Media reach was generated through a multi-channel communication approach with a sharper online focus including the official website, broadband TV, a mobile portal in partnership with Ericsson, a highly successful online game and use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. 

“As the media world evolves into a more online community, we have had great success with our online properties and new media areas. Our official website had over 89 million visitors with over one million fans visiting more than 100 times and the Official Game was a run-away success with over 221,768 players from over 180 countries,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad.

The cumulative broadcast audience was 1.3 billion.  Over 3,300 hours of coverage was generated through 11,000 broadcasts in 46 different territories on 217 channels globally. This resulted in a television media value for Volvo alone of USD107 million. 

It was also significantly improved by the introduction of new territories on the racetrack and China, for example, delivered an audience of 600 million, 45 per cent of the race total.  Programming reached Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Central Asia, the Far East and the Pacific Rim in countries as diverse as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Iran, Iraq, Latvia, Slovakia and South Korea.

“We are very happy with the numbers we have generated in the 2008-09 edition of the race. Not only have we surpassed the previous race in media reach, but we have increased our value in new territories such as India and China,” Frostad added.

Print stories about the crews’ ongoing battle against the forces of nature were featured in publications ranging from mass-circulation newspapers and lifestyle magazines to specialist titles with niche readerships.

The event generated 13,038 press cuttings in 15 monitored territories, providing a cumulative circulation of 606 million, a 104 per cent increase on the previous race.
The combination of TV and print gave Volvo a media value of USD 116.5million, an increase of 34.6 per cent, and a syndicate media value of USD 279.4million, an increase of 52 per cent.

VITAL STATISTICS

Online
• English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese websites received 23,855,785 visits combined – 27.5% increase over 2005-06

• 4,060,0928 unique visitors to www.volvooceanrace.org  – 15.7% increase

• 89,596,892 million cumulative online audience (visits) from all Volvo Ocean Race online properties

• 83.62% of the audience visited the site more than once

• 63.27% of the audience visited the site more than nine times

• Over one million users visited the site more than 100 times

• The biggest single day (Monday, 15 June, leg nine) drew 200,351 visits to the four sites

• Daily average during race legs was 125,256 visits

• 95,352 was the highest number of unique visitors

• 10,147,842 total visits to all race viewers

Online Articles
• 30,202 online articles

• 101 countries published online articles

• 3181 online sites carrying stories on the race

Mobile Platform
• 10 million mobile page views delivered to over five million visits

• Every second of the race, somebody was hitting the server

• Mobile traffic increased by 150 per cent over 2005-06 race

Online Game
• 221,768 registered players from more than 180 countries

Broadband
• 1,199,892 visitors to www.volvooceanrace.TV 

Print
• 1.619 billion readers – cumulative readership from 13,038 articles

• Cumulative print circulation 606.7 million – 104 per cent increase

Broadcast
• 1.327 billion viewers cumulative TV audience from 11,057 broadcasts, from 46 different countries provided over 3,386 hours of coverage

• 400 news outlets from 62 different countries downloaded a total of 10,463 video news clips

Radio
• 1.168 billion listeners, cumulative radio audience from nearly 1,500 broadcasts

Media Value TV and Print
• 54.2 million USD* average TV and print media value for each team’s main sponsor.  *This figure represents the top seven teams

Images
• 4473 images distributed to publications in 103 countries

• Over 3,000 registered users

• Over 160,000 image downloads

For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Press Officer (Race HQ – UK)
Tel +44 1489 554 832 Mob +44 7801 185 320
lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.com 

Or
Sophie Luther – International Press Officer
Tel + 44 1489 554 858  Mob +44 7595 116 797
Sophie.luther@volvooceanrace.com

Full press information can be read and downloaded from http://press.volvooceanrace.com

Editors’ Notes: The Volvo Ocean Race
• The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in the Spanish port of Alicante in the autumn of 2011.
• The boat design is regulated and built for speed whilst safety remains a key concern.
• The first 31,250 nautical-mile race first took place over 35 years ago (as the Whitbread Round the World Race 1973-74), testing the crews against some of the most ferocious elements that man can encounter.  The 2011-12 race will be the 11th edition of the event. 

