The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 came to a close at the weekend, but the legacy of an unforgettable event will live long in the memory, especially for one team who made sure that a special group of children were among the biggest winners (full story below).

– Team Alvimedica raise $87,000 for children’s heart charities

– ‘It was great to give something back as we sailed the world,’ says Enright

ALICANTE, Spain, June 29 – The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 came to a close at the weekend, but the legacy of an unforgettable event will live long in the memory, especially for one team who made sure that a special group of children were among the biggest winners.

Team Alvimedica’s global children’s heart health initiative raised more than $87,000 for 11 heart charities in nine stopover ports by auctioning off once-in-a-lifetime sailing experiences with Charlie Enright’s (USA) crew.

Additionally, the Turkish/American team raised another $14,500 from auctioning sailing experiences and contributing the proceeds from a special edition team bracelet to Sail Newport, the not-for-profit community sailing organisation in their homeport of Newport, Rhode Island (RI), USA.

Since the start of the race last October in Alicante, Spain, an online auction on the team’s website allowed sailing fans to bid for pro-am racing spots and the coveted “Jump Seat” to support the World Heart Health Charity Tour.

For each leg departure, a race fan could make a bid to be the team’s ‘jumper’ off the boat and see the crew in action from onboard before they headed out to the open seas.

In addition to raising the funds for the designated charities, skipper Enright, 30, of Bristol, RI, and watch captain Mark Towill, 26, of Kanehoe, Hawaii, and other crew members visited children recovering from heart disease at most of the stopovers as seen in this team video.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and affects at least one in every 100 children with between 20-40 percent of children affected needing surgery. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of American women and men.

“Team Alvimedica gave us an incredible opportunity to touch a number of local communities and it’s great that we could give back most everywhere we went,” Enright said.

“The World Heart Health Charity Tour initiative gave us a more global perspective to appreciate what else is going on in the world as we sailed around it.

“The Volvo Ocean Race provides an amazing opportunity to race globally yet give back locally – all around the world.”

Enright’s crew finished fifth in the overall standings of the race which finished on Saturday. The young American skipper was making his debut.

via A legacy of giving| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Note to editors: This version updates with new pictures, including of the prize-giving, plus full results of the race and overall standings (see below).

– Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing take overall in-port title

– Team SCA claim third in in-port series behind runners-up Team Brunel

– Drama as MAPFRE edge out Team Alvimedica

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 27 – Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) emerged victorious in the final act of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 today in the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg.

Behind him there was major drama in a race for connoisseurs of in-shore racing as MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP) outwitted Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) in the final few moments of an intriguing race.

By pushing the Turkish/American boat wide to allow Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) to slip in ahead of them (see panel above), MAPFRE ensured that they broke the tie for fourth place on countback overall, which they were sharing with Team Alvimedica after nine months’ gruelling racing.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) earned the six points they needed to win the overall In-Port Race series by edging out last-placed Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS), who have suffered in the shorter races after re-joining the event in Lisbon.

They finished just one point clear of Team Brunel in the standings.

On Monday, Ian Walker’s crew had claimed the overall offshore trophy – the main event – with five points to spare, also from the Dutch crew.

Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) sailed a canny race today to claim second place in the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg, and with it the third place on the podium for the in-port series, behind Ian Walker’s crew and Team Brunel.

Two royals had front row seats. His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain was on MAPFRE, and Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, joined Team SCA.

Both would have appreciated more than most, the intricacies of such a tactical tussle in near windless conditions.

International footballer Freddie Ljungberg (SWE) also joined Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for the race.

Overall results

Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg

1. Team Brunel – 1pt

2. Team SCA  – 2pts

3. MAPFRE – 3pts

4. Dongfeng Race Team – 4pts

5. Team Alvimedica – 5pts

6. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 6pts

7. Team Vestas Wind – 7pts

Overall In Port Race Series

1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 31pts

2. Team Brunel – 32pts

3. Team SCA – 35pts

4. MAPFRE – 37pts

5. Team Alvimedica – 37pts

6. Dongfeng Race Team – 40pts

7. Team Vestas Wind – 73pts

Overall 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race

1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 24pts

2. Team Brunel – 29pts

3. Dongfeng Race Team – 33pts

4. MAPFRE – 34pts (tie broken on better in-port race record)

5. Team Alvimedica – 34pts

6. Team SCA – 51pts

7. Team Vestas Wind – 60pts

via UPDATE: Team Brunel win absorbing Gothenburg in-port battle| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Two European royals went head-to-head here in a battle to rule the waves for the final act of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 today (full story below).

