Volvo Ocean Race- And when the race is over.... + Video

by Camper Media and Daryl Wislang on 18 Jul 2012
Camper, the second placed boat in the Volvo Ocean Race, has returned to her Spanish home. She will visit the Copa del Rey in Palma de Mallorca.

Sponsored by the Mallorcan footwear company Camper, the return of the joint Spanish and New Zealand flagged boat, marks the end of a round the world adventure that started with the yacht’s baptism at the RCNP in September 2011 and the race start from Alicante in early November 2011.

Camper has carried the burgee of the island’s yacht on its round the world odyssey visiting six continents and ten stopover cities on its 42,000-mile race course.

Camper, won the final leg of the race from Lorient (France) to Galway (Ireland), and finished second in the overall Race as well as finishing second overall in the InPort race series.

Camper also clinched the IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record for the greatest distance over 24 hours when they recorded 566 miles during Leg 8 and Camper Media Crew Member, Hamish Hooper, also won the Inmarsat MCM Award for his outstanding onboard coverage of the nine-month event.

This is an outstanding achievement for a first time entry in the world’s most prestigious round the world races.

'We are very proud of our achievements in the Volvo Ocean Race, and equally proud that we are able to welcome Camper back to Mallorca as the worthy runners up in this amazing event. It has been a true adventure for Camper to be part of this race. As a sponsor, we were the only privately owned company in the event and, in true Camper style, managed to punch well above our weight both on and off the water.'

'We are very proud of the achievements of Chris Nicholson, Roberto Bermudez and the crew of Camper, as well as the incredible support of the Camper shore crew. As a result of their exploits we have managed to promote our brand to a global audience and we have made a new group of Camper fans around the world.'

'Only time will tell how this will live in the history books, but for us at Camper, this experience will live with us forever and we are honoured that the boat is coming back home, even for a few days, ' commented Estanislao Carpio, Camper.

Camper left Galway Ireland early on Tuesday morning en route to the Mallorcan city and arrived ahead of time on Tuesday July 17 .

Earlier, Daryl Wislang updated from from onboard Camper:

For many the Volvo Ocean Race is over, but there are a luck few that get to stay on and help the shore crews get the boats back to where they will be 'snowballed' until someone decides that they want the thrill of sailing on a Volvo Open 70. To experience the speeds, noise and just how wet these boats really are you have to sail on one. Many people will never get the chance. I have been made skipper of Camper with the responsibility of getting the boat back to Alicante via Palma in one piece.

We have put together a great team of people for this trip, Nick (reserve crew member for Mike Pammenter), Adam Minoprio (trimmer), Spider (aka Adrian Gray) (team boat builder), Guy Endean (boat builder and 'diver'), Josh (son of Rob Salthouse), Jess Sweeney (our weather and nav guru) and last but not least the guy that has had the biggest smile on his face since he took the wheel for the first time, our guest crew 'Fletcher' all the way from sunny Wellington.

We left Galway reluctantly, everyone had such a good time there and with a second overall the team was pretty happy. We were seen off by the shore crew and a sad Neil Cox, he had been looking forward to this trip since the start of the campaign. He has been called away to help sort out our time in Palma, where we are returning to Camper's home town and one of our home clubs, the RCNP as well as doing some sailing with Camper guests during the Copa Del Rey.

The weather had been looking great for the trip down with a predicted four days until we reach Gibraltar and another three up to Palma. We all thought it was too good to be true. We set off under J2 and full main which we soon reduced to one reef, we were sailing at 90TWA which is probably the wettest angle you can get on these boats and we had 80 miles until we were clear of the land.

This was the perfect time for everyone to get on the wheel and get used to sailing one of these boats. It was smile after smile as we were sailing along at 20 knots and above. It didn't matter that it was cold, it was refreshing to see so many people enjoying the thrill that we have had around the world.

After clearing the Blasket Islands we bore away and hoisted the FRO, we were off heading due south at fast but very comfortable speeds. We are now 100 miles from the top North West corner of Spain, the water has stopped coming over the deck and the temperature is slowly getting warmer.

We hope to be passing Gibraltar in the next two days where it should be time for some shorts and t-shirt sailing.

Now she is safe at home in Palma and tied up at the RCNP. The crew will be there for the rest of the week, taking people out sailing and opening the boat up for tours.