To unsubscribe from this service, please send return email with the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject heading.

Published today by dakini Media, London, and voted the Best Sports Illustrated Book at Sportel, Monaco in early October, this is the story of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, ripping and roaring through the seven seas – from Spain, past Africa and on to Asia, round the Americas and back to Europe. It’s a story of endurance, deprivation and adventure.

This stunning book is written by novelist and navigator Mark Chisnell and is available in English and Spanish. 

It charts the tale of some of the world’s best offshore sailors who left Alicante in October 2008 in pursuit of victory in the Volvo Ocean Race. It follows them through the ensuing nine months as they endured every possible emotion, their human story intertwined with the raw elements of nature and the extraordinary technology on which their success, and sometimes even their survival, depended.

It is illustrated with striking photography from a team that both followed and participated in the race, including Rick Tomlinson, whose work has been featured in National Geographic.   A team of eight media crew members (MCMs) raced around the world capturing the drama as it unfolded and among them was Rick Deppe, PUMA’s MCM,  who was also a cameraman for the Emmy Award nominated Discovery Channel documentary, Deadliest Catch.

Author, Mark Chisnell, said: “The latest Volvo Ocean Race was a fantastic event with so many memorable moments to bring alive in the book. It was quite a challenge to capture all of it in words, but I tried to apply the lessons about story-telling that I’ve learned from writing my novels.  The book looks beautiful, the team did a great job on photography, picture selection, design and production and I want to thank everyone involved for their fantastic efforts”.

Also available in addition to Spanish Castle to White Night, is a special Nordic edition – High Seas High Stakes (English language) which includes an Ericsson Racing Team prologue and epilogue written by Sean McNeill, a sailing writer and active racer, and imagery by premier Swedish photographer, Oskar Kihlborg.  Each book includes a race highlights DVD of over two hours, making it a must-have at €40 plus postage and packing. 

Spanish Castle to White Night (English and Spanish) and High Seas High Stakes (Nordic edition) are available to buy online at http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/book/ for immediate delivery. 

For review copies and further media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer (Race HQ – UK)
Tel: +44 1489 554 832: Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org 

Full press information can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org 

Images
High resolution images can be downloaded from: http://images.volvooceanrace.org   
Tim Stonton, Picture Desk Manager Email: images@VolvoOceanRace.org 
Tel: +44 1489 554 867 Mob: +44 7816 975 355

About the Author
The author, Mark Chisnell, has combined writing and professional sailing for over 20 years, publishing nine works of fiction and nonfiction, and contributing to some of the world’s leading magazines and newspapers, including Esquire and The Guardian. He has also won three offshore sailing world championships, and sailed as navigator with six America’s Cup teams.

About the Publisher
Publisher dakini Media specialises in creating image-led books of exceptional quality, which bring a subject to life through innovative design and engaging narrative. Investing in high values of production dakini ensures that each book is positioned at the pinnacle of its genre.

Editors’ Notes: The Volvo Ocean Race
• The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in the Spanish port of Alicante in the autumn of 2011.
• The boat design is regulated and built for speed whilst safety remains a key concern.
• The first 31,250 nautical-mile race first took place over 35 years ago (as the Whitbread Round the World Race 1973-74), testing the crews against some of the most ferocious elements that man can encounter.  The 2011-12 race will be the 11th edition of the event. 

To unsubscribe from this service, please send return email with the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject heading.

“This is the first time the race organisation has had a process in place to draft the Rule together with the sailors and teams to this extent,” commented Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad. “What we have come up with, I believe, are the right changes at the right time,” he said. “What this Rule does is limit what it takes to win the race, therefore making winning it more achievable and entry into race more attractive to a larger number of teams,” he explained.

