Volvo Ocean Race to Include Stopover in Melbourne

The Volvo Ocean Race will add Melbourne to the route for the forthcoming edition starting in October. The change to the 2017-18 route means the race will visit Australia for the eighth time – but for the first time in over a decade. Melbourne will host a week-long stopover, with no In-Port Race, before the fleet leaves on Leg 4 to Hong Kong. 

Photo: Amory Ross / Team Alvimedica / Volvo Ocean Race

According to projections, the one-design Volvo Ocean 65 fleet will arrive around Christmas Day. Australia’s history with the Volvo Ocean Race goes all the way back to the first edition in 1973/74 and, in total, Australia has hosted the race seven times.

The race first came to Melbourne in 2005/06 and now returns for a second time.“We’re delighted to be visiting Melbourne again – a vibrant city of sport and culture with a strong maritime heritage,” said Volvo Ocean Race COO, Richard Mason.

Photo:Robert Blackburn

The full route now features a total of 10 legs taking in 12 landmark host cities on six continents.

The teams will leave Alicante, Spain on 22 October and race on to Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne and Hong Kong before a non-scoring transition to Guangzhou in China.

After a stopover in Guangzhou that will include a race in the In-Port Series, the ocean legs will resume with a race to Auckland before stopping in Itajaí, Brazil, Newport, Rhode Island, Cardiff and Gothenburg, ahead of the big finish in the Dutch city of The Hague.

The two Southern Ocean legs – from Cape Town to Melbourne, and Auckland to Itajaí – plus the North Atlantic leg near the end of the race, Newport to Cardiff – will all score double points. The longest leg of the 45,000-nautical mile lap of the planet will now be the 7,600 nm leg from Auckland to Itajaí.

The Volvo Ocean Race recently announced a series of major changes to the rules of the 43 year-old adventure, including a major incentive for teams to compete with mixed male-female crews.

Fastnet Race 2017/18 - Vovo Ocean Race Qualifying Schedule

Key dates in the Volvo Ocean Race Calendar:

• Alicante Race Village opens – 11 October 2017

• Alicante In-Port Race ­– 14 October 2017

• Leg 1 Start – 22 October 2017

• Lisbon In-Port Race – 28 October 2017

• Leg 2 Start – 5 November 2017

• Cape Town In-Port Race – 8 December 2017

• Leg 3 Start – 10 December 2017

• Melbourne Leg 4 Start – 2 January 2018

• Hong Kong In-Port Race – 27 January 2018

• Guangzhou In-Port Race – 4 February 2018

• Leg 5 Start – 7 February 2018

• Auckland In-Port Race – 10 March 2018

• Leg 6 Start – 18 March 2018

• Itajaí In-Port Race – 20 April 2018

• Leg 7 Start – 22 April 2018

• Newport In-Port Race – 19 May 2018

• Leg 8 Start – 20 May 2018

• Cardiff In-Port Race – 8 June 2018 

• Leg 9 Start – 10 June 2018

• Gothenburg In-Port Race – 17 June 2018

• Leg 10 Start – 21 June 2018

• The Hague In-Port Race – 30 June 2018 

The Volvo Ocean Race is the ultimate ocean marathon, pitting the sport's best sailors against each other across the world's toughest oceans since it began in 1973. Featuring almost three times as much Southern Ocean sailing as in previous editions, the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18 will be a contest over the longest distance in the race’s history - around 45,000 nm across four oceans - a total of 10 legs taking in 12 landmark host cities on six continents.

The Volvo Ocean Race has been the global sponsorship flagship of Volvo Group and Volvo Car Group since taking ownership of the Race in 1999 and it is operated as a non-profit organisation.