– Members of Spanish and Swedish royal families join Race fleet

– King Juan Carlos joins Spanish crew for Gothenburg in-port race

– Victoria, Crown Princess, cheers on women’s crew

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 27 – Two European royals went head-to-head here in a battle to rule the waves for the final act of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 today.

His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain joined the crew of Spanish challengers, MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP), in a seven-strong fleet for the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg, which also included Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR).

The Swedish-backed, all-women’s crew welcomed the heiress to the Swedish throne, Victoria, Crown Princess, on their boat in a race that was hampered by a lack of wind on the course.

Neither of their regal passengers was allowed to help sail their boats, but both had the perfect spectators’ positions onboard.

King Juan Carlos, 77, who ‘retired’ in 2014 to make way for his son King Felipe, said, before boarding, that he had not had the opportunity to sail on a racing yacht for four years.

He is well known for his love of sailing and a prominent supporter of the race, so would have fully appreciated Iker Martínez’s expert strategy in claiming third place.

The Spanish boat, however, could not keep up with the Crown Princess and Team SCA who finished second behind winners, Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED).

via Which royal ruled the waves?| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in history, has accepted the prestigious Magnus Olsson Award and revealed that new Volvo Ocean Race-winning skipper, Ian Walker, was a big inspiration at the start of his stellar career (full story below).

– Sir Ben Ainslie accepts second Magnus Olsson Award

– ‘We must keep inspiring young people to take up sailing’

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 28 – Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in history, has accepted the prestigious Magnus Olsson Award and revealed that new Volvo Ocean Race-winning skipper, Ian Walker, was a big inspiration at the start of his stellar career.

The prize is awarded annually in the memory of Olsson, one of the most recognisable figures in offshore sailing and a six-time competitor in the sport’s leading round-the-world race.

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben followed Brazilian Torben Grael, the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 champion, as recipient of the prize given to the sailor who has made the biggest contribution to the sport in the past year.

Olsson’s example led countless young sailors into entering the sport and he was in the process of coaching the all-female crew of Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) in 2013 when he died suddenly of a stroke, aged 64.

Sir Ben, who is spearheading a British tilt to win the America’s Cup for the first time for his country, in 2017, paid tribute to the Swede.

“Mange was an absolutely fantastic sailor but also a fantastic person, always inspiring young people into the sport and his foundation is continuing that work. Along with many other people I’m really proud to be supporting this,” he said.

He continued: ‘Young people are the future of the sport so it’s absolutely critical that we inspire them, support them, make the sport attractive so that they want to get into it and see the Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup as competitions they want to aspire to and do well in.

“The sport is doing a really good job at that at the moment.”

Sir Ben also revealed that Walker, 45, who was in the same British Olympic teams in 1996 and 2000, had fired his own ambition. Walker, skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, won silver medals in both those Games.

“It was absolutely fantastic to see Ian Walker leading Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing to winning this race. I’ve known Ian my entire career. As I started out in Olympic sailing, he was really an inspiration for me, being that bit more advanced in the Olympic programme.

“To witness his determination in his third Volvo Ocean Race to come through and win it with a really solid group of guys, was great to see. Hats off to them for a fantastic achievement.”

He also predicted that the success of Team SCA in the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, which came to a conclusion on Saturday with the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg, would inspire a new generation of young girls to take up sailing.

“Sailing is one of those great sports in which women can be competitive – from a very early age in the youth classes, all the way through to Team SCA winning a leg in this Volvo Ocean Race,” he said.

“So sailing is a real equaliser as a sport, it gives women so many opportunities. We need to get more girls into the sport and I think Team SCA’s performance will inspire  a whole new generation to get into sailing.”

Two young Swedish sailors, Lovisa Karlsson, and Emil Järudd, won prizes too for their achievements in 2014-15 and have been invited to visit Sir Ben’s newly built training base in Portsmouth, England, to sail under his guidance.