Changes include a move to furling or hanked headsails – no headfoils are allowed and a reduction from 24 to 17 race sails per boat. A single-boat team can only build 15 new sails prior to the race, and a team using a new boat and a second generation boat can build only 23 pre-race sails. Stacking of sails and equipment is restricted to the mid section of the boat below deck.

There are also strict limitations on masts and appendages. The total weight of the yacht has now been increased so that it must fit into the weight range of 14,000 – 14,500 kg, and a maximum keel fin and bulb weight has been set at 7,400 kg.

“Everything has to meet the safety test,” said Race Director Jack Lloyd. “Nothing we have changed in the new fin arrangement and the weight of the fin and bulb will take us back to the keel issues of 2005-06. The biggest message that came back from the designers and sailors was ‘don’t change too much’. The boat is fast and it is strong. The furling headsails we have introduced are aimed at keeping crew off the foredeck as much as we can. That is a major danger area given the weight of water coming across the bow,” Lloyd said.

The limit of the construction of only one new boat per team is a new feature; however, a team is permitted to campaign an additional second generation boat. There is a total ban on two-boat testing before the race and if a single-boat team is using a separate second generation training boat, which they do not enter in the event, the team is limited to only 110 sailing days during 2010.

In addition to the 2,000-nautical mile qualification run, which has been a feature of the Notice of Race for some years, each team must now compete in a new 600-nautical mile qualification race, which will be held prior to the race start in Alicante.

The crew limit for an all-male or mixed team remains at 11, including the Media Crew Member (MCM), but new this time is the requirement for three crew members to be born on or after 1 September 1980. A female team can, however, comprise a crew of 14 including the MCM, representing three additional crew members over an all-male crew. No additional crew members are permitted onboard for in-port racing, which this time will be held in each stopover port.

The points system has also been overhauled and points for offshore legs will now be multiplied by five, and scoring gates multiplied by two. The in-port races will not attract a weighting and points will continue to be awarded for the best performances over two races to be held on each in-port race day.

Frostad confirmed that the key objectives when drafting the Volvo Open 70 Rule and the Notice of Race were:

• to reduce costs for participating teams

• to ensure improved safety and reliability of the boats

• to ensure that the Volvo Open 70 Class maintains its status as the fastest and most spectacular offshore racing monohull

• to ensure that an entrant can be competitive with a second generation boat from the 2008-09 race

To examine the full detail and all the changes made to the Volvo Open 70 Rule and Notice of Race, you can download your copy here: http://noticeboard.volvooceanrace.org/

For the in-depth story: www.volvooceanrace.org

To watch an interview with Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad about the New Volvo Open 70 Rule and Notice of Race: http://www.volvooceanrace.tv

For a high resolution graphic with the key points of interest: http://images.volvooceanrace.org/

For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer (Race HQ – UK)

Tel:  +44 1489 554 832 : Mob:  +44 7801 185 320 

Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org

Sophie Luther – International Press Officer Mob:  

+ 44 7595 116 797 

Email: Sophie.Luther@VolvoOceanRace.org

Full press information can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org

Images

High resolution images can be downloaded from: http://images.volvooceanrace.org

Tim Stonton, Picture Desk Manager

Email: images@VolvoOceanRace.org

Tel:  +44 1489 554 867  Mob:  +44 7816 975 355 

Broadcast

For broadcast-standard video supporting this press release, please go to: www.thenewsmarket.com/volvooceanrace .

If you are a first-time user, please take a moment to register. For assistance, please email journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com.

Editors’ Notes: The Volvo Ocean Race

• The next Volvo Ocean Race will start in the Spanish port of Alicante in the autumn of 2011.

• The boat design is regulated and built for speed whilst safety remains a key concern.

• The first 31,250 nautical-mile race first took place over 35 years ago (as the Whitbread Round the World Race 1973-74), testing the crews against some of the most ferocious elements that man can encounter. The 2011-12 race will be the 11th edition of the event. To unsubscribe from this service, please send return email with the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject heading.

