Volvo Ocean Race

It takes 8 months, covers 31,000 nautical miles of treacherous seas over 9 legs, in the process visiting 10 ports around the world. Starting in Alicante, Spain in October next year, the race is punctuated by a series of stopovers at well-know ports.  Auckland will stage the leg-four finish from Sanya in China. From Spain, the yachts travel to South Africa/Cape Town, then on to UAE/Abu Dhabi, China/Sanya, NZ/Auckland, Brazil/Itajai, USA/Miami, Portugal/Lisbon, France/Lorient, and finish in Ireland/Galway.

The Volvo Ocean Race takes place every three years, the 2001-2002 race was the last time that Auckland was a stopover port and the formidable occasion drew crowds in the hundreds of thousands. Formerly known as the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race will bring more vibrancy to Auckland's waterfront and the city will be reaping many more benefits with the opportunity to show its energy to the world.

Meet Volvo. Find out why the Volvo Ocean Race is actually called Volvo Ocean Race! Meet the companies behind the name...read full story