Karlsson, 20, is a Laser sailor with her sights set firmly on the 2020 Olympics. In her first senior international competitions in 2014, she qualified for the gold final at the World Cup in Hyeres and the European Championships in Split in 2014.

Järudd, 17, competed in three Optimist World Championships before sailing in the 29er class. Together with Fabian Bergman, he competed in his first ISAF Youth World Championship qualifiers last September. He plans to step up to the 49er class with the aim of competing at the 2020 Olympics.

via Award-winner Sir Ben’s tribute to ‘inspiration’ Walker| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Matt Knighton of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has won the Inmarsat Onboard Reporter (OBR) Award for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, celebrating the most challenging sports journalism job in the world (full story below).

– Knighton wins prestigious Inmarsat OBR Award

– Leading media pros’ decision based on seven hours of video, 315 photos and more than 30,000 written words

– Runners-up are Amory Ross and Sam Greenfield

GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Matt Knighton of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has won the Inmarsat Onboard Reporter (OBR) Award for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, celebrating the most challenging sports journalism job in the world.

After a gruelling nine months at sea, delivering video, photography and blogs back to shore, the €20,000 cash prize and coveted trophy were presented to Knighton by Inmarsat’s CEO, Rupert Pearce, at the final Gala Dinner in Gothenburg tonight .

Judged on creativity, quality and story-telling, the runners-up, Amory Ross (Team Alvimedica) and Sam Greenfield (Dongfeng Race Team), were also presented with €8,000 cash prizes by Pearce.

“I am delighted that the work of all nine talented OBRs, seen by a global audience of millions, has been made possible by Inmarsat’s global satellite network,” said Pearce.

“The journey of each team has reached us on shore for the past nine months and that would simply not have been possible without our reliable, global communications network and the grit, determination and hard work of the OBRs.

“They have had the responsibility of documenting everything on their journey and for telling the stories of their teams while facing tremendously harsh conditions.

“We congratulate Matt on this phenomenal achievement and celebrate the success of Amory and Sam, and of all of the OBRs, this evening.”

Inmarsat’s network made race communications possible by providing each of the seven race teams with vital connectivity throughout the duration of the race.

Through Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband 250 and FleetBroadband 500, the OBRs were able to share every moment of the race with fans and followers at home.

Knut Frosted, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race said: “The work of the OBRs is pivotal to all communications for the race. Without them, we simply couldn’t tell the story of the sailors as they take on this incredible challenge so many miles from land.

“The OBRs need to be diplomats and cheerleaders for the crews, as well as multi-talented, cross-media professionals, as they share the adventure of the Volvo Ocean Race over nine, gruelling months.

“The quality of the content produced by the OBRs speaks for itself, reaching millions of fans and race followers worldwide. I congratulate Matt Knighton, Amory Ross and Sam Greenfield on their hard-earned but very well deserved success.”

Look here for more information about the OBRs and how the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 was made possible by Inmarsat.

via Prize awarded for ‘toughest of the toughest’ job in sports reporting| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Ian Walker and his victorious Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew have the chance of a rare double tomorrow when they attempt to win the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Series Trophy (full story below).

– Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing need to avoid last place for in-port title

– Gothenburg course will be testing, warns wary Walker

– Second-placed Team Brunel haven’t given up hope of upset

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 26 – Ian Walker and his victorious Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew have the chance of a rare double tomorrow when they attempt to win the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Series Trophy.

They are hot favourites to do so, taking a six-point advantage into the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg, the final race in a 10-part series.

Only a victory for their nearest competitors, Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED), and a last place finish or a failure to complete the course, can deny Walker’s men from collecting another piece of handsome silverware.

They have already sealed the overall offshore trophy with five points to spare, again from the Dutch crew of Bouwe Bekking, after finishing fifth in the ninth and final leg from Lorient, France, to Gothenburg, Sweden, on Monday.

The offshore and in-port double is not unique in Volvo Ocean Race history – Mike Sanderson’s ABN AMRO ONE achieved it in 2005-06 – but victory would be another major feather in the cap for a region, which only entered the 41-year-old event for the first time in 2011-12 under the Abu Dhabi flag.

