2017–2018 Volvo Ocean Race

(Redirected from 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race)

The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race was the 13th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It started in Alicante, Spain,[1] and concluded in The Hague, Netherlands.[2][3] GAC Pindar provides logistic support for the race.[4] At the stopovers, teams had premium bases for better fan interaction.[5]

2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race
Event title
Edition13th
Dates14 October 2017 – 30 June 2018
YachtsVolvo Ocean 65
Competitors
Competitors7
Results
WinnerChina Dongfeng Race Team
2023 →
Volvo Ocean Race finish Scheveningen The Hague

Volvo made a number of changes to this edition. Sailors were able to provide social media updates,[6][7] new male/female ratios were introduced,[8] Onboard Reporters rotated between teams, a new scoring system was used,[9] the yachts were upgraded with Hydro generators for back-up power[10] and all teams sailed the 2017 Fastnet Race.[11]

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.[12]

Yachts edit

For the second edition running, the race was one-design, racing the Volvo Ocean 65.[13] The VO65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70.[14]

All Volvo 65's have undergone repairs and refits by The Boatyard. This ensured that all the yachts are the same.[15] The estimated cost of the refit was 1 million euros per boat.[16]

Participants edit

Despite an eighth boat being produced for this edition, only seven teams participated, as in the previous edition:[17]

Team Skipper
  Team AkzoNobel   Simeon Tienpont1
  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
  • ^1 — Skipper Simeon Tienpont was released from Team AkzoNobel on 13 October, one day before the first in-port race, and replaced by Brad Jackson.[18] Two hours before the start of leg 1, Tienpont was re-instated by an arbitration panel.[19]

Route edit

The full route for this edition was announced in June 2016, with the announcement of the addition of Melbourne in January 2017.[20][21]

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.

Event Start date Finish date Start Finish Distance
In-Port Race 14 October 2017   Alicante
Leg 1[1] 22 October 2017 28 October   Alicante   Lisbon 1,650 nm
In-Port Race 3 November 2017   Lisbon
Leg 2 5 November 2017 24 November   Lisbon   Cape Town 7,000 nm
In-Port Race 8 December 2017   Cape Town
Leg 3 10 December 2017 27 December   Cape Town   Melbourne 6,500 nm
Leg 4 2 January 2018 19 January   Melbourne   Hong Kong 6,000 nm
In-Port Race 27 & 28 January 2018   Hong Kong
Leg 5 (non-scoring) 1 February 2018   Hong Kong   Guangzhou 100 nm
In-Port Race 3 February 2018   Guangzhou
Leg 5 (non-scoring) 5 February 2018   Guangzhou   Hong Kong 100 nm
Leg 6 7 February 2018 27 February 2018   Hong Kong   Auckland 5,600 nm
In-Port Race 10 March 2018   Auckland
Leg 7 18 March 2018 3 April 2018   Auckland   Itajaí 7,500 nm
In-Port Race 20 April 2018   Itajaí
Leg 8 22 April 2018 8 May 2018   Itajaí   Newport 5,500 nm
In-Port Race 19 May 2018   Newport
Leg 9 20 May 2018 29 May 2018   Newport   Cardiff 3,300 nm
In-Port Race 8 June 2018   Cardiff
Leg 10 10 June 2018 14 June 2018   Cardiff   Gothenburg 1,230 nm
In-Port Race 17 June 2018   Gothenburg
Leg 11[3] 21 June 2018 24 June 2018   Gothenburg   The Hague 520 nm
In-Port Race 30 June 2018   The Hague

Notes (134 sailing days for race winners and 10 In-port racing days):

Results edit

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.[22]

Overall Leg standings edit

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 3 73
MAPFRE 6 7 14 4 1 5 6 7 6 6 5 3 70
Team Brunel 2 4 8 3 1 2 14 6 14 7 4 4 4 69
AkzoNobel 4 3 2 5 1 7 10 3 12 5 6 1 59
Vestas 11th Hour 7 5 10 Ret 2 DNS DNS Ret 5 8 2 1 1 39
Turn the Tide on Plastic 1 1 4 2 1 3 8 2 4 3 3 - 32
Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 3 2 6 7 1 6 Ret 1 2 1 2 1 32
Source:[23]
  • ^2 — 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.[24]
  • ^3 — 1 point for leg win, 1 point for elapsed time.
  • ^4 — 3 points for leg win, 1 point for first around Cape Horn.

In-port series edit

Ali
 
Lis
 
CT
 
HK
 
Gzu
 
Auc
 
Ita
 
NP
 
Car
 
Got
 
DH
 
Total
MAPFRE 7 6 6 6 7 5 7 6 6 5 3 64
Dongfeng 6 5 7 7 2 7 5 3 7 1 6 56
Team Brunel 4 7 2 4 6 3 3 7 5 2 7 50
AkzoNobel 2 4 5 5 5 6 6 2 4 6 5 50
Vestas 11th Hour 5 3 4 DNS DNS 4 2 5 3 7 2 35
Turn the Tide on Plastic 1 1 3 2 3 1 4 1 1 4 4 25
Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag 3 2 1 3 4 2 DNS 4 2 3 1 25
Source:[25]

Overall Results edit

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:[26][27]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Edição de 2017 da Volvo Ocean Race arranca em Alicante". SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). 18 May 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  2. ^ Haynes, Reagan (19 May 2015). "Newport seeks to secure another Volvo Ocean Race stopover". Trade Only Today. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b (in Dutch) NOS.nl (2016): Den Haag wordt in 2018 Champs-Elysees van Volvo Ocean Race
  4. ^ "GAC Pindar returns as official logistics provider for Volvo Ocean Race". Ajot.Com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Premium team bases to enhance fan 'pit lane' experience - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Rule change allows sailors to provide social media updates from the oceans | Volvo Ocean Race". YouTube. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Sailors can use social media onboard - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Race changes rules to attract world's best female sailors - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  9. ^ "New scoring system to open up fleet - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Upgraded boats to use hydropower - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Fastnet Race in 2017-18 qualifying schedule - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  12. ^ Mather, Victor (27 March 2018). "Sailor in Round-the-World Race Is 'Lost at Sea'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  13. ^ Bramley, Jon (16 May 2015). "A vision for the future". Volvo Ocean Race. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  14. ^ "Design № 757 - Volvo Ocean 65". Farr Yacht Design. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  15. ^ "The Boatyard - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". Volvooceanrace.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Volvo Ocean 65s to feature new hydropower units as part of one million euro refit per boat". Volvo Ocean Race. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  17. ^ "Meet the teams – Volvo Ocean Race". volvooceanrace.com.
  18. ^ "A message from our sailing and shore teams". Team AkzoNobel. 15 October 2017. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Volvo Ocean Race: Courts settle AkzoNobel nightmare >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News". 22 October 2017.
  20. ^ Race, Volvo Ocean. "'Returning to our roots'".
  21. ^ "Revised Course for Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18". sailingscuttlebutt.com. 26 January 2017.
  22. ^ "How to win". volvooceanrace.com.
  23. ^ Scoreboard
  24. ^ "Fatality Confirmed of Fishing Vessel Crew Member"
  25. ^ Scoreboard
  26. ^ Histoiredeshalfs. "WOR60-VOR60-VO70=V065 Alphabetic List".
  27. ^ Volvo Ocean Race. "Volvo Ocean Race 2017/2018 Scoreboard". Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links edit