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Overview
In 1972 England's Whitbread brewing company and the British Royal Naval Sailing Association agreed to sponsor a yacht race around the world called the 'Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race'. Times and sponsors have changed, but without fail the globe-circling ocean regatta has been held every three years since.
The route often changes slightly from race to race in order to accommodate different ports of call. This year’s race reaches ten cities in nine countries. Beginning in Alicante, Spain on October 4, 2014, the course goes via South Africa, United Arab Emirates, China, New Zealand, United States, Portugal and France before finishing in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 27, 2015.
Still sounding relatively leisurely? Not for long.
Each entered team consists of nine crewmembers who race day and night for more than twenty days at a time on some legs. No fresh food is eaten - instead the crew lives of freeze-dried fare for the entirety of their time on board. They experience enormous temperature variations ranging from around -5 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius, and endure all of this in a single change of clothes.
In total, teams will cover 73,886 across a route which according to Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad “has never really been part of any ocean race any time before… when you have that element there’s a new strategy, there’s a new route, there’s new weather, there’s new challenges for the sailors.”
Despite these conditions, the sailors competing are passionate about the race, and fight tooth and nail for victory which makes for a thrilling spectacle which fans can enjoy online at the official website which has in-depth coverage of the teams and their voyages, or live during the teams stopover in Auckland this month.
Auckland stopover schedule:
March 12 Practice races
March 13 Heineken pro-am races
March 14 New Zealand Herald in-port race
March 15 Start of leg 5 to Itajai (Brazil).