The objective of the project is to bring together a group of companies, which will be prepared to support Italia 70 throughout its entry in the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Italia 70 has already acquired the Volvo Open 70 Ericsson 3, winner of leg five of the 2008-09 event, which, at 12,300 nautical miles, was the longest leg to date in the 36-year history of the event.  The decision to opt for a tried and tested boat means the team can begin training immediately and be as prepared as possible for the start in Alicante, Spain,  in the autumn of 2011. 

In order to create and consolidate a new generation of ocean sailors, Italia 70 will draw on Italian yachtsmen and women to build an Italian national offshore racing team, which will showcase Italian sailing talent and skill around the world as the race progresses.  The Italian Sailing Federation, together with Giovanni Soldini, will develop the first Italian ocean sailing school in parallel with the Volvo Ocean Race.

Italia 70 wants to take a fresh approach to sport based on respect for the environment. Together with a pool of contributing companies, the team will develop relationships with national universities and research centres, which will help them to test environmentally friendly solutions ranging from energy management to waste disposal.

The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly The Whitbread Round the World Race), has always held enormous appeal for Italian yachtsmen.  The first race, back in 1973-74 had three Italian entries: Guia skippered by Giorgio Falck, CSeRB skippered by Doi Malingri and Tauranga skippered by Eric Pascoli.

The last fully Italian entry was Brooksfield skippered by Guido Maisto in 1993-94. Italy’s Leonardo Ferragamo entered two boats in the 2001-02 event, the first run under the new name of Volvo Ocean Race, but both Amer Sports One and Amer Sports Too were made up of international crews.

The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will start from Alicante in 2011.  The class of boat to be raced will be the Volvo Open 70, currently the fastest monohull racer in the world.  The Notice of Race and Class Rules will be published later this autumn and the course will be confirmed next year.

For media information on Italia 70, please contact:

IMAGINA
Tel: +39 02 29403573 
Email: info@studio-imagina.it

For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer (Race HQ – UK)
Tel: +44 1489 554 832: Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org 

Full press information can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org 

For the latest news, feature stories, images and video, please visit www.VolvoOceanRace.org

Volvo Ocean Race Broadcast Footage
For broadcast-standard archive video, please go to: www.thenewsmarket.com 
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For assistance, please Email: journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com

The race organisation is sifting through the findings of a rigorous evaluation of every element of the race and has sought opinion from a large number of stakeholders in a series of round table discussion in Rio, Boston, Galway and Stockholm.

CEO Knut Frostad and a team including technical consultants Ken McAlpine and Bill Edgerton, and working in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, have focused on cost-containment while safeguarding the competitive element of the event.

There are some solid foundations in place for the future of the race including the establishment of a new race headquarters in the Spanish port of Alicante.

In a recent Q&A on the official race website, Frostad confirmed that momentum was building towards the next edition of the race. "We have had a huge response from ports around the world wanting to become part of the event. We have undertaken a thorough review of the race and sought feedback from a number of stakeholders," he said.

During the live blogs run on www.volvooceanrace.org over the final legs of the race, a lot of feedback was received from the web audience.  Areas such as the time gap between the position reports and whether we should continue with StealthPlays, plus, what the criteria should be for stopover ports were hot topics of discussion.

We welcome your thoughts on what you enjoyed most about the 2008-09 race, what didn’t work for you and how you think the race could be improved. Send your views to opinions@volvooceanrace.org.

We will publish comment and opinion on our website and provide responses to any specific questions.
For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer (Race HQ – UK)
Tel: +44 1489 554 832: Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org 

Full press information can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org 

For the latest news, feature stories, images and video, please visit www.VolvoOceanRace.org

Images
High resolution images can be downloaded from: http://images.volvooceanrace.org 
Tim Stonton, Picture Desk Manager Email: images@VolvoOceanRace.org 
Tel: +44 1489 554 867 Mob: +44 7816 975 355

Q: What have been the main differences in your experience of the race from competitor to organiser?
A: There are so many stakeholders in this event with so many objectives it is extremely important to crystallise an overall strategy and a set of objectives that work for everyone and enable you to work together towards a common goal.

