[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] The Volvo Ocean Race is to move its headquarters from the south coast of England to Alicante, Spain. The Mediterranean city will become both the start port and the home of the race for the next three editions.

The announcement was made at a press conference today in Boston after the signing of an agreement between the Volvo Ocean Race and the Spanish regional government of Valencia.

“This is a great moment for the Volvo Ocean Race,” Knut Frostad, the race CEO said in revealing details of the alliance. “One of our goals, as we’ve looked ahead to the next race, has been to establish long-term relationships with our stopover ports, and, for economic reasons, to base our headquarters in one of the stopover ports. But this only makes sense when both parties can make a long-term commitment. And that’s the partnership we are announcing today with Alicante.

Signed, sealed, delivered. Alicante becomes the center of the Volvo Ocean Race for the next three editions. Francisco Camps, President Region Valencia, with Knut Frostad, Volvo Ocean Race CEO. Boston, 7 May 2009. Photo copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race

“Spain has played a significant part in recent editions of the race. Spanish sailors outnumber all other nations in the current competition and Spain has shown consistently that it understands event culture, and how to organise sporting competition.”

Francisco Camps, President of the Region of Valencia said: “The impact of hosting the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante last October was very positive for the city, the region and all of Spain. Today’s agreement means Spain will build on its status as a centre of excellence for sailing for years to come.”

Volvo Ocean Race headquarters, which has been in Hampshire, England since 1998, will begin the process of moving to Alicante following the conclusion of the current competition at the end of June. The Volvo Ocean Race will be based in Spain by the end of this year, where its headquarters will remain for the next three editions of the race.

“There are many other elements to the partnership with Alicante,” Frostad said. “These include initiatives to ensure the participation of at least two separate Spanish teams in each of the next three races.”

The agreement will also see the construction of a race museum and interactive exhibition that celebrates the 36-year history and heritage of the race. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2010.

“The museum and interactive exhibition is very important for us,” Frostad added. “This race has a long and storied history. The museum and interactive exhibition will celebrate that heritage and provide a link between our future in Alicante and our past racing around the world.”

In addition, the port of Alicante has agreed to make itself available as a home to any of the teams in the current race after the finish in St. Petersburg at the end of June.

The announcement of the start port is separate from the bidding process which was recently initiated for international stopover ports for the next edition of the race. That process will finish by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

In October, before the start of this race, it was confirmed that Volvo would maintain its support for the race. At the previous stopover last month, in Rio de Janeiro, Knut Frostad held the first of a series of ‘roundtable’ sessions where details of the next edition of the race and the results of this consultation process are revealed. The next session is scheduled for Sunday in Boston, when more of the proposed rule changes will be explained.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

If one is to believe Valencia’s leading newspaper, Las Provincias, the Volvo Ocean Race will start from Alicante again, not once, not twice but three times. According to an article that appears in today’s edition, the president of Valencia’s Region, Francisco Camps, will fly to Boston this weekend in order to sign the final agreement with the round-the-world race organization, as announced by the president`s press office.

The Volvo Ocean Race fleet is currently in Boston, having finished the sixth leg of the race and the in-port race will take place on Saturday.

According to the same article, the next edition of the race will be in 2011 and the following ones in 2014 and 2017. Although the route of the next edition hasn’t still been finalized, one thing is for sure, it will again start in Alicante. The intention of the organizers is to announce the final route sometime in the first quarter of 2010.

One point that is still not clear concerns the move of Volvo Event Management UK (VEMUK) from England to Alicante. VEMUK is the body that organizes the race and it’s Valencia’s intention to convince them that it would make sense to also establish their offices in Alicante for the next 9 years.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

The Telefonica Team has published a 5-minute video from today’s race start in Alicante that gives a good idea of the tough conditions that prevail throughout most of the southern part of the Iberian peninsula, from Valencia all the way down to Gibraltar. According to the local unscientific TV weather forecast, crews should expect up to 60 knots of breeze in the Strait.

The video is obviously biased towards the two local Spanish boats.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] The long-awaited start day of leg one of the 10th running of the Volvo Ocean race dawned grey and very windy in Alicante, just as the forecasters had predicted, but it did not dampen the spirits of the 88 sailors who have been anxious to get this 6,500 nautical mile to Cape Town underway.

Nor did it dampen the spirits of His Majesty King Juan Carlos 1 of Spain and his two daughters. The Infanta Doña Elena left the dock with her father onboard Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and the Infanta Doña Cristina was onboard Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP). The royal party was then transferred by RIB to the Spanish Navy frigate Principe de Asturias where they joined Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad, to watch the start.

