Volvo Ocean Race inaugurates brand new HQ in Alicante
by ValenciaSailing.com on 16 Sep 2010
Partial view of the "Volvo Ocean Race Control Room". The data and images on the screen are obviously, from the previous race but the countdown clock is real. A little more than 400 days are left until the start of the 2011-12 race. Alicante, 15 September 2010 Valenciasailing.com
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A brand new era started yesterday with the official inauguration of the Volvo Ocean Race headquarters. Although it was a purely symbolic act, the premiere round-the-world race now has a new 'home' at the Spanish city, and what a spectacular home it is.
I had already been there a few times since 2008 but I have to admit the change has been radical in the last 12 months, transforming a temporary infrastructure into a fully-fledged office building that will house the headquarters of the event for nearly 10 years.
This being a sailing and not an architectural website, the building itself, a typical open-space structure, wouldn't be of great interest if it weren't for the Star Trek-like command center of the race or what is officially called the 'Volvo Ocean Race Control Room'. It's the neural center of the race, equipped with 8 workstations, one overview station situated in the center of the room and a giant screen wall. Knut Forstad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, took great pride in this state-of-the-art control room in his (long..) talk during the official presentation but with good reason. Not only is ALL information about the race available in that room, VIP's and guests will have the opportunity to be the closest possible to the actual race, without getting wet.
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