Melbourne celebrates as stopover for the 2017 Volvo Ocean Race

Melbourne has just been announced as a stopover for the 2017 Volvo Ocean Race starting October 22 in Spain. The fleet of seven or more yachts is expected to arrive around Christmas Day before setting off for Hong Kong on January 2, 2018.

There will be no in-port race in Melbourne, but there will be huge foreshore celebrations for the intrepid sailors, international crews and the public and yachting fraternity.

The Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 has a new route and will be contested over the longest
distance in race history at around 45,000 nautical miles, crossing four
oceans and taking in 12 major host cities on six continents.

The change to the 2017-18 route, only announced on Friday (January 27, 2017), means the Volvo Ocean Race will visit Australia for the eighth occasion and the first time in more than a decade.

Deemed a compressed stopover, Melbourne fits between Cape Town and Hong Kong and will complete a 45,000-nautical mile route that will see the teams cover three times as many miles in the Southern Ocean as in previous editions.

Cape Town to Melbourne will now make up Leg 3 of the race – a double-point-scoring 6300-nautical mile leg. Melbourne will host a week-long stopover before the fleet leaves on Leg 4 to Hong Kong.

According to projections, the one-design Volvo Ocean 65 fleet will arrive around Christmas Day, providing an extra reason to celebrate in Melbourne.

Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren said the Volvo Ocean Race is great chance for Victorians to see some of the world’s best sailing teams in action.

"Major events are fantastic for the entire visitor economy – they keep our restaurants and hotels full and our shopping precincts bustling.

"The Victorian Government is proud to work with a range of dedicated partners to support this stand out sailing event."

AUSTRALIA'S HISTORY WITH THE VOLVO RACE
Australia’s history with the Volvo Ocean Race goes all the way back to the first edition in 1973-74 and, in total, Australia has hosted the race seven times. The race first came to Melbourne in 2005-06 and now returns for a second time.

"We’re delighted to be visiting Melbourne again – a vibrant city of sport and culture with a strong maritime heritage," said Volvo Ocean Race COO, Richard Mason.

"Having been born in Australia myself, I couldn’t be more excited to see the race head Down Under, and I know that sailing fans across the nation will be full of excitement to see the boats and sailors for themselves."

THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE ROUTE
The teams will leave Alicante, Spain on October 22 and race on to Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne and Hong Kong before a non-scoring transition to Guangzhou in China.

After a stopover in Guangzhou that will include a race in the tie-breaking and potentially decisive In-Port Series, the ocean legs will resume with a leg to Auckland before stopping in Itajaí, Brazil, Newport, Rhode Island, Cardiff and Gothenburg, before the big finish in the Dutch city of The Hague.

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 from Newport to Cardiff will all score double points. The longest leg of the 45,000-nautical mile lap of the planet will now be the 7600-nautical mile leg from Auckland to Itajaí.

BIG RACE CHANGES
The Volvo Ocean Race recently announced a series of major changes to the rules of the 43-year-old classic adventure, including a major incentive for teams to compete with mixed male-female crews.

The addition of the Melbourne stopover means the race has locked in dates across the whole 2017-18 route. The key dates are as follows:
>> Alicante Race Village opens – October 11, 2017
>> Alicante In-Port Race ­– October 14, 2017
>> Leg 1 Start – October 22, 2017
>> Lisbon In-Port Race – October 28, 2017
>> Leg 2 Start – November 5, 2017
>> Cape Town In-Port Race – December 8, 2017
>> Leg 3 Start – December 10, 2017
>> Melbourne Leg 4 Start – January 2, 2018
>> Hong Kong In-Port Race – January 27, 2018
>> Guangzhou In-Port Race – February 4, 2018
>> Leg 5 Start – 7 February 7, 2018
>> Auckland In-Port Race – March 10, 2018
>> Leg 6 Start – March 18, 2018
>> Itajaí In-Port Race – April 20, 2018
>> Leg 7 Start – April 22, 2018
>> Newport In-Port Race – May 19, 2018
>> Leg 8 Start – May 20, 2018
>> Cardiff In-Port Race – 8 June 2018
>> Leg 9 Start – June 10, 2018
>> Gothenburg In-Port Race – 17 June 2018
>> Leg 10 Start – June 21, 2018
>> The Hague In-Port Race – 30 June 30, 2018

AUSTRALIANS IN THE VOLVO RACE
Eleven Australian sailors took part in the 2014-15 edition of the race: Will Oxley (Alvimedica), Phil Harmer and Luke Parkinson (Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing), Sophie Ciszek, Stacey Jackson and Liz Wardley (SCA), Andrew Cape (Brunel), and Chris Nicholson, Tom Johnson and Tom Addis (all Team Vestas Wind), Jack Bouttell (Dongfeng Race Team).

The Volvo Ocean Race has visited Australia seven times before: Sydney in 1973-74, 1997-98 and 2001-02, Fremantle in 1989-90, 1993-94 and 1997-98, and Melbourne in 2005-06. This should be a great stopover at celebratory time of year.

More at
http://www.volvooceanrace.com.

Photo Credit: Supplied by Volvo Ocean Race.