Walker, 45, typically, was taking nothing for granted in the final press conference for the nine-month race today.

“We try to win everything we do,” he said. “Basically, we just have to make sure we don’t finish last.

“But it’s a pretty tight race course and there’s plenty of trouble out there if you’re not careful.”

Bekking, 52, could be forgiven for being sick of the sight of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s stern after trying to catch it over 38,739 nautical miles and nine offshore legs since the race started back in October last year from Alicante, Spain.

However, he has not totally given up hope of an upset result that will rely on his opponents slipping up uncharacteristically badly.

“We will fight for it and we still have a slight chance,” he told reporters. “It would certainly be nice to win that trophy.”

The in-port race, which concludes the triennial event, will also resolve some unfinished business in the overall competition as a tie-breaker.

Team Alvimedica’s (Charlie Enright/USA) Leg 9 win in Gothenburg from Lorient, via a manic pit-stop in The Hague last week, drew them level with MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP) on 34 points, in joint fourth place overall.

The Turkish/American team currently stand two points ahead of the Spanish crew (see scoreboard), but that advantage could easily be swept away on a tight, challenging Gothenburg course.

MAPFRE were boosted by an eve-of-race visit to the boat in Gothenburg from His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain today. He will be an onboard spectator with the Spanish flag-bearers in tomorrow’s race – if the weather is good.

“I haven’t sailed for four years and I’m really looking forward to it,” he told reporters.

Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR), presently fourth behind Team Alvimedica, and, less likely, sixth-placed Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA), also have outside chances of a top-three podium place in the in-port series if results go their way.

Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS) will largely be racing for pride having missed all but the Alicante, Cape Town, Lisbon and Lorient in-port races because of their grounding in the Indian Ocean during Leg 2.

The action will start at 1300 local time/1100 UTC and so far the forecasters are predicting strong enough winds to offer the prospect of a fitting finale to a memorable and extraordinarily close-run event all round.

via Touching distance to a double| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

The Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 finishes on Saturday with the Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg. Below, we run through a leg-by-leg review of the highlights of the offshore stages, which finished earlier this week.

Leg 1: Alicante (Spain) to Cape Town (South Africa)

Winner: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR)

Highlights: It was a tactical and long race, passing Gibraltar, Cape Verde, and negotiating the Doldrums and the St Helena High. After breaking a rudder, Dongfeng Race Team went south and nearly caught up with the leaders, finishing in second place only 12 minutes after winners Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. The all-female crew, Team SCA, snatched sixth place from MAPFRE in the final miles after the Spanish team stalled under the shadow of Table Mountain.

Leg 2: Cape Town (South Africa) to Abu Dhabi (UAE)

Winner: Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED)

Highlights: The leg, which changed Team Vestas Wind’s race story, started in 40 knots of breeze, when the fleet left Cape Town. The Agulhas Current and the Indian Ocean, plus a threatened cyclone, heralded a challenging stage for the fleet. Dongfeng Race Team suffered a broken mast track – a recurrent problem for them early in this edition – but they solved it with an on-the-move repair. Then, on November 29, disaster struck. Team Vestas Wind hit a reef on the Cargados Carajos in the Indian Ocean. Chris Nicholson led his team to safety in the middle of the night, in shark-infested waters. The other six boats continued to sail to Abu Dhabi where Team Brunel claimed another tight victory. Dongfeng Race Team finished second again.

Leg 3: Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Sanya (China)

Winner: Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA)

Highlights: A first victory in the Volvo Ocean Race for a Chinese team. And what better place to do it than in Dongfeng Race Team’s home port of Sanya? But to achieve their landmark win, Charles Caudrelier and his team were made to battle for 23 and a half days. The fleet sailed through the Gulf, along the Indian coast, around Sri Lanka, and through the Malacca Strait before finally punching through the South China Sea.

Leg 4: Sanya (China) to Auckland (New Zealand)

Winner: MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP)

Highlights: This was MAPFRE’s moment of glory in the City of Sails. As they approached the Luzon Strait, Team SCA and Team Brunel tacked north. The other four boats continued across the top of the Philippines. MAPFRE had problems with the boat’s electronics and they were left effectively sailing blind before it was repaired. With Xabi Fernández as a skipper, MAPFRE bounced back to cross the line in first place.

