (thus the race was officially known as the Whitbread 'round the world race for the Volvo Trophy) and some of the media coverage. For the first time running to W60-only specification, this year's Whitbread attracted just 10 entries—the fewest to date.

 

Overall Results:

 

 

Pos

Boat

Nat

Skipper

Points

1

EF Language

Sweden

Paul Cayard (USA)

836

2

Merit Cup

Monaco

Grant Dalton (NZ)

698

3

Swedish Match

Sweden

Gunnar Krantz (S)

689

4

Innovation Kvaerner

Norway

Knut Frostad (N)

633

5

Silk Cut

England

Lawrie Smith (GBR)

630

6

Chessie Racing

USA

George Collins / John Kostecki (USA)

613

7

Toshiba

USA

Dennis Conner (USA) / Paul Standbridge (NZ)*

528

8

Brunel Sunergy

Netherlands

Hans Bouscholte / Roy Heiner (NL)

415

9

EF Education

Sweden

Christine Guillou (F)

275

dnf

America's Challenge

USA

Ross Field (NZ)

58

 

 

Toshiba was originally skippered by Chris Dickson. Dickson was fired after Leg 1. Hans Bouscholte was also replaced by Roy Heiner after leg 1. America's Challenge syndicate withdrew prior to the start of leg two for financial reasons.

 

 

Leg Winners:

 

 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

Skipper

1

Southampton, England

Cape Town, South Africa

EF Language

Paul Cayard (USA)

2

Cape Town, South Africa

Fremantle, Australia

Swedish Match

Gunnar Krantz

3

Fremantle, Australia

Sydney, Australia

EF Language

Paul Cayard (USA)

4

Sydney, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

Merit Cup

Grant Dalton (NZ)

5

Auckland, New Zealand

San Sebastiao, Chile

EF Language

Paul Cayard (USA)

6

San Sebastiao, Chile

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Silk Cut

Lawrie Smith (GB)

7

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Baltimore, Maryland

Brunel Sunergy

Roy Heiner (NL)

8

Annapolis, Maryland

La Rochelle, France

Toshiba

Paul Standbridge (NZ)

9

La Rochelle, France

Southampton, England

Merit Cup

Grant Dalton (NZ)


 

Volvo Ocean Race 2001–2002

 

For the 2001–2002 race the sponsorship of the race being taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars. The race was renamed the Volvo Ocean Race. Stopovers were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being the Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe. In addition the points system had been modified significantly in an effort to keep the race competitive until the final leg. The previous "points" race having been effectively won two full legs before the final gun.

 

 

2001–02 Overall Final Standings

 

 

Pos

Boat

Nat

Skipper

Points

1

Illbruck Challenge

Germany

John Kostecki (USA)

61

2

ASSA ABLOY

Sweden

Neal Mcdonald (GB)

55

3

Amer Sports One

USA

Grant Dalton (NZ)

44

4

Team Tyco

Bermuda

Kevin Shoebridge (NZ)

42

5

News Corp

Australia

Jez Fanstone (Aus)

41

6

Djuice Dragons

Norway

Knut Frostad (N)

33

7

Team SEB

Sweden

Gunnar Krantz (S)

32

8

Amer Sports Too

USA

Lisa McDonald (US)

16


 

Leg

Start

Finish

Leg Winner

1

Southampton, England

Cape Town, South Africa

Illbruck

2

Cape Town, South Africa

Sydney, Australia

Illbruck

3

Sydney, Australia

Hobart, Australia

Assa Abloy

4

Hobart, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

Assa Abloy

5

Auckland, New Zealand

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Illbruck

6

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Miami, USA

Assa Abloy

7

Miami, USA

Baltimore, USA

Team News Corp

8

Baltimore, USA

La Rochelle, France

Illbruck

9

La Rochelle, France

Gothenburg, Sweden

Assa Abloy

10

Goteborg, Sweden

Kiel, Germany

Djuice Dragons

 

 

John Kostecki, who had co-skippered with George Collins on Chessie Racing in the 1997–98 Whitbread to great effect, captained his first Volvo Ocean race winner in 2002. Assa Abloy's new composite mold technique proved very quick, but not quite quick enough, while long time Whitbread skipper Grant Dalton's two boat syndicate suffered badly from a lack of preparation time (the Amer boats were last in the water).  For Leg 3, yachts joined the iconic Australian Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that begins on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day).

 

 

 


 

7 BOATS SEPTEMBER 2005 START ............... HOW MANY WILL COMPLETE

 

 

 

 

PLEASE USE THE LINKS ABOVE TO FOLLOW THE VOLVO OCEAN RACERS

 


 

 

 

 

Volvo Ocean Race 2005–2006

 

The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in Europe in the autumn of 2005. Currently six boats are entered (Dec/04) in the new format (Volvo 70 boats instead of the W60's of the last three races). In-port racing will be included with points counting towards 20% of the overall result, great for the public, sponsors and media alike.

 

A new design of the boat has been introduced for the 2005–06 event. The Volvo Open 70 will be quicker and more dynamic than any boat previously sailed in the race. They are 1.000 kg ligther than the 60 class and some use a canting keel. They also use larger sail and fewer crew than the last version.

For the first time, the Ocean race will not start in England as the Galicia region in Spain has been selected as the starting point.

 

It takes eight months, covers 31, 000 nautical miles of the globe’s most treacherous seas over nine legs, visits 10 ports around the world and incorporates seven inshore races. The race will also feature some "pit stops" designed to break up the longer legs into more manageable sections (and, of course, provide more media exposure).

 

 

Boats and Teams in 2005/06

 

Curiosities

 

An all male crew is fixed in nine. A crew with at least 5 woman can have 10 members. An all female crew can have 11 members. The skipper may nominate one additional person.

Only one boat can be built per team.

 

 

Specifications for the OV70 boat

  • Length overall: 21.5m

  • Beam: 4.7m – 5.7m

  • Draft: 4.5m

  • Mainsail Area: 172m2

  • Headsail Area: 140m2

  • Spinnaker Area: 500m2 (max)

  • Mast Height: 31.5m above water

  • Weight: 12,500 kgs to 14,000kgs

  • Keel Bulb: 4,500kg min

 


 

This website is Copyright © 1999 & 2005  NJK.   The bird logo and name Solar Navigator are trademarks. All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.       Max Energy Limited is an environmental educational charity.

BLUEBIRD ELECTRIC    CAR MANUFACTURERS    ELECTRIC CARS    ELECTRIC CYCLES   SOLAR CARS