No, it’s not the Batmobile – it’s the latest addition to the Volvo Ocean 65 fleet, and guess what? It’s nearly ready.

With just 248 days until the 2017-18 fleet leaves the Alicante dock for another epic circumnavigation of the planet, the newest member of the Volvo Ocean 65 fleet is coming along nicely.

Currently under construction at Persico Marine in Bergamo, Italy, the eighth boat will take around 36,000 man hours to complete, and will weigh around 12,500 kilograms when it leaves the factory.

Nick Bice, Director of Boats and Maintenance, and Neil Cox, Paint and Commissioning Manager of The Boatyard, travelled from the race’s state-of-the-art shared services facility in Lisbon, Portugal, to Italy, to check on the status of the new build.