Legends Race to celebrate Volvo Ocean Race history in 2017-18

Download

Download

Tanya Visser/PPL

Download

Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race will celebrate 45 years of history with a Legends Race on the final leg of the 2017-18 edition from Gothenburg to The Hague (full story below).

GOTHENBURG, Sweden – The Volvo Ocean Race will celebrate 45 years of history with a Legends Race on the final leg of the 2017-18 edition from Gothenburg to The Hague.

Any yacht to have featured in the Whitbread Round the World Race or Volvo Ocean Race, dating back to 1973-74, will be welcome to join the 2018 Legends Race. The race will be run over the same course, and around the same time, as the closing leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, which starts from Gothenburg on 21 June.

The announcement was made at the yacht racing seminar Meetingspot in Gothenburg and follows a hugely successful Legends Regatta that was held before the start of the 2011-12 race in Alicante and exhibitions at the both the Volvo Ocean Race Museum in Alicante and at the finish in Gothenburg in the last edition in 2014-15.

Among those participating at the seminar was Tracy Edwards MBE, who skippered the all-female Maiden team to two leg victories in their class in the 1989-90 race and is planning to reunite her crew and the boat for the 2018 race.

“Maiden was found in a sad state a few years ago in the Seychelles and since then I have been working very hard to get her back, restore her and get her back in her former glory again,” said Edwards.

“She will shortly be shipped back to the UK for a renovation program and our aim is the gather the original all-female crew from 1989-90 and compete in the new Legends Race 2018.”

The plan for the Legends Race is to include a Maxi class, a Volvo Ocean 60 class an Open class. Both Sweden and Holland have a proud history in the Volvo Ocean Race and a large number of fans who have followed the event through the years.

“The Legends Race will add a lot of excitement to the Stopover in Gothenburg because there are many fans in Sweden who are devoted to the history of the Volvo Ocean Race,” said Camilla Nyman, CEO of Gothenburg & Co, organisers of the stopover in Gothenburg. “We’ll be welcoming famous yachts and crews to the heart of Gothenburg and fans will get to see a lot of legendary yachts and familiar faces.”

Frank van der Peet, head of the team organising the finish of the race at The Hague, added: “Holland has a long and successful history with the Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Race so we are very enthusiastic about welcoming these magnificent and historic race boats to The Hague.”

via Legends Race to celebrate Volvo Ocean Race history in 2017-18| Volvo Ocean Race.

GAC Pindar returns as official logistics provider for Volvo Ocean Race

Download

Marc Bow / Volvo Ocean Race

Download

KLM Cargo

Download

Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race

Once again, GAC Pindar and GAC companies around the world will be put to the test by the Volvo Ocean Race. The 2017-18 edition will be the second consecutive time that GAC serves as the official logistics provider for the world’s premier offshore race, after its successful collaboration in 2014-15 (full story below).

GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Once again, GAC Pindar and GAC companies around the world will be put to the test by the Volvo Ocean Race. The 2017-18 edition will be the second consecutive time that GAC serves as the official logistics provider for the world’s premier offshore round-the-world race, after its successful collaboration in 2014-15.

The Group’s marine sport and leisure logistics specialist, GAC Pindar, will work closely with GAC offices around the world to provide a wide range of services for the Race which kicks off in Alicante, Spain, on 22 October. That will include customs clearance and transportation of pavilions and hospitality infrastructure, broadcast and other support equipment to Host Cities across six continents.

It will be a repeat of the epic challenge presented by the 2014-15 Race, during which the GAC Pindar team clocked up more than 21,000 man hours working to ensure the smooth delivery of the event. It also played a key role in getting two of the competing crews and their boats back in the Race after disaster struck: assisting in the Dongfeng Race Team mast replacement after it snapped en route for Brazil; and moving Team Vestas Wind’s stricken boat after it ran aground on the Cargados Carajos Shoals near Mauritius.

Since its establishment in 2011, GAC Pindar has become the go-to provider of marine leisure logistics, offering a complete range of services such as yacht transport, superyacht fuels, air ocean and land freight, yacht spares logistics, sailing even management and ship agency. The announcement of its appointment for the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 follows the signing in November 2016 of a long-term deal making it the official provider of marine logistics and shipping services for World Sailing, the world governing body of sailing representing more than 140 member nations. GAC Pindar is also the official logistics provider for the Extreme Sailing Series, World Match Racing and the M32 Series.

“We are thrilled to again be the official logistics provider for this iconic event, building on the success of our collaboration for the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race,” says Andrew Pindar, Team Principal, GAC Pindar. “This appointment for the second consecutive time sends a clear message about our ability to meet the toughest challenges in yachting. We have established ourselves as a leader in the field, and that reputation is underpinned by the qualities that the GAC Group as a whole, the Volvo Ocean Race and its participants embody – stamina, spirit and teamwork.”

Herman Jorgensen, Managing Director of GAC UK, adds: “Both GAC Pindar and the global GAC Group as a whole value such long-term relationships which draw on past experience and lessons learned to drive efficiencies and cost savings.”

Volvo Ocean Race COO Richard Mason underlines the importance of working with a reliable logistics partners: “As a unique global event working under severe time pressures and facing unexpected obstacles, flexible logistics management is integral to operational delivery of the Volvo Ocean Race. The 2017-18 edition will see the sailors tackle one of the toughest race courses in recent history – and with 12 Host Cities on six continents, we’re facing a challenge on-shore, too.

“Working alongside a world-class, industry-leading player such as GAC Pindar, gives us great faith that we can not only meet those challenges, but over-deliver once again.”

via GAC Pindar returns as official logistics provider for Volvo Ocean Race| Volvo Ocean Race.