Volvo ocean race

Lessons from one of the best sailors to take the helm in this year's 46,000-mile epic

Extreme sailing, sunset... What else? Photo by Marc Bow/Volvo Ocean Race #volvooceanrace

Puma for the WIN!

hanging out on the bowsprit of Team Brunel during the Volvo Ocean Race

…, which would then make this the really un-Hobart, ‘Hobart’ story. Sean Langman and his Team Australia, together with their ORMA 60 trimaran of the same name, hold the record for a wind-powered dash down South at 29 hours, 52 minutes and 23 seconds. Along the way they punched out a tremendous top of 39.6 knots of boat speed, at an average of 21, to totally eclipse the monohull record of 42:23:12.

Nick Dana and Dave Swete #teamalvimedica set up the outrigger ...leg 4"

Carolijn Brouwer is a top talent, having been to the Olympic Games in three different classes (470, Europe and Tornado catamaran), and more recently raced extensively offshore, there are few people better placed to offer their advice on sailing downwind fast. As a proven talent, Brouwer was an obvious pick for the all-female crew on Amer Sports Too for the 2001/02 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. The Volvo 60 was a responsive planing boat that rewarded good instincts at the helm. Brouwer…

The first of the new one-design Volvo Ocean 65 racing boats has made it safely through a rigorous round of testing – including a heart-stopping pull-down test putting the boat at an angle of 50 degrees – and is on track to be declared 'ready to sail' by the end of the week.