Leg 5: Auckland (New Zealand) to Itajaí (Brazil)

Winner: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR)

Highlights: Cyclone Pam forced the race organisers to delay the leg start. The boats left Auckland three days late on Wednesday, March 18. Three teams endured Chinese gybes and most suffered some sort of equipment failure in the Southern Ocean. The conditions finally improved and Team Alvimedica led the fleet around Cape Horn. Dongfeng Race Team’s hopes were rocked when their mast broke close to the Horn. They abandoned the leg, after a brief stop in Ushuaia, Argentina, and made their way to Itajaí under jury rig and motor. The first four boats were within five nautical miles (nm) of each other at the finish, but the Emirati team had made some small gains during the night and defeated MAPFRE for first place.

via From Alicante to Gothenburg – a race we’ll never forget| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Leg 6: Itajaí (Brazil) to Newport (USA)Winner: Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA)Highlights: After the extreme Leg 5, the next stage eased up with supreme sailing conditions – and lots of seaweed. Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team had suffered bad luck when they dismasted in Leg 5, and it appeared that the curse  had still not lifted, as their electronic water-maker stopped working within a couple of days of starting the stage. Fortunately, they managed to repair it. After crossing the Doldrums, the fleet negotiated the Gulf Stream and the Chinese boat took the lead, winning Leg 6 by just three minutes ahead of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, followed by Team Brunel less than an hour astern. The perfect result for the team for the team after breaking their mast in the previous leg.Leg 7: Newport (USA) to Lisbon (Portugal)Winner: Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED)Highlights: Huge crowds waved the fleet farewell after a very successful first visit to Newport for the race. A high-pressure system above the Azores posed a dilemma for the navigators: go south on a longer, but supposedly faster route, or go direct to Lisbon on a course which could offer lighter winds. The leg had poignant memories for Team Brunel’s Bouwe Bekking, whose boat movistar sank on the same stage in the 2005-06 race. However, he proved how successfully he has put that incident behind him with a 21-minute win over MAPFRE in Lisbon.Leg 8: Lisbon (Portugal) to Lorient (France)Winner: Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR)Highlights: The return of Team Vestas Wind, following their grounding on a reef in Leg 2 and the breakthrough leg victory of Team SCA, were two of the most memorable moments in the race, never mind on a leg, which was finished in under four days in the teeth of a gale. Team SCA snatched an early lead, successfully negotiating the ‘Costa do Morte’ or ‘Cape of Death’ with its 40-knot winds and wild sea state. After a race in which they spent much of the time trailing their rivals, Team SCA finally enjoyed their moment of glory as leg winners with Team Vestas Wind making a fairytale comeback in second. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing finished third and were on the verge of lifting the trophy with an unassailable lead.Leg 9: Lorient (France) – The Hague (The Netherlands) – Gothenburg (Sweden)Winner: Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA)Highlights: The last leg featured three ports – Lorient, a pit-stop in The Hague, and the finale in Gothenburg. Team Alvimedica received their reward for their leg-on-leg improvement, grabbing an early advantage in the English Channel and building it gradually to lead the fleet into The Hague. After a short, but manic pit-stop in the sailing-crazy city, the Turkish/American boat edged to victory in Gothenburg despite a frightening moment or two in the river Göta älv, when their boat parked up as the wind dropped away to nothing. Behind Charlie Enright’s young crew, fifth-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing celebrated overall victory.

via From Alicante to Gothenburg – a race we’ll never forget| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Team Alvimedica’s skipper Charlie Enright won the final offshore battle of the Volvo Ocean Race here today, but the overall glory and trophy belonged firmly with his rival from Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Ian Walker (Note to editors: The version below updates with quotes following a news conference).

– Fifth place into Gothenburg enough to confirm 12th edition title for Emirati boat

– Team Alvimedica’s Leg 9 victory ensures six out of seven boats are triumphant in a stage

– Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team complete overall podium finishers

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 22 – Team Alvimedica’s skipper Charlie Enright (USA) won the final offshore battle of the Volvo Ocean Race here today, but the overall glory and trophy belonged firmly with his rival from Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Ian Walker (GBR).

