Volvo Ocean 60

The Whitbread 60 (W60) or Volvo Ocean 60 (VO60) was the forerunner to the class of racing boat designed for the Volvo Ocean Race, the Volvo Open 70. The Ocean 60 class were first used in the sixth race, the 1993–94 Whitbread Round the World Race, in which 10 of the 15 entries were W60s. They were so successful the very next race, the Whitbread Round the World Race (1997–1998), limited entry to only the W60 class of yachts.

Comparison of Ocean 60 and Open 70

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Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. Originally named after its initiating sponsor, British Whitbread brewing company, it today carries the name of its current owner, Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo Cars and Swedish multinational manufacturing company, the Volvo Group. Presently, the Netherlands holds the record of three wins, with Dutchman Conny van Rietschoten the only skipper to win the race twice.

Though the route changes to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs Europe in October, and in recent editions has had either 9 or 10 legs, with in-port races at many of the stopover cities. The 2008–09 race started in Alicante, Spain, on October 11, 2008. The route for the 2008–2009 race was altered from previous years to include stopovers in India and Asia for the first time. The 2008–09 route covered nearly 39,000 nmi (72,000 km), took over nine months to complete, and reached a cumulative TV audience of 2 billion people worldwide.

Volvo Open 70

The Volvo Open 70 (sometimes referred to as a Volvo Ocean 70) is the former class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was first used in the 2005–06 race (replacing the Volvo Ocean 60 yachts which were first used in 1993) and use a Canting keel which is capable of canting transversely up to an angle of 40 degrees. According to the VO70 rule, the yachts can be made from glass fibres, aramid fibres, or carbon fibres (which were not allowed for the VO60’s).

The Volvo Open 70 is not a singular yacht design or boat but rather a set of design rules to which competing boats must adhere. This is similar to the concept to the design and construction rules that define a racing car. Competing teams design and build boats within the scope of this rule to try and come up with the fastest boat for the expected conditions of the race.

Version 2 of the VO70 rule which “has been further developed to apply the lessons learned on the last event and ensure the continuing evolution of this outstanding class” was released in September 2006. A revised VO70 rule, version 3, has been released in 2011.

Volvo Ocean 65

The Volvo Ocean 65 is the successor to the Volvo Open 70 yacht used in past editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. It was announced at a conference in Lorient, France during a stopover in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race. It has officially been announced that the yacht will be used in at least two future editions of the race (2014–2015 and 2017–2018 editions, respectively), marking the first time in its history that the Volvo Ocean Race will become a one-design event.

Design

The yacht was designed by Farr Yacht Design, to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70. After many safety concerns in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, many began doubting the safety of the Volvo Open 70, due to many designers opting for faster designs, while failing to meet safety requirements. Current Volvo Ocean Race CEO, and four time competitor Knut Frostad hinted at a new boat design to address the current safety concerns in a statement he made during a press conference on April 4, 2012 stating: "It's important that we don't leap to any conclusions about why these breakages have happened. Some of them are clearly not related. However, we will take the current issues into account as we make decisions on rules and technology we will be using in the future." Frostad also went on to say "We have already put in a lot of work, discussing with teams, designers and all other stakeholders about the boats and the rules we will use in the future, and we expect to be in a position to announce a decision on that before the end of the current race."