rom a race perspective, the decision to switch to a one-design class paid dividends – with boats often separated by minutes and sometimes seconds, right up to the finish line. In fact, six out of seven boats won both an offshore leg and an In-Port Race during this edition.
With over 2.4 million visitors from all corners of the planet, the Race Villages saw record footfall – with a daily average of 16,326 people coming through the gates. Also, utilization of the race from a business perspective continued to grow. Since Volvo acquired the race in 1998 it has been developed every year, both in terms of the competition itself but also by taking greater and greater advantage of the business benefits.
With its global scope, the Volvo Ocean Race has become a superb platform for strengthening the brand not only for Volvo but also for the race- and team sponsors involved. A record number of more than 70,000 corporate guests received unique Volvo Ocean Race experiences, which is more than three times the previous highest number, achieved in 2011-12. This confirms the Race’s position as a key business platform for both its sponsors and Volvo Group and Volvo Car Group as the owners.
The Volvo Group companies held core value seminars at nearly all stopovers. In Newport, Volvo Group, together with Volvo Ocean Race and the stopover organisation Sail Newport, arranged a highly acclaimed Ocean Summit on the subject of marine debris.
The finish in Gothenburg created special attention amongst the Volvo companies, guests and employees and also the city of Gothenburg. A huge visitors program was set up at Volvo’s facilities and a special Family Day was arranged for all employees in Sweden. In Race Village, a separate product deck featuring Volvo Group’s product range and Museum vehicles was on display. The Race Village entrance was a combination of a bus stop/library to showcase the launch of the fully electric bus, ElectriCity.
Newport (USA) was recently announced as a stopover for the 2017-18 edition. The east coast port joins Alicante (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa), Auckland (New Zealand), Cardiff (United Kingdom), Lisbon (Portugal) and Gothenburg (Sweden) on the list of confirmed stopovers.