The Turkish/American boat led the tightly packed fleet home to crowded docks in the final stopover of Gothenburg, Sweden, to bring to a close 38,739 nautical miles (nm) and nine months of some of the closest racing ever witnessed in the 41-year-old offshore marathon.

The Team Alvimedica victory underlined, once more, the incredibly close nature of competition in the first event raced with the strictly one-design Volvo Ocean 65 boats.

Only one team, Team Vestas Wind (Chris Nicholson/AUS), have not posted a leg win. They missed five legs due to a boat rebuild.

Behind Enright, in fifth place, Walker’s boat, Azzam, slipped almost quietly into port, but the mile-wide grins on all the faces of the crew told their own story: We are the Champions!

It seals one of the greatest global sporting triumphs for the Gulf region and makes Walker the first British skipper to win the overall trophy.

“I said at the start of the race that I was confident, but there are a hundred ways to lose this race, but only one way to win it. And it just all came together for us perfectly,” a jubilant Walker told reporters on the dockside.

Walker has won two Olympic silver medals, in 1996 and 2000, but added: “This is special because we did it as a team.”

He later told a press conference that the reaction back in Abu Dhabi had been overwhelming, with huge media and public interest. On a personal level, he was still waiting for the scale of his achievement to sink in.

“It’s only when I get to share this with friends and family that I’ll really process it,” he said.

Leg 9 was the last and, in many ways, the most exciting of all the stages since the fleet set out on October 11 from Alicante, Spain, full of hopes and expectations.

Team Alvimedica led the 1,000nm stage, almost from the start last Tuesday in Lorient, France, but their lead was never totally secure, despite entering the halfway stage in The Hague last Friday with a 91-minute lead over Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA).

Lighter breezes and a front last night compressed the fleet following their departure from the Dutch port on Saturday.

Just under two hours 40 minutes separated the entire fleet and Enright was still savouring his triumph after all had safely crossed the line, following a few scares, when the wind dropped briefly to nothing.

“It was very nerve-wracking,” he recalled. “But we ended up with a great result for our team and a testament to how far we have come. To end like this is really amazing.”

The Chinese boat, Dongfeng, was forced to relinquish their hoped-for second place in the leg to Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED), whose finish secured the runner-up spot in the overall standings.

Despite not being able to hold off Spanish challengers, MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP), for third position either, Charles Caudrelier’s crew still took the final podium place for third overall – an incredible result with four Chinese rookie sailors in their ranks.

Fourth place overall, though, will have to be decided in the final act of the 2014-15 edition, during Saturday’s (June 27) Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg, when Team Alvimedica and MAPFRE, tied on 34 points, will duel to break the deadlock.

Following in behind the champions, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, sixth-placed Team Vestas Wind had their own cause for celebration in finishing a race that they had looked irrevocably out of, having grounded on a reef in the Indian Ocean on Leg 2 last November.

Their sponsors, crew and shore team never gave up hope of returning, however, and the second-placed finish of the blue boat in Leg 8 to Lorient from Lisbon, will remain one of the 12th edition’s most cherished memories.

Finally, the all-women’s crew of Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR) completed the fleet’s arrivals in Gothenburg. As ever, they were competitive and right on the heels of their male rivals.

They had, however, already made their point in what has been the sole preserve of male sailing since 2001-02.

Their victory in Lorient in the leg from Lisbon proved that women can be – and are – competitive in the world’s toughest offshore sailing event.

With the huge following that Sam Davies’s team attracted and their legacy of leg-by-leg improvements, we surely will not have to wait another 12 years for another female crew to take their place in a Volvo Ocean Race fleet.

Final standings: 1) Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 24 pts, 2) Team Brunel (Netherlands) 29, 3) Dongfeng Race Team (China) 33, 4=) Team Alvimedica (Turkey/USA) 34, MAPFRE (Spain) 34, 6) Team SCA (Sweden) 51, 7) Team Vestas Wind (Denmark) 60.

via UPDATE: Victory for Team Alvimedica, glory for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.

