The Volvo Ocean Race is planning radical changes to the racecourse, its stopover formats and the timing of future race activity – moves that will further strengthen the sporting integrity and commercial appeal of sailing’s iconic round-the-world race.
© Ricardo Pinto / Volvo Ocean Race
More continuity, and even greater commercial value will make the sponsor-funded event even more attractive to host cities, team and event sponsors and the world’s top professional sailors and sailing teams.
The race has launched a Host City tender process for three editions after the upcoming 2017-18 race – with a commitment to there being race activity of some kind in each and every calendar year. That marks a clear evolution from the current situation, which features a gap of over two years between races.
And while the race is committed to two more starts from its home and key partner in Alicante, Spain, some future editions could start and/or finish outside Europe, Race CEO Mark Turner revealed at special event in Gothenburg.
New racecourse options to be selected over the coming decade include a non-stop leg around Antarctica, and even a full non-stop lap around the world.
The dates of the three races after the upcoming 2017-18 edition have not yet been decided, but the sequence could start as early as 2019. Under instruction from the Volvo Ocean Race Board, the race is investigating the feasibility of a switch to a two-year cycle from the current three-yearly one.
“What’s important from both commercial and sporting perspectives is that there is more continuity and more action – and that there is a return on investment every budget year of a Volvo Ocean Race campaign,” said Race CEO Mark Turner.
The 2017-18 edition, starting from Alicante on 22 October, will visit a total of 12 Host Cities in a race lasting more than eight months.
Future editions may not always visit so many markets, thereby shortening their length. The race will, however, commit to visiting North America, South America, Australasia, Greater China, and at least five major European markets at the very minimum once every other edition, so that there is commercial certainty well ahead of final routes being contracted, making it easier for 2-cycle sponsor commitments to be made to teams.
“The race will always go around the world and will always take the teams through the Southern Ocean but over the next decade, we’ll be bringing in a new approach to where we go, when we go and how we go there while staying true to our core DNA. “
In addition to varying the routes of the race, Host Cities will be able to choose from a range of flexible stopover formats – from a 24-48 hour pit-stop, to short-format stopovers of five days, through to traditional, longer ‘two weekend’ stopovers.
For the first time, potential Host Cities will be able to bid for not just for race stopovers but for more permanent bases and activities that bring significant economic value in addition to the actual race stopovers.
They include bases for Volvo Ocean Race Academies, venues for the sustainability Ocean Summits and future iterations of The Boatyard, which is currently based in Lisbon, Portugal. The Boatyard is responsible for the refit of the boats between races, and will also now take on the actual finishing and assembly of both new boat fleets, to be completed in 2019. Locations for the pre-race assembly period, and the stopovers of the mandatory Leg Zero race qualifier also offer strong commercial value to potential stopovers.
The offer to all our future partners is stronger than ever. These race evolutions will make the Volvo Ocean Race even more attractive to potential Host Cities, and specifically, we have a lot more inventory that they can bid for.
Mark Turner, Volvo Ocean Race CEO
The Volvo Ocean Race began life as the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973 and the next decade will take in the 50th anniversary in 2023.
To mark the anniversary, a special edition race starting in 2023 may shadow part or all of the original route or there could even be a separate ‘golden jubilee’ race featuring race legends and older boats. Either way, the bidding process for 2023 will carry special additional value.