Of course the overall objective of the teams is to win the race and to maximise the return on investment for sponsors. This race is really about managing expectations, about managing the unforeseen and the unpredictable whether, you are a sailor or a CEO.

You have learn to deal with things at very short notice. A lot of things in the world are predictable, this race is not. As organisers, this is also a race around the world. As organisers, often we don’t know what we are dealing until it lands on our table. You have to shoot from the hip to some extent. I like the challenge of dealing with that unpredictability. It is very similar to racing.

Q: What challenges have you faced in organising the 2008-09 event?
A: Actually I’ve discovered that we get thrown a lot more challenges than I imagined we were going to get. This race is a huge mountain to climb and the satisfaction of getting on top of those challenges is immense even if you don’t win. It is the essence of this race whether you are a sailor or an organiser. Green Dragon has been a good example of that.

It has been a struggle for them to get to the start line but they have worked really hard to get round the world in this race and at the same time they have performed very well on some legs. They can look back now and feel proud that they did something really big. Similarly we set ourselves tough objectives as organisers and I am pleased that in most case they were met.

Q: What do you see as successes?
A: It is impossible for me to compare the last race as a competitor with this race as a CEO because I am not looking for the same issues. As a competitor you don’t really have a sense of how big the crowds were or how media coverage was generated because you don’t really have that focus. So, the only measurement I can go on are the numbers we recorded. From a competitive aspect, the biggest positive for me was the closeness of the racing.

This has been the toughest competition in the race’s history, the closeness of the racing between the fleet has been exceptional. So many teams have been on the podium. The margin of Ericsson 4’s victory was only nine points. We could have easily had another boat other than Ericsson 4 winning.

Although Ericsson 4 has been talked about a lot as being superior she hasn’t been that superior. I could see that there could have been another boat winning overall. Telefónica Blue or PUMA, for instance, could have won this race if things went right for them in certain areas and on certain legs. Still Ericsson 4 did a great job and deserved their win in every way.

Another highlight was the globalisation of this event. It had a very strong international flavour among the sailing crews, the race village visitors and the media. The footfall figures were much bigger in this race. The crowd numbers we had in Alicante, Galway, Stockholm, Cochin and Qingdao were huge. That has been really positive. We have demonstrated that the event works on new and innovative platforms like the mobile channel and the online game where we had over 220,000 players from over 180 countries.

Q: How have the new territories embraced the race?
A: It is extremely important for the race to explore new regions and new countries such as China. The public reception the race received in Qingdao, for instance, was enormous with nearly 400,000 visitors to the race village. China accounted for 65% of WAP traffic on the race’s mobile channel. Through a partnership with CCTV, we reached an audience of over 260 million by the midway point of the race and the Qingdao stopover attracted 420 journalists from eight different countries.

One of our objectives from the Qingdao stopover was to bring awareness of sailing to the country and stimulate interest and ultimately involvement among young Chinese sailors. The fact that we had a Chinese-Irish boat in the 2008-09 race and having Chinese sailors among the crew of the boat helped that process enormously.

China has managed in a very short period of time to become a very big player in the Volvo Ocean Race. China took the race for what it is and said it’s an extreme sport, round the world, a huge challenge and Guo Chuan, the Chinese sailor on Green Dragon, did a good job. It was a refreshing and positive approach.

Q: Where do you see areas for improvement?
A: In some cases we have made it way too hard for ourselves. We started too late. Even three months before the start there was a lot to do. There were a number of things that could have been done earlier. We have to acknowledge that for organisers, competitors and stakeholders, time is the most valuable asset.

Ericsson started earlier than the other teams, that’s why they were better prepared and why their all-round performance was better than their rivals. It’s the same thing for us, time is absolutely essential. So for 2011-12 we need to get going much earlier.