The Bishop of Alicante-Orihuela blessed the fleet in traditional fashion before, one by one, the crews threw off their lines, waved to the huge crowd lining the harbour and departed the basin which has been their home for the past few weeks, to the sound of their team music. Fireworks exploded over the race village, while overhead Spain’s Blue Arrows aerobatic team gave a breath-taking display. Over 900,000 visitors have visited the race village since it opened on 19 September.

Start of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race. Alicante, 11 October 2008. Photo copyright Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

Out on the race track, conditions were wild. A strong north-easterly breeze of 25 – 30 knots meant a windy start for the fleet which had to sail a short lap of the Bay of Alicante before heading back round a turning mark and out to sea. A simple breakage today could be very costly. Race winner in 1997-98 and second in 2005-06, American skipper Paul Cayard once said, “You can’t win the Volvo Ocean Race on the first night, but you can certainly lose it,” and these wise words were echoing in the minds of the eight skippers as they jostled for position on the start line.

Waves were breaking over the boats as the teams held them into the wind to hoist their reefed mainsails. Most opted for small headsails, although Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) chose a large masthead genoa.

As the start gun fired from the Spanish frigate, the fleet split, and it was Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) who rounded the windward mark ahead of PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander SWE) in a surprise third place.

Further down the fleet, the two Spanish boats, Telefónica Black and Telefónica Blue rounded the weather mark fourth and fifth followed by Team Russia. Green Dragon, who had struggled to sail as high as the rest of the fleet with their large genoa, were seventh, and Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke/IRL) completed the fleet in eighth place.

The power was on as the fleet hoisted spinnakers and smoked down the leeward leg towards the final turning mark. Torben Grael kept his pole position and led the fleet as they began their sleigh ride towards Gibraltar. PUMA maintained second place, while Telefónica Blue moved up to third and Ericsson 3 dropped to fourth. Telefónica Black slipped to fifth place and Green Dragon moved up to sixth. In seventh and eighth places, as the fleet headed off on this 6,500 nautical mile leg to Cape Town, were Delta Lloyd and Team Russia.

Start of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race. Alicante, 11 October 2008. Photo copyright Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

Weather with Jennifer Lilly, Volvo Ocean Race Weather Forecaster
Throughout today there will be a north-easterly breeze of around 20 knots. After the start, the wind speeds will average in the low 20s with possible gusts over 30 knots. The direction will generally be north-easterly, but there may be right shifts which could go as far as easterly by the end of the day.

Even more significant than the wind will be the seas. The sailors can expect swells to nearly three metres with additional wind-driven chop on top.

Both the winds and the seas are expected to decrease as the fleet heads south-west towards the Straits of Gibraltar. The question is just how quickly the conditions will calm down. For now it looks like about 12 good hours of fast sailing before things start to slow down. However, before anyone reaches the Straits of Gibraltar, the wind speeds are expected to drop below five knots.

Start of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race. Alicante, 11 October 2008. Photo copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] The International Jury has ruled that it will not re-open the case involving the keel fin of Ericsson 3.

In a statement, Ericsson Racing Team, said that they were informed of the Jury’s decision last night (10 October) at 6:30 pm, 20 hours before the start of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race.

The statement went on: “This follows a request from the team to re-open the case due to significant errors during the hearing that followed the Rules Management Group (RMG) ruling on Sept. 23.The Organizing Authority (OA) then applied to the International Jury for permission to allow Ericsson 3 to participate in the Volvo Ocean Race by invoking Amendment 9 of the Notice of Race.

“The Organizing Authority, the RMG, the International Jury, and ERT have all agreed that Ericsson 3 is a valid entry in the race and does not have any performance advantage. The International Jury ruled on 28th September that Ericsson 3 would be subject to a point score penalty for every in port race, every scoring gate and every offshore leg.

“We very much hoped that the International Jury would re-open the case. This could have allowed us to present our evidence and have a oral hearing, rather than one by e-mail,” said Richard Brisius, Managing Director, Ericsson Racing Team. “This is obviously disappointing for Ericsson Racing Team, and in particular to the crew of Ericsson 3. We are now going to put this to one side and get on with racing.”

“We came here to race against the other teams, and with a 4-point penalty by the time we get to Cape Town, we’re going to have to work even harder,” said Ericsson 3 skipper Anders Lewander. “Despite this blow, we are looking forward to racing and competing on an equal level with the other teams in the race.”

Ericsson have confirmed that they currently have a new keel in construction in Italy and the team are striving to ensure that this is ready in time for the departure from Cape Town to Cochin, India.

