Volvo Ocean Race | Final leg to start June 17 as Lorient dates confirmed

The Lorient In-Port Race will take place on June 14 and the start of the final leg to Gothenburg will be three days later on June 17. There will also be a non-scoring Pro-Am Race on June 13.

 

Aerial view of the Race Village before the start of leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from

Lorient, France to Galway, Ireland.  IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

 

Volvo Ocean Race COO Tom Touber was among the attendees at the announcement in the Brittany port on Wednesday, close to the Keroman submarine base that forms the centrepiece of the Race Village.

 

"We're delighted to be coming back to France's sailing capital," said Touber. "We had a tremendous experience here in the last race, with a fantastic welcome for the boats and huge crowds, particularly for race weekend. Coming back here will be a real highlight and it's a fitting place to set off for the final leg."

It was in Lorient just over a year ago that Volvo Ocean Race Knut Frostad announced that the next two editions of sailing's great sporting and human adventure would be raced in new one-design Volvo Ocean 65s. The decks of these boats are being built at Multiplast in nearby Vannes, greatly strengthening the race's links with the region.

 

Lorient was announced as a Host City for the second Volvo Ocean Race in succession back in April.

The Breton port made its debut on the route in 2011-12 and attracted huge crowds of knowledgeable sailing fans over the course of the stopover, and in particularly for arrivals, the In-Port Race and the Leg Start.

 

As in the last edition, the boats will arrive in Lorient after leaving Lisbon in Portugal. The leg from Lisbon to Lorient will start on June 7 and is the shortest of the race, at just 647 nautical miles.

Once again the departure from Lorient will mark the start of the final leg, to be run over some 1,600 nautical miles to the finish port of Gothenburg, Sweden.

 

In all, the complete route for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 will be 39,895 nm, or 73,886 km. The race starts in Alicante on October 4, 2014 and will visit Recife (Brazil), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajaí (Brazil), Newport, Rhode Island (United States), Lisbon (Portugal), Lorient (France) and Gothenburg (Sweden).

 

The final act of the race will be the last in-port race in Gothenburg on June 27.