Q: How are plans progressing for the 2011-12 race?
A: There are some solid foundations in place for the future of the race. The port of Alicante has committed to hosting the start of the next three editions of the race. The race headquarters will also locate to Alicante where we will have the infrastructure to begin the planning for the next event.

We already have a commitment from a number of syndicates to participate in the next race and the port bidding process is well advanced. We have had a huge response from ports around the world wanting to become part of the next race. We have undertaken a thorough review of the race and sought feedback from a number of stakeholders.

We have focused on cost-cutting while safeguarding the competitive element of the event.  We have identified areas where we can make saving across the board for entries in the next race. Commercially we have never been stronger even in a difficult economic climate globally. Even in tough times, you have winners and we absolutely shall be one of those winners.

Q: What is the provisional entry list looking like?
A: From a competitive sense we have close to 50 teams at various levels that are interested. There are a lot of names that I always wanted to see in this race that are now interested in getting on the start line. That includes competitors and sponsors and particularly the French. There is a real hope that we will have a French team in the race.

Among the present fleet, the majority is looking to participate again with the same sponsors. I can’t recall that happening before. We had Ericsson returning from last time and you could argue that Telefónica is the same company coming back from 2005-06. Now we also have PUMA and Delta Lloyd working on getting on the start line. That is very positive. The race is a really a great opportunity right now.

Q: How different will the new rule be?
A: Obviously the new rule takes account of the full-scale review we have been undertaking during this race. It will reflect in particular the areas of cost savings we have identified we can make in certain areas. Those are savings that are easily achievable. We have looked at absolutely everything to see where we can make those savings.

We have managed to do as much as we could in the time frame we have set. For sure if we had more time we could have done even more, but at some stage you have to say, this is it. You have to have a cut-off point. We are working towards announcing the new rule at the end of September.

Q: What are your aspirations for the race in the long-term future?
A: I have thought a lot about how we take this race forward and how we develop it. Although we are looking at what works in other sports, we also have to remember what the core of this event is. The unpredictability is one of the core elements that makes this race unique. The fact that we are taking this race around the world creates that type of environment. We have to ensure that we are as well prepared as we can be for when those surprises arrive.

The global platform is unique for our race along with the heritage and history we bring with us. I want to widen our audience way beyond where we are today. Based on what we achieved in the 2008-09 race and the platform we have built for 2011-12 and beyond, the future looks very bright.

Full press information can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org 

For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer
Tel: +44 1489 554 832: Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org 

It was good to see how our mates held off PUMA, as we were right behind them, and could follow their tacking match.

Early this morning we though we were back in the mix for first place,  but the leaders got a puff of  breeze and extended from  being 200 metres ahead to four miles ahead, while we were parked up in no breeze. In the meantime, Ericsson 3 closed up two miles and was actually ahead of us at one stage.

But, with a brilliant last beat into the finish, we secured third place and caught up enough with the leaders to follow their match. 

After the finish, no big celebrations, just big hugs for every crewmember. I think it hasn’t sunk in yet that it is over. Even that is was early hours, there was a big pile of spectator boats out there, and at least they have seen some action.

My last words for this quote are for my team onboard. Thanks to you all, we have shown the world what a team is. You guys have been brilliant!   I wouldn’t be surprised to see all of them back in two years time.

Cheers.

Bouwe Bekking – skipper

No work list for the boat.  No crew briefing planned.  No sail upgrade list. I am guessing the primary goal of the next few days is to get plenty of the local Vodka supply down our gullets in celebration of this extraordinary
feat.

We just sailed around the world.  I have never uttered or written that sentence before.  I never thought it would be something that was on my personal agenda.  In fact, I remember personally promising a few times that I
would never do this race. 

We did it, along with an amazing team that I am indebted to for the rest of my life.  A group of individuals that came together as a sailing team and shore team, and most importantly – a cohesive team.  And not a moment too soon, I might add. 