Last night’s preliminary response email from the International Jury will be followed by a full decision in one to two days’ time.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Telefonica Blue won the first race of the day, after dominating it from the start. Unlike what was forecast yesterday, Saturday’s conditions were dominated by light and shifty winds, up to 40 degrees at times, that, unfortunately didn’t allow the hundreds of spectator boats to truly appreciate the powerful Volvo Open 70 yachts. The race committee had to wait around 15 minutes for the breeze to settle down before firing the starting gun.

The yacht skippered by Bouwe Bekking didn’t encounter any problems in establishing and keeping a lead but the true fight was taking place for 2nd and 3rd place, between their sistership Telefonica Black and Green Dragon. The Spanish and Chino-Irish boats were alternating positions until the last weather mark. Telefonica, with a first and a second, couldn’t have asked for a better beginning of the Volvo Ocean Race.

The two Ericsson boats were a disappointment, especially Ericsson 4, the boat helmed by Torben Grael. Although it did recover and climbed positions, Grael had a very bad start by being late and getting squeezed on the committee boat end of the line.

Start of the 1st race. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Start of the 1st race. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Telefonica Blue leads at the approach to the 1st weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Green Dragon rounds the weather mark second. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Telefonica Black starts the 1st run in third place. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Preparing to hoist the spinnaker on Ericsson 4 at the weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The VOR70 fleet in the second run. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Team Russia at the weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Telefonica Blue crosses the middle gate comfortably ahead of the fleet in the second beat. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Telefonica Black and Green Dragon approaching the 2nd weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Ericsson 4 readying to hoist the spinnaker at the 2nd weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The leaders of the race in last run. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Puma approaching the 2nd weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Valencia Sailing returns to Alicante for the VOR inport race on Saturday. There will probably be no updates today Friday but, obviously, a full report and dozens of hi-res photos on Saturday.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Related PDF documents

International Jury Decision on Ericsson 3’s keel

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Ericsson 3 was today handed a scoring penalty by the International Jury for failure to comply with the Volvo Open 70 measurement rule relating to their keel.

The decision was taken after the race Organising Authority applied to the Jury for dispensation to allow Ericsson 3 to race without having been issued a measurement certificate.

Anders Lewander and his crew will be eligible to compete without that certificate but the penalty will be a one point deduction for each in-port race day, one point for each scoring waypoint and two points for each offshore leg.

The penalty will apply as long as Ericsson 3 continues to use their existing non-compliant keel. Ericsson 3’s score shall not be less than 0 points in each instance.

At issue are several cavities in the keel, which have been filled with steel rods in an effort to comply with the measurement definition of ‘solid’. Despite attempting to completely fill the cavities with a series of steel rods, some voids remain.

The total weight this represents is 0.625 kilograms. The measurers have proposed that Ericsson 3 be fitted with an equivalent corrector weight to ensure that no advantage is gained.

Reading from the written Jury decision, Bryan Willis, Chairman of the International Jury, said: “At a meeting on 28th April, ERT proposed a solution involving freezing sections of steel rod the same diameter as the bored holes and inserting them into the cavities.

“…(But) the freezing process was not used; instead, without prior approval of the RMG, rods with diameters lesser than that the voids were inserted and welded in place. The Chief Measurer observed the modification process and advised ERT representatives that the keel was still not solid and therefore in his opinion did not comply with the Rule.

“In the latter part of August 2008, ERT accepted that it would not be possible to carry out a procedure which would completely fill the holes and satisfy the requirement of the rule.

“The Jury is satisfied that, for a period of time, it was not unreasonable for ERT to hold the opinion that it might be possible to completely fill the holes and thereby become compliant.

“However, not having received approval from the RMG for any practical procedure, there became a time at which the idea of filling the holes should have been abandoned and a new keel built.

“The Jury is of the opinion that as a general principle, it is important that all yachts in a race hold a valid Measurement Certificate. This creates a ‘level playing field’ which is of fundamental importance to the sport.”

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Here is the first bunch of raw photos from the Volvo Ocean Race Village in Alicante. It is by the far the biggest ever built for the round-the-world race. The inaugural show will start in about 2 hours from now.

Part of the Village with the Telefonica and Ericsson boats. Alicante, 19 September 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Telefonica base. Alicante, 19 September 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Puma Racing base. Alicante, 19 September 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The two Ericsson boats. Alicante, 19 September 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The two Ericsson boats. Alicante, 19 September 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

The Telefonica lounge has direct views on the inshore race area. Alicante, 19 September 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Good morning from Valencia.

There will be no updates till late in the afternoon as we go to Alicante for the official inauguration of the Volvo Ocean Race Village. From what we hear it is impressive, unlike any other built for the round-the-world race.

Stay tuned for our full report.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back