Volvo to Stop in Newport

The Volvo Ocean Race unveiled its full route for the 12th edition today, including Newport, Rhode Island, in the US...

Newport Harbor. Photo Copyright © Nautical Sites Media

  

The race, often called "sailing’s premier round-the-world race", will take place in 2014-15. The route will take the sailors to 10 cities in nine countries – Spain, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, China, New Zealand, United States, Portugal, France and Sweden – and will require the teams to cover almost 40,000 nautical miles over nearly nine months of racing.

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The total course distance will be 39,895 nautical miles – equivalent to 45,910 miles or 73,886 kilometers. The Race will start on October 4, 2014, day of the first In-Port Race in Alicante, and finish almost nine months later with a final In-Port Race on June 27, 2015 in Gothenburg, the Swedish home of Volvo. The Newport leg, which is the only US location the contestants will visit, is expected to take place in the spring of 2015.

“This route has never really been part of any ocean race any time before,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad. “And 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. That is exciting, not only for us but for the sailors because no-one can claim they’ve done this before.” About Newport, Frostad stated, "Newport is a new port in the Volvo Ocean Race, although Newport is probably one of the capitals of sailing around the world."

Warning: Watching this video might make you want to sail every port on the race's route!




More on the race at volvooceanrace.com