2001–2002 Volvo Ocean Race

Illbruck Challenge in Kiel

Illbruck Challenge in Kiel

Team SEB, Team Tyco and News Corp in Kiel

The 2001–02 Volvo Ocean Race was the eighth edition of the around-the-world sailing event Volvo Ocean Race, and the first under the name Volvo Ocean Race. For the 2001–02 the sponsorship of the race was taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars. The race was renamed the Volvo Ocean Race. Stopovers were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being the Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe. In addition the points system had been modified significantly in an effort to keep the race competitive until the final leg. The previous "points" race having been effectively won two full legs before the final gun.

John Kostecki, who had co-skippered with George Collins on Chessie Racing in the 1997 to 1998 Whitbread to great effect, captained his first Volvo Ocean race winner in 2002. Assa Abloy's new composite mold technique proved very quick, but not quite quick enough, while long time Whitbread skipper Grant Dalton's two boat syndicate suffered badly from a lack of preparation time (the Amer boats were last in the water).

For Leg 3, yachts joined the iconic Australian 2001 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that begins on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day).

Participants[]

Boat	Nation	Designer	Skipper
Amer Sports One	New Zealand	Mani Frers[1]	Grant Dalton
Amer Sports Too	United Kingdom	Farr Yacht Design[2]
Assa Abloy	Sweden	Farr Yacht Design	Roy Heiner[3] Neal McDonald
Djuice Dragons	Norway	Laurie Davidson[1]	Knut Frostad
Illbruck Challenge	Germany	Farr Yacht Design	John Kostecki
Team News Corp	Australia	Farr Yacht Design
Team SEB	Sweden	Farr Yacht Design	Gurra Krantz
Team Tyco	Bermuda	Farr Yacht Design	Kevin Shoebridge

Lisa and Neal McDonald, skippers of rival boats, are husband and wife.^[4]

Route[]

Event	Start date	Finish date	Start	Finish	Distance (nmi)	Winner
Leg 1	23 September 2001	23 October 2001	Southampton	Cape Town	7,350	Illbruck Challenge
Leg 2	11 November 2001	4 December 2001	Cape Town	Sydney	6,550	Illbruck Challenge
Leg 3	26 December 2001	3 January 2002	Sydney	Auckland	2,050	Assa Abloy
Leg 4	27 January 2002	19 February 2002	Auckland	Rio de Janeiro	6,700	Illbruck Challenge
Leg 5	22 March 2002	27 March 2002	Rio de Janeiro	Miami	4,450	Assa Abloy
Leg 6	14 April 2002	17 April 2002	Miami	Baltimore	875	Team News Corp
Leg 7	28 April 2002	11 May 2002	Annapolis	La Rochelle	3,400	Illbruck Challenge
Leg 8	25 May 2002	31 May 2002	La Rochelle	Gothenburg	1,075	Assa Abloy
Leg 9	8 June 2002	9 June 2002	Gothenburg	Kiel	250	Djuice Dragons

Results[]

References[]

External links[]

• National Geographic's Volvo Ocean Race - National Geographic