Volvo Ocean Race | Sweating it out: How our teams are gearing up for Race time

How many boats have been built? We've officially announced four teams so far - what are they up to? How are we all getting ready to make the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 the best race yet? All the answers – and more – in this state of play.

The Volvo Ocean 65s
The first one-design has been handed over to Dongfeng Race Team and hit the water on December 2. Built by a consortium of European boatyards and assembled by Green Marine in the UK, the Chinese boat is now onboard the Marit Maersk container ship on its way to China. You can even login to www.marinetraffic.com and check that all is well with the red Volvo Ocean 65.

Boat number two has been in the water since September 23 and is sailing hard with Team SCA in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

The third one goes to Team Brunel. It is painted and will hit the water by the end of the next week.

Boat number four is ready and waiting to be painted.

The fifth Volvo Ocean 65 was handed over to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on Wednesday after being weighed. It has just been moved to the paint shed and will soon be sailing too.

Boat number six is moving to the fit-out stage this Friday at Green Marine and the hull of the seventh boat is leaving Persico in Italy next week.

The Teams
Team SCAThe first all-female campaign in a decade is shaping up. Team SCA have been training for a year in Puerto Calero in Lanzarote, where they have settled into their team base.

Nine sailors have been named so far: Carolijn Brouwer from the Netherlands, Brits Sam Davies, Abby Ehler and Annie Lush with Liz Wardley, Sophie Ciszek and Stacey Jackson from Australia, American Sally Barkow and Swiss Justine Mettraux. None of them have positions onboard yet so there is no hierarchy at this stage.

“We’ve worked all the past year on assembling our team,” said coach Brad Jackson. “As well as selecting the team, we’ve been trying to get the girls to learn how to sail the style of boat for the race. It’s quite a stressful time for them and a steep learning curve!”

After trialling a total of 35 to 40 girls so far, Team SCA are now testing a new batch of applicants for the two remaining places and the onboard reporter position. They are sailing both their training boat, the Volvo Open 70 Mar Mostro and their brand new Volvo Ocean 65.

“We need 11 crew members, plus a non sailing reporter,” added Jackson, “but our team of crew is likely to be bigger than that.”

The full squad is expected to be in place within the next couple of months.

Abu Dhabi Ocean RacingOnce again skippered by Britain’s two-time Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have selected Adil Khalid from the UAE and Australian Luke Parkinson with Briton Tom Bushell as their onboard reporter.

“I’m excited about early February when our team assembles for the first time since 2012. We’ll have a nice mix of familiar faces from previous races and some fresh new blood,” said Walker. “Performance director Neal McDonald and I have worked hard to get the balance right.”

The Emirati team signed off their Volvo Ocean 65 off earlier this week. Once the boat is painted, launch and sea trials will soon follow in February. They officially entered the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race so you can expect to see them racing in August, “an excellent training run just before the start of the Volvo Ocean Race which starts in October” according to Walker.

Dongfeng Race TeamThe first selection trials of the Chinese team took place on December 16 and 17 at the Serenity Marina in Sanya, the team’s official training base in southern China. Chinese applicants endured a 36-hour workshop and the successful candidates will soon be announced.

While their Volvo Ocean 65 and training boats are being shipped to Sanya, a second round of crew trials will be organised. International candidates are also being recruited.

Team BrunelTeam Brunel will be skippered by Bouwe Bekking. The first confirmed crew member is his fellow Dutchman Gerd-Jan Poortman.

Bekking ran a two-day crew selection exercise on January 13 and 14 in the Netherlands. Four candidates will be announced on January 22. They will be tested in February during the delivery of Brunel’s Volvo Ocean 65 from Southampton to Lanzarote, where the team will train before the start of the race in October this year.