Eloi Stichelbaut/Dongfeng Race Team
Dongfeng is back in the water and training is well underway for the returning Chinese campaign. Stunning drone footage of the re-fitted Volvo Ocean 65 has been released as the team hit the water off the coast of Lisbon.
As the remaining boats continue to undergo the €1 million re-fit process, Charles Caudrelier is the first skipper out on the water with his upgraded Volvo Ocean 65. The French skipper has yet to announce his sailing squad for the next edition of the race but the team have said it will once again feature a mixed Chinese and western crew and will take advantage of new rules designed to encourage female sailors to take part.
Caudrelier has been working hard for months on this new campaign that he hopes will build on the team’s impressive third place on debut in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2014-15.
Dongfeng Race Team are backed by Dongfeng Motor Corporation, one of the largest automobile manufacturers in China.
The Volvo Ocean Race
The Volvo Ocean Race is the ultimate ocean marathon, pitting the sport’s best sailors against each other across the world’s toughest oceans. The legendary race that began in 1973 will start from Alicante, Spain in October 2017 and finish in The Hague, Netherlands in June 2018. Featuring almost three times as much Southern Ocean sailing as in the previous edition, the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 will be contested over the longest distance in the race’s history at around 45,000 nautical miles, crossing four oceans and taking in 12 major cities on six continents.
The Volvo Ocean Race has been the global sponsorship flagship of Volvo Group and Volvo Car Group since taking ownership of the Race in 1999. The Volvo Ocean Race is operated as a non-profit organisation.
