"I believe we are making the right changes at the right time: these rules reduce the cost of winning a Volvo Race, making participation attractive to many more teams (...) At the same time, we continue to ensure that the Volvo 70s remain the fastest and most spectacular monohulls in the world."
At the presentation of the revised rules for the next edition of the race, Volvo Ocean Race manager Knud Frostad was optimistic that the event will defy the economic crisis.
In fact, the framework conditions, some of which have been extensively revised, appear to show that there is a willingness to put the brakes on costs in particular. In view of budgets of 10 to over 30 million euros for one team, this is certainly not a bad decision. However, the new rules have not only changed the technical parameters, but also the format of the event itself.
In future, there will be an in-port race in every stop harbour, for which crew changes and technical changes to the boat will no longer be possible. The scoring system will also be changed. A new weighting of the points awarded will increase the value of stage wins, while the scoring gates and in-port races will be slightly reduced in importance. The start port for the next three editions of the Volvo Race will be Alicante in Spain, as it was last time. The other routes and finish ports will not be announced until March 2010.
However, the centrepiece of the new rule is the limitation of the technical effort that teams are allowed to make in order to win the race. The most important changes:
- Each team is only allowed to build one new boat. Two-boat campaigns such as the recent Ericsson and Telefonica campaign are still possible, but the "A-Team" is no longer allowed to use the second-built, further developed boat after testing.
- New builds may no longer be optimised through comparison runs. Boats of the latest generation may be used for this purpose, but only in the last eight months before the start if they also take part in the race. Otherwise, the number of permitted training days will be limited to 110 for 2010.
- The keel and fin may only be modified once, and only one replacement rig and boom may be provided. The rudder and centreboards may be modified/replaced twice.
- The number of sails will be reduced from 15 before the race and 17 during the race (previously 24).
The route is clear: the large lead that well-financed two-boat campaigns have had in the last two editions of the race due to the enormous technical research and development effort is to be reduced. In this way, teams that found a sponsor late, such as Green Dragon recently, should still be able to be reasonably competitive. The organisers hope to finally have a double-digit starting field again in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
