Volvo Ocean Race- 1 November 2011
by . on 1 Nov 2011
Welcome to Sail-World.com's Volvo Ocean Race Newsletter for 1 November 2011
This is the first of two Volvo Ocean Race newsletters to be sent ahead of the start of the Volvo Ocean Race which gets underway from Alicante, Spain on 5 November.
The Sail-World VOR newsletter is one of a series of newsletters which will be sent over the coming 12 months, covering the Volvo Ocean Race, the 2011 ISAF World Sailing Championships, and the 2012 Olympic Regatta. We're not quite sure of the total newsletter count that will be sent but expect it to be over 5million across the three publications.
In this edition, sent to 115,000 subscribers, we preview the race, and also cover the first Inport Race, sailed in Alicante on the weekend.
For those who missed the coverage of the Inport Race we have the full Youtube replay link in this edition. It is very good viewing despite all the things that we were told made for boring sailing in that other event.
Yes, the Inport Race features monohulls, sailing slowly (well they get up to 11kts at one point). No tacks - the legs are just straight line reaching and running courses. Light airs. Commentary by established and well known sailing commentators. Should be terrible television, if what we were told by The Footballers was correct. But it isn't - in fact to our surprise, we were riveted.
Sure the race was a bit of a crapshoot, and it is disappointing that 20% of a leg points hang on this, given that prior to the start of Leg 9 in the 2008/09 Volvo Ocean Race, Puma Racing and Telefonica Blue were separated by just one point.
Should a transoceanic race be determined by points for a lights airs exhibition race? We don't think so.
One of the reasons Sail-World is running this newsletter is because of the high quality coverage that has been available on previous Volvo Ocean Races, and we are very confident that this will step up further in this latest edition. Certainly if what we saw from the Inport Race is any indication, we are all in for a treat.
Another reason is that the torrent of reports make it quite difficult to follow the VOR, unless you stay across it at least twice a day. We expect that this weekly summary will help you at least fill in the gaps, signal what is coming up, and let you read the best of the coverage for the week that was.
Our regular Sail-World racing newsletters will continue, and will cover all aspects of sailing as usual - with any special breaking Volvo Ocean race news.
While the fleet is reduced for this event to just six boats, it is a very high quality fleet indeed - and ahead of the start no-one is game to predict the outcome. The 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race has succeeded where no other has before, which is to pull the very best from all aspects of trans-oceanic sailing into one race.
Rest assured the sailing fans and media are on the edge of their seats to see who will win this arm wrestle. Check out the preview story, including short video clips from each skipper in this edition to bring yourself up to speed with the quality of this field.
Before the Main Event starts, The Legends - the great boats from previous Whitbread Round the World Races and Volvo Ocean Races - will will race together renewing some of the old rivalries, and giving fans the chance to see some of the classics racing again. We will be covering this event in the next edition of Sail-World's Volvo Ocean Race newsletter.
The third edition will be published a day or so after the start of the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race, and will cover the start and opening stanzas of the first leg.
Thereafter we will be publishing weekly, while there is racing underway.
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride!
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
Editor@Large/i>
nzeditor@sail-world.com
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