2008

It continues the adventure, but in this occasion with a totally innovating route. Instead of the route of the 3 ends, the VOR will pass through Asia crossing seas of incredible beauty.

The VOR is possibly regata more savage, in whom they dispute to the victory the most radical monocoques of the world. One of the hardest, exciting and enriching tests that to us the world of the sport offers nautical. Before well-known like the Whitbread race for being the name of its English sponsoring creator and, the Volvo Ocean RACE is an event of first magnitude, a “circus” in the style of the formula one, in which each equipment comes sponsored by an important trade name to do against the millionaire quantity of its expenses.

Their boats of a little more 20 meters of length are authentic bolides of the sea, able to go literally more express than the same wind. It is possible? If, since for example with a wind of the traverse of 20 knots, these boats reach speeds of about 25 knots, and with more force they can get to reach near the 40 knots of speed! And this is a barbarism since on the sea the speeds do not have anything to do with which we are customary to move us in our highways.

The VOR constitutes a true competition in that the best ones struggle, in which fight record of the world like obtained in the past edition when sailing 541 nautical miles in 24 hours on a monocoque. A test of hardness and firmness by the terrible conditions in which stages of about 10,000 kilometers with winds sail, sometimes calmed, other storm times with waves per mountainous moments.

So that all we pruned to live it in direct, the organization offers videos from her page volvooceanrace.tv. From this edition, within each crew she goes enlisted a journalist exclusively dedicated to cover the day to day of each boat.

Besides the important stages, 7 coastal tests that will take place days will be celebrated before beginning each stage.

Alicante the 04 of October of 2008

Singapore the 10 of January of 2009

Qingdao the 07 of February of 2009

Rio de Janeiro the 04 of April of 2009

Boston the 09 of May of 2009

Galway the 30 of May of 2009

Stockholm the 21 of June of 2009

These regatas that are followed directly in the place by thousands of fans have great interest and a very important value in the obtaining of points. The one that in the end accumulates major number of points, will be the winner of the present edition.

If in a test or stage 8 boats participate, 8 points to the winner will be granted. The flying goals contribute half of points, so that not only it is important to arrive first in each stage, but is important to go in head during their development to pick up more score in the flying goal. Regatas coastal will score like a flying stage, with half of points. In each stage, each boat will receive an equal number of points to the number of participants at the beginning of regata except the number of boats that have finalized the stage before the own boat.

An exciting route

The Volvo Ocean RACE 08/09 will visit a total of 11 ports throughout the 37,000 miles of regata, during the 9 months that the competition lasts. 

Alicante

City in which every time a greater culture oriented to the candle competitions exists, besides offering perfect facilities as anfitriona corresponds to the city.

Located to 180 kilometers to the south of Valencia it soothes of the last America glass, Alicante and its environs agglutinate up to 20 nautical mairinas and clubs with more than 12,000 boats.

With their protected port and extensive plains to their back, went the door to Spain for the Romans and port also dedicated to the exports, not only by the marble that was extracted of very near places. Now also it is out port of the Volvo Ocean RACE with renewed style.

Cape Town

Aim of the first and longest one of the stages, are dominated by its immense mountain of flattened top. In Cape Town two of the greatest oceans of the world, East Indian and the Atlantic converge. Cape Town has been place of welcome for navigators worldwide being at the moment one of the centers of more important business of the world. In this port the crews will resupply themselves and will repair their boats before entering themselves in the South Indian Oceans and Pacific.

In Cape Town the visit of the cableway is worth the trouble that will make us enjoy the leafy vegetation. Enormous trees, tropical gardens that are entered until the very same city, and throughout the landscape infiltrates within the modern and optimistic city.

Cochin

Long ago neuralgic center of merchants of spices and retailers worldwide, is nowadays one animated and cosmopolitan city, within the arm of the sea of Kerala.

It offers a mosaic of cultural diversity, maintaining his composition multi-ethnic, in which they are celebrated multitude of festivales of all the religions.

Cochin, is an increasing center of the technology of the information, tourism and international trade. Besides being the most important center of spice export, also it offers an important commercial center for the market of gold and the textile sale among others.

The shipyard of Cochin counts on the greatest facilities of India dedicated to the construction of boats, and its port is one of the most important fishing ports of the State.

Singapore

Ultramodern city that offers great resistances between the modern buildings and the oldest Singapore. It is a commercial center of first order with great galleries and neon lights. It is enough to know his impressive airport with aspect enormous botanical garden and enormous electronic bazaar of gadgets to know it waits for what us in the city.

The normal days are lived with tranquility but everything becomes frenetic when the reductions begin. Singapore appears like `Small Red Point' in the final end of the peninsula of Malaca in many important maps. The city has been developed much from the times in which the carts went distances by men. The bucólico landscape the past has been transformed skyscraper and a multicultural society. Chinese, Malayan and the Indians comprise of a community along with American and European emigrants, where each maintains its own identity, its religious traditions and their beliefs.

Qingdao

Famous by his recent Olympic Games, it will give shelter nautical to the Chinese equipment that participated now in America' s Cup and, new destiny for the VOR in China. Well-known Qingdao as the city of the candle, has jumped to the fame and now is synonymous of location of high level for nautical events.