We finished very strongly even if we were nipped by a quick Telefónica Black this morning for the final leg win.  Good for them, and good for us by continuing our streak of first and seconds to six straight.  Pretty nice way to finish up and nice proof that we had something good with our team and our beautiful boat.

"il mostro” took us around the world in safely, quickly and in style. There has never been a boat like it and likely never will.  It showed off the true PUMA colours.  Fun, exciting and sport changing.  I am indebted to PUMA for giving us this chance and I hope all at PUMA has enjoyed the ride right along with us.  They took a chance with us and with the sport of sailing.  And hopefully we have been good ambassadors for them in our sport and in the sporting world in general.  As Jochen Zeitz says, "the Volvo is the Rock and Roll of sailing".  And clearly, PUMA is into Rock and Roll.

We are of course hugely indebted to all of our teams, friends, fans and relatives.  You can now go back to trying to have a good night’s sleep without waking every three hours for the next sched.  I am sure that we were not the easiest team to follow as we certainly had our ups and downs, but for sure, we knew how to keep it interesting!  Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

To Volvo and all the folks that keep this race going –t his is a chance of a lifetime.  It is the absolute best event in sailing.  And will only get better.  It wouldn’t happen without all the hard working people behind the scenes.  And the volunteers at each of the stops.  You all make this really fun for us.  In fact, I couldn’t have imagined that the sport of sailing would have ever evolved into what this race offers.  Amazing.

So, for now I am signing off.  Every sailor and shore crew has earned a bit of time off and I plan on having a good sleep and trying to make heads or tails of what has happened over the past nine months.  It went by so fast.  I for sure know that my life will never be the same.  Kathy, Tory and I have experienced the world -Volvo style – and we are all the better for it.

So long for now.

Kenny Read – skipper

Spanish skipper, Fernando Echávarri said, “It’s a prize for all the crew and all the shore crew. We have been trying to do it in all the legs but couldn’t; this was our last chance. We had a nice battle with PUMA in the last 100 miles. We are really happy.

"It has been really difficult. We prepared the boat for light conditions and the first 150 miles we had more wind than expected so we suffered a lot. Then it got lighter and we got faster. We have been fighting with PUMA, Telefónica Blue and Ericsson 3 for the last 250 miles. It has been really close. It has been like a match race. I don’t know how many tacks we have done! It is a great way to finish the Volvo Ocean Race. I am really proud of everyone in the group. They have done an excellent job."

Victory for Telefónica Black was hard-fought and a match race developed with PUMA, who had led the fleet for the majority of this 400-mile sprint from Stockholm.  At just after midnight GMT and while on the additional triangle added to lengthen the course, Telefónica Black gained a small advantage, which translated into a two and a half boat length win, denying PUMA a second leg win in a row.  However, with a total of 105.5 points, PUMA takes second place overall. 

PUMA skipper Kenny Read said: "Congratulations to all those guys, they have worked very hard for their first leg win. We will take our second and our second overall. You know what? We just sailed around the world. I guess I said a thousand times that we know no other way but to make it hard for ourselves.  It’s a shame, because we usually win these close battles and today we didn’t.

"The big picture is we finished this race, everyone is safe and the boat has been spectacular. We flew the flag well for Volvo and I think we flew the flag well for PUMA. We have everything to be proud of. Relief is the right word. Right now, it is relief and, as always, we are a pretty tired group onboard. Let the celebrations begin because all the group deserves it."

Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) filled the third spot both on leg 10 and overall, to close the team’s account on 98 points.

Bekking said on finishing: "We’re tired and hungry! It has been full on. Lots of tacking. It was a beautiful leg in that it was sunny. But we have been a bit unlucky. That’s how it goes. But well done to the Telefónica Black boys, they deserved to win. They had a superb leg. Good for them. We were all very close. It is a very nice feeling to have finished and got all the boys home safely. We had a podium finish which is nice as well."