Ian Walker, freshly crowned winning skipper of the Volvo Ocean Race, woke up this morning with the familiar feeling to all sailors in the nine-month offshore marathon: How on earth do I follow that? (full story below)

– Walker re-lives the battles that turned him into a champ

– Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper heads for celebration with backers

– Next step? ‘Rescue boat duty for kids’ summer races’

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 23 – Ian Walker, freshly crowned winning skipper of the Volvo Ocean Race, woke up this morning with the familiar feeling to all sailors in the nine-month offshore marathon: How on earth do I follow that?

That’s a particularly tough challenge for the 45-year-old Briton, who has spent the last eight years of his life focusing on climbing and winning the ‘Everest of Sailing’.

First up, on the Sunday (June 28) following Saturday’s Inmarsat In-Port Race Gothenburg is a trip back to the UAE to celebrate Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s triumph to celebrate with the backers who made it all possible.

Then, unlike many of his rival competitors who are rushing straight into a series of other sailing challenges, he plans some long overdue rest and relaxation at home with his family.

“I think my next appointment is rescue boat duty at Junior Fortnight sailing with my kids,” he told a post-finish press conference yesterday after his fifth place finish in Leg 9 to Gothenburg sealed the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

“I’m going home for the summer – my kids want their Daddy back.”

He said it with a smile on his face, but makes a serious point. Top class sport’s longest and toughest professional event demands huge commitments from its participants, at sea and on land, and to win demands an almost obsessive focus.

Walker, a twice-Olympic silver medallist, is well known within sailing for eschewing sleep in his drive for victory while onboard.

His journey to become the 11th man to win the 41-year-old pinnacle of offshore racing, formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race, has been long and hard – a lesser man would have been excused for quitting long before Monday’s moment of glory.

He was asked, almost out of the blue, to skipper a joint Chinese/Irish venture, Green Dragon, in the 2008-09 race, but the boat under-performed from the off and Walker and his crew were never a threat to Torsten Grael’s (BRA) eventual champions, Ericsson 4.

Walker looked likely to fare better in 2011-12 onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Volvo Open 70, Azzam, but she too, proved to be an under-performer and a broken mast on the very fast night of the race set the scene for a campaign littered with disappointments, lifted only by the odd bright moment.

Walker refused to give up on his dream. He arrived in Alicante pre-race in October 2014, relaxed and confident, after the perfect build-up in a one-design Volvo Ocean 65, which he could be sure, was the equal of any of his rival’s.

He also assembled an eight-strong crew of tried and tested professionals such as navigator Simon Fisher (GBR), Justin Slattery (IRE), Daryl Wislang (NZL) and Phil Harmer (AUS).

“Our game plan is simple,” he told reporters on the eve of the opening skirmishes in Alicante. “If we can be on the podium for every leg, we will not be far away from winning this thing.”

It was a strategy that worked to perfection. The new Azzam had accrued two victories – achieved in the testing Leg 1 from Alicante to Cape Town and then the epic Leg 5 through the Southern Ocean – by the time they had finished the sixth stage.

Just as importantly, they were solidly on the podium in all the others, with three of them in runner-up spot.

Until Leg 5, though, Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) looked capable of scuppering Walker’s well-laid plans, especially after winning their ‘home’ stage into Sanya on Leg 3.

But a broken mast forced the Chinese team out of Leg 5 and with it eight, costly, points were added to their total. Suddenly, the race was Walker’s to lose.

To their credit, Walker and his vastly experienced crew never looked likely to drop their golden opportunity, despite fifth places in Legs 7 and 9.

“It’s an amazing feeling, so much hard work goes into it,” he recalled for the press conference on Monday.

“My whole relationship with the Whitbread started as a kid with pictures of the boats on the wall.

“I did my first Volvo Ocean Race two editions ago and I really wasn’t sure if I’d be up to it. I wondered what the Southern Ocean would be like, lots of self-doubt, and it’s been a long, old road.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes and we’ve learned a lot of lessons and this time round we threw all that experience in place, surrounded myself with good guys and it worked.”

His hope now is that the achievement will further popularise a sport that is continuing to gain traction in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in the Gulf region.

“It’s a big deal. A big part of what we’re trying to do is try to popularise the sport there and get young Emiratis sailing.

“The best way we could do that was to win the race.”

Mission accomplished.

via ‘It’s been a long, old road’| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.