History

History

In 1972 England's Whitbread company and the British Royal Naval Sailing Association agreed to sponsor a globe-circling regatta, which would be called the "Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race”.

17 yachts and 167 crew started the first race of 27,500 nautical miles, which began from Portsmouth, England on September 8, 1973. Approximately 3000 spectator boats set out to witness the historic start.^[5]

From 2001 the sponsorship of the race was taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars and the race was renamed the ‘Volvo Ocean Race’. Stopover ports were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe.

The worst weather conditions are usually encountered in the Southern Ocean where waves sometimes top 100 feet (30 m) and winds can reach 60 knots (110 km/h).