Volvo Ocean Race – Fourth team confirmed but to be announced later
by Volvo Ocean Race on 9 Mar 2017
Dongfeng Race Team – Volvo Ocean Race Benoit Stichelbaut / Dongfeng Race Team
The fourth team for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 is now confirmed – and will be revealed later this month.
With over seven months to go before the beginning of the next edition in October, the new campaign joins Team AkzoNobel, Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE in early preparations for the 2017-18 start line in Alicante.
Volvo Ocean Race CEO Mark Turner said: “We’re delighted to confirm another exciting campaign for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.”
The teams will depart Alicante on 22 October 2017, and race more than 45,000 nautical miles around the planet, taking in Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff and Gothenburg before the big finish in The Hague at the end of June 2018.
With boats seven and eight likely to be undergoing the stringent re-fit process at the Boatyard in Lisbon until around May/June 2017, the full fleet is unlikely to be announced before the summer.
The one-design concept has reduced the need for teams to begin their campaigns as early as in previous editions. There is no reason why a campaign getting off the ground this summer can't go on and win the trophy.
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