Volvo Ocean Race timetable set for 2010-2011 race

10:44 PM Mon 22 Jun 2009 GMT

'Knut Frostad, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race' Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race &copy

Knut Frostad, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, presided over the fourth and final 'Roundtable' session in Stockholm on Monday morning.

Attended by present, future and potential teams, along with journalists, sponsors and port representatives, the purpose of the Roundtable is to present new information about the next race and open a dialogue with interested parties.

Frostad stated the goal of the organisers of the race is to 'become the world's number one sailing event; that's our ambition.'

The steps towards that goal are to increase the number and quality of teams in the next edition of the race, to increase media coverage with a focus on news and interactive media, and to develop the race stopovers to a new level of quality.

Announcements have already been made regarding cost-cutting measures that will be implemented to lower the cost of fielding a competitive team and to increase sponsor's return on investment. Among them: reducing the number of sails teams are allowed to use on the next race, reducing the crew by one and increasing the number of crew under 30 years of age to three, and a re-formatting of the standard stopover to reduce time in port while increasing the time crews can work on the boats.

The main new information presented in Stockholm concerned the timetable for milestones relevant to the next race. Earlier this month a first draft of the Volvo Open 70 Class Rule and the Notice of Race was presented to stake-holders for consideration. The ongoing process is as follows:

July 20th - End of feedback, final input and consultation on first draft of Rules
August 20th - Final draft of Volvo Open 70 Rule and the Notice of Race
September 10th - Final feedback
September 25th - Final Volvo Open 70 Rule and Notice of Race

In terms of stopover cities for the next edition, the list of potential ports has been winnowed from 82 to 34. The quality of the remaining bids is 'outstanding' according to Frostad. The critical path for port procurement will see the stopover ports announced beginning in March 2010.

This was the final Roundtable session of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race. But consultations with stake-holders will continue unabated over the coming months as the race organisers and teams work to grow the event.

by Volvo Ocean Race media