Fourth place finishers tonight and fourth overall with 78.5 points was Ericsson 3 and Swedish skipper, Magnus Olsson was exhausted.   "I feel so tired I cannot say anything! Everybody is happy because they have sailed around the world, but they are also very tired. After a day or two we can say more intelligent things. You always want to do well in every leg, but this was special because it was the short one and the last one. We were up there so we are happy, but we couldn’t keep up until the finish. They beat us fair and square."

Runaway overall leaders, with a final tally of 114.5 points and nine points clear of PUMA, Torben Grael and his 10 crew of Ericsson 4 finished this leg in fifth place.  In an interview with Guy Swindells, skipper Torben Grael, who raced every offshore leg with the same crew, was reflective in his comments as overall victory in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 finally became a reality.

"I think it is a mixed feeling because we know this is the end of the story for the project. It’s a funny feeling because some of these guys you have never met before and you become like brothers. Now we go our own ways and it’s a strange feeling.

"On the other hand it has been a long race. It was a very long race around the world. We are completely drained and tired so I think everyone is looking forward to a nice rest. We have had a wonderful time. We enjoyed our training time in Lanzarote and the race as well. We have had our ups and downs, but it has been fun. After we won, it was a bit of a relaxing leg. It has been so intense and so consuming so I think it is normal that after you achieve your goals you relax. I am very glad for Telefónica Black and Fernando and his guys for winning this last leg."

Green Dragon kept her slender lead over Delta Lloyd to finish the leg in sixth place, and fifth overall with 67 points.

To conclude the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, Delta Lloyd, the only generation one Volvo Open 70 to compete in the race, finished shortly after Green Dragon to finish the race on a total of 41.5 points. 

Skipper Roberto Bermúdez said: “We made a good job and everyone enjoyed their time. Everyone is happy and that is the most important thing. It started well but then there was some fighting with the Dragons. They did a fantastic job with the manoeuvres and I say congratulations to them for that. It has been fun.”

Ian Walker, skipper of Green Dragon, should have the last word:

 “It is a privilege to sail in this fantastic race and I am very proud to have had the chance.  I am proud of every member of our team, and I am proud of what we have achieved together.  We promised to give it everything and to never, ever give up and that is exactly what we have done.  We haven’t won this race, but we have won many battles and achieved more than many dreamed possible.  It has been a very special year.”

The full story of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 is chronicled in Mark Chisnell’s book, Spanish Castle to White Night, published in October.  Order your copy now: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/book/

Overall Leaderboard (provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 114.5 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA):  105.5 points
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 98.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 78.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 67.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 58.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 41.5 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Leg Ten Finishing Order St Petersburg
1. Telefónica Black
2. PUMA
3. Telefónica Blue
4. Ericsson 3
5. Ericsson 4
6. Green Dragon
7. Delta Lloyd

For elapsed times, please go to the Data Centre on the official Volvo Ocean Race website: www.volvooceanrace.org/rdc/ and navigate to the Data Tables.  You will find the elapsed times are under Position Data.

Full press information including a full breakdown of the final podium winner’s results can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org 

For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer (Race HQ – UK)
Tel: +44 1489 554 832: Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org 

Sophie Luther – International Press Officer (in St Petersburg)
Mob: + 7 921 593 59 14
Email: Sophie.luther@volvooceanrace.org

Images
High resolution images can be downloaded from: http://images.volvooceanrace.org 
Tim Stonton, Picture Desk Manager Email: images@VolvoOceanRace.org 
Tel: +44 1489 554 867 Mob: +44 7816 975 355

Broadcast
For broadcast-standard video, please go to: www.thenewsmarket.com 
If you are a first-time user, please take a moment to register.
For assistance, please Email: journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com

Radio/Audio
For all radio reports/interviews audio requests, please contact:
Guy Swindells (English)
Mob: +44 7710 295 995, Email: guy.swindells@VolvoOceanRace.org or
Amanda Blackley (English, Spanish and French)
Mob: +44 7548 543 215, Email: amanda.blackley@VolvoOceanRace.org

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