Curtains close on Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06

by Sacha Oswald, Volvo OR Media on 21 Jun 2006 With the conclusion of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 over the weekend of the 17 June witnessed by 120,000 people in Göteborg, Sweden, the winners came together in the presence of HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and HRH Crown Princess Victoria to accept their trophies.

One thousand people congregated at the Swedish Exhibition Centre, Svenska Mässan de Göteborg, to congratulate overall race winners ABN AMRO ONE and to recognise the achievements of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 crews.

Before the main trophies were presented, a few special awards were handed out, including the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean Watch Environment Award which was the first award of the night. The overall winner of the award was chosen from the winning entries from the previous legs and was decided though an online poll by employees of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. Lena Blomqvist, Vice President Environment Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, presented the award to Brasil 1.

The second prize of the evening was the GANT Time 24 Hour Record Award. During leg two from Cape Town to Melbourne the crew of ABN AMRO TWO smashed the World Sailing Speed Record for distance covered within 24 hours when they achieved 562.96 nautical miles. As well as having the accolade of calling themselves the fastest monohull crew in the world, the crew were also the proud recipients of GANT watches.

Media played a key part in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 and as well as racing the boats, the crew were also tasked with sending back daily emails, photographs and video footage, no easy feat when you are crashing through waves and being bounced up and down. All of the teams did an incredible job and gave race followers a unique insight into life onboard and ‘life at the extreme’. After considering all of the recipients of the Media Award over the duration of the race, the judges felt that one team stood out in their efforts and the award was presented to the crew of ABN AMRO TWO.

HRH Crown Princess Victoria took to the stage to present ABN AMRO ONE with the overall in-port race winner’s trophy before a special award was presented by movistar skipper Bouwe Bekking and General Manager Pedro Campos.

The award was presented from movistar to ABN AMRO TWO in special recognition for the support they provided in rescuing movistar during leg seven of the race. ABN AMRO TWO skipper Sebastien Josse and Jan-Berent Heukensfeldt-Jansen, the Managing Director of TEAM ABN AMRO, received the plate that was a symbol of gratitude from movistar to ABN AMRO TWO.

After dinner, Leif Johansson, President of AB Volvo and CEO of Volvo Group, and Fredrik Arp, President and CEO Volvo Car Corporation took to the stage to present the trophies for the overall positions from seventh to second in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.

Then came the moment that everyone had been waiting for, the presentation of the Waterford Crystal Fighting Finish Trophy which was presented by HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden to Mike Sanderson (NZ) and the crew of ABN AMRO ONE.

The final award of the evening was another special award which was presented by Glenn Bourke, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.

With ABN AMRO ONE securing the overall race victory, this took one crewmembers race win tally up to three, a feat that no-one so far had accomplished. New Zealander Mark Christensen won a special award for being the first person to win the race three times – onboard EF Language, Illbruck and ABN AMRO ONE.

With the announcement of Volvo’s continued sponsorship of the race and the date set for 2008-09, the curtains closed on the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 with the excited mutters of who would be back for another slice of the action and to experience ‘life at the extreme’.


Final Leaderboard
[position/team name/skipper/race points to date]

1st ABN AMRO ONE, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 96.0 pts

2nd Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 73.0 pts

3rd Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 67.0 pts

4th ABN AMRO TWO, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 58.5 pts

5th Ericsson Racing Team, Neal McDonald (GBR) 55.0 pts

6th movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 48.0 pts

7th Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 15.5 pts



The Volvo Ocean Race

- The Volvo Ocean Race is a round the world yacht race featuring nine offshore legs, over 31,250 nautical miles. The 2005-06 features an inshore race at each of the main stopover ports.

- Four teams from the last race measured the media value of their exposure. The results showed an average of US$50 million, which equates to a 200-300% return on their sponsorship investment.

- The Volvo Ocean Race 2001-02 achieved a cumulative audience of over 800 million viewers ranking it among the top international sporting events.

- Further information can be found at www.volvooceanrace.org.