Volvo Ocean Race

21 June the race will be in Copenhagen

June 20, 2008 -- This summer, Volvo Cars is highlighting an entirely new sailing concept in Scandinavia called Volvo City Sailing. The event is aimed at both beginners and experienced sailing enthusiasts. On 21st June the competition can be watched in Copenhagen, in August Gothenburg and Oslo. In September Helsinki will host the race.

"It's an exciting Volvo Ocean Race in miniature designed to be both simple and enjoyable for the participants. We naturally hope it will attract a large public following," says Bengt Magnusson, project manager at Volvo Cars Sweden.

With Volvo City Sailing, the company is aiming at the wider public in the sailing fraternity, offering a variety of activities featuring well-known artists, hands-on events, festival areas and the chance to test drive the latest Volvo models.

"Volvo City Sailing is a concept that we have started in Sweden as well as a few other places in Scandinavia. If the project is successful, we will expand it to additional markets. Our aim is that the competition should gradually grow into one of the world's largest sailing competitions in terms of the number of participants," says Johan Bexell, sponsorship director at Volvo Cars.

May 29, 2008 -- The Volvo Ocean Race has confirmed Fan Pier in Boston as the sole North American stopover when the race visits the US East Coast port city in April-May 2009.

Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping in 11 ports around the world and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier global race for professional racing crews.

Agreement between race organisers to bring the race to Fan Pier has been backed by the city of Boston and has been made possible by the efforts of the local developer Joe Fallon, who is working closely with city officials to ensure a successful, world-class event at the coveted waterfront location - Fan Pier.

The entire stopover facility including berthing for the seven-boat fleet, race village, entertainment complex and haul-out area will be accommodated on a five-acre Volvo Ocean Race zone within the development site.

Two weeks of festivals and local events are planned for the beginning of May 2009, to celebrate the arrival and departure of the Volvo Ocean Race, Boston's maritime history and the sport of sailing.

The Fallon Company is owner and developer of the large-scale, 21-acre Fan Pier site. Fallon's plans for the area include a five-star hotel, offices, designer boutiques, restaurants and luxury condominiums with 360-degree views of the Boston skyline and harbour.

Portsmouth, England, 18 February, 2008 -- Norway's Knut Frostad (40) has been appointed as Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race. Frostad, who has taken part in the Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race four times, twice as skipper and manager of his own projects, will take up his position at race head quarters in Whiteley, UK, on 3 March.

With background in business management and administration, Frostad has also been a board member and industrial advisor to leading companies as well as a sought after business speaker in Europe.

Gerry Keaney, chairman of the board of Volvo Event Management and Senior Vice President of Volvo Car Corporation, said:

"We are proud to welcome a man of Knut's calibre to our team and look forward to working with him during the build up of the race and throughout the race itself. His sporting and business prowess marks him out as an excellent choice and we are very pleased that Knut has taken up the position of CEO. He is a top sailor and we welcome him onboard."

Knut Frostad said that the Whitbread/Volvo has been a big part of his life for 15 years and that this would be a dream job.

Portsmouth, England, January 18, 2008 - Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala, is confirmed as the host of the second stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in December 2008. The Indian stopover will come at the end of the second leg of the race from Cape Town, South Africa. Kochi will be the first of three new ports in Asia.

At the Abad Plaza in Kochi today, the stopover port agreement was signed by Andy Hindley, Race Director for the Volvo Ocean Race; Mr. N. Ramachandran, Chairman, Kochi Port Trust and Mr. KG Mohanlal, Managing Director, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation.

Also present at the press conference were Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the Hon. Minister for Home, Vigilance and Tourism and Dr. Venu, Secretary of Kerala Tourism.

The Kochi Port Trust, which will be responsible for organising the stopover, with the full backing of the Kerala Tourism Department, welcomed the signing of the port agreement today and is confident that the stopover will give Kochi great exposure.

"India has never hosted such a prestigious sailing event and we are very excited that Kochi has been chosen," said Mr. Ramachandran.

Portsmouth, England, 12 December month, 2007 - The Green Team will be the seventh entry into the Volvo Ocean Race. Double Olympic medallist Ian Walker is named as skipper. Reichel Pugh are the appointed designers and the Volvo Open 70 is already in build.

The Green Team has confirmed it will be the seventh entry into the Volvo Ocean Race 2008 -09, and British sailor Ian Walker is named as skipper.

Ian Walker's achievements in the last 12 years include two Olympic medals, four World Championships and being skipper and tactician for two America's Cup campaigns (GBR Challenge and +39). His most recent success has been as skipper of the TP52 Patcheswhere he worked alongside owner Eamon Conneely to secure the global championship in 2006.

As skipper of the Green Team entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, Walker will oversee both the design and build programme along with crew selection.

Saturday, 17th June, 2006, Göteborg, Sweden – Organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race today announced a raft of ground-breaking changes to the event format with the most significant being an alteration to the four-year cycle with the next race taking place in 2008-2009. The race route has also changed with port stopovers in Asia, the Middle East and the west coast of the United States under consideration. Though the exact course has yet to be finalized, the start port will be confirmed in the next few days.

The Volvo Open 70, the world’s fastest monohull, which made its record-breaking race debut in 2005-06, will also be the choice of design for 2008-09.

The announcement was made at a press conference in Göteborg – the finish port of the 2005-06 race. Glenn Bourke, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, was joined in unveiling plans for the 2008-09 event by Leif Johansson, President and CEO Volvo Group and Fredrik Arp, President and CEO Volvo Car Corporation.

‘This is an exciting time in the long and proud history of the Volvo Ocean Race [formerly The Whitbread Round the World Race]. We felt it was prudent to add new territories to consolidate the race’s position as a truly global sporting spectacle.