Volvo Ocean Race

Cape Town, South Africa - The Volvo Ocean Race is back underway.  After some brief downtime, the fleet is off on the second leg of this crewed 'round the world challenge.  The eight crews said goodbye to their friends, families and supporters in Cape Town on Saturday, sailing out to cheers of farewell under the hot South African sun, and began the 4,450 mile leg to Cochin, India.

Cape Town, South Africa - After breaking the 24 hour monohull record last week, it was no surprise when the Volvo Ocean Race yacht Ericsson 4 was first to sail over the leg one finish line in Cape Town on Sunday. Sailed by an international crew, the team completed the 6,500 mile journey from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town in just 21 days.

The yacht Ericsson 4 has smashed the elusive 600 mile barrier, and set a new 24 hour distance world sailing record for a monohull sailboat!  Skipper Torben Grael and his crew made the record on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race at 18:54 GMT Wednesday, beating the time set by Sebastien Josse and his crew on ABN Amro Two during the 2006-2007 race.

Brazil - The yacht Green Dragon is the first boat to pass through the Volvo Ocean Race leg one scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha. “We’re delighted on board. We’ve been leading for a few days now and every single position report we’re watching to see if they’re [Puma and Ericsson 4] closing in us, but we’re holding them off,” said Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker as his boat sailed through the scoring gate.

Eight fast, squirrelly boats, 11 crew on each, and a whole globe on which to pit their skills.  For crewed ocean racing, this is the high end, and despite having started only last Saturday, the mass of the fleet from the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race is already around 1,000+ miles into its 37,000 mile route.  This race was once known simply to sailors as “The Whitbread,” and while the sponsor has changed, the concept has remained the same:  Get your boat and crew around the world, faster than anyone else.