Qingdao is in addition one concurred tourist beach and large city disorganized with 7,5 million inhabitants, to 560Km to the north of Beijing. Their origins date from 6,000 years ago, and in his near mountains of Laoshan it appeared the Taoísta philosophy.  In 1891, the imperial court Qing restored a military trimming here and after the defeat of China in the Wars of the Opium, the German troops occupied the city until the beginning of World War I, when she invaded it to Japan.

The 1919, their inhabitants revealed and took the streets protesting against the Japanese occupation. In 1922, China again recovered the sovereignty that was seen totally ratified after the Japanese defeat in World War II. Of the German occupation constructions of Bavarian aspect persist, that contrasts strongly with the Eastern architecture that is complemented with a center of the city of urbanism that competes with the one of any western city

Rio de Janeiro

A city that cannot stop knowing by its beauty, ebullient nature, the so special atmosphere and Latin flavor. River has of everything, with vibrant carnivals, indescribable beaches like the one of Copacabana, trembling music, sun and beautiful girls. In River the forest comprises of the landscape in which the arms of the ocean are intermingled.

His views are impressive like those of the famous Redeeming Christ with their arms abiertos on the city. They intermingle the architecture done by the man with a design created by the own nature, in perfect harmony. More than 10 million people they inhabit the city that was capital of the most important Portuguese colony.

From the near mountain of the Sugar Bread, we will descry a panoramic one to the Bay of Guanabara and to the city. River has everything, from 100 kilometers of beaches to footpaths that are entered in the forest of Tijuca from the same city.

Boston

A sophisticated city that is lost its traditions and no their original character, like for example the street and red brick the buildings of Charles Street. It will recognize in his buildings the testimony of his colonial origins, that are mixed with extensive parks that great beauty.

The most famous city of the New England even offers a multicultural reality in the cooking aspect, and with a fame able to attract until the inhabitants of near New York. To go of purchases in Boston offers a stranger variety of commerce, between which they are mixed from stores of the main marks of world-wide fashions to amazing stores to the purest style of the New York Soho.

Galway

Again we are in old Europe. Ireland will receive in one of the last stages the fleet of the Volvo Ocean RACE. The legendary bay of Galway will welcome during 2 weeks in the VOR70 in its modern industrial city.

This city, cradle of high tech companies, is the one that is located more to the west in all Europe. The urban nucleus is Eyre Square, a small and leafy park very concurred, as much by day as in during great part at night. Closely together one is the pedestrian street Shop Street and the old castle of Lynch, where, according to the legend, in 1490 the mayor had to execute in the gift his own son, culprit to kill a Spanish visitor.

The Shop Street offers the trembling heart of the leisure of Galway, with restaurants and bars in abundance that at night offers Irish music and many young visitors.

Behind the monument to Columbus it is the Spanish Arc, rest of a defensive wall constructed by the English when they fought against the Spanish Navy in 1588. A stroll river arrives takes until the bridge Salmon to us Weir Bridge, where the fish catches to tons year after year, while they go of way river arrives until the place where they lay eggs.

Marstrand

We are in a small island in the coast of Sweden, in which the fishing of the herring was its main industry. When this it disappeared in 1800 the salación houses were turned into spas and the city transformed into the center of a new industry and tourism.

Besides the sea, Marstrand offers other attractions like its strength of the century XVII that confirmed the Swedish dominion of the area and that soon happened to be used like jail. Its round tower offers spectacular views around the archipelago if it is able to reach his top after an ascent in spiral of 100 meters. Marstrand is a place frequented by artists and is full of galleries that to enjoy: exhibitions, photograph and crafts.

Stockholm

The Swedish city with views abiertas to the sea, rebosante as much of life as of channels. It is the biggest city of Sweden with near a million inhabitants. Like State Capital, Stockholm is soothes of the government and the Swedish parliament. It was founded on the small island of Stadsholmen, place today known like the city old and exactly located between the Malaren lake and the Baltic Sea. Altogether, an omnipresent element is placed on 14 islands, being the water. The city counts on 57 bridges that allow to circulate between the different districts. Venice of the North is also called.

Stockholm is located in an important archipelago, constituted of numerous islands - a paradise for the inhabitants of the city who enjoy the weekend there.

Like all the Scandinavian cities, one is or communicated very by sea with the other important cities of his surroundings, like coastal Helsinki or Copenhagen and other cities of Germany and Poland.

Saint Petersburg

In this Russian city, everything rezuma history and everything is movement. Saint Petersburg is the soul and heart of the country, cosmopolitan city that is to taste with its famous real past like capital of the country for more than 200 years.

Innumerable palaces of the time of the czars, numerous museums and churches and an increasing prosperity. We do not have to stop visiting the Strength of Pedro and Pablo, constructed by great Czar Pedro Great, the founding one of the city. 1712 one became the capital and for their construction the best architects and Russian engineers and Germans were used to be able to recreate authentic Venice of the North. Their sources of inspiration were the Venetian channels and of Amsterdam and proposed that there were boats like means of transport by the system of channels.

The strength, located in front of the Palace of Winter, became political prison later. The strength is a city in himself, dominated by the cathedral of Pedro and Pablo, and in her is the tomb of Pedro the Great one. In its museum of the Hermitage the white and green building of three plants has 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 117 stairs and than 1,000 rooms and rooms more decorated of a splendid way. Than 2.7 million objects collected more by Catherine the Great one.