The 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race was the 11th edition of the round-the-world

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

yacht race Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or o ...

which started with an in-port race in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 29 October 2011 with six

Volvo Open 70 The Volvo Open 70 (sometimes referred to as a Volvo Ocean 70) is the former class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was first used in the 2005–06 race (replacing the Volvo Ocean 60 yachts which were first used in 1993). ...

yachts at the start line and ended with an in-port race in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 7 July 2012. The 39,270 NM route involved stopovers and in-port races in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Itajaí Itajaí () is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It is located on the northern central coast of Santa Catarina and is part of the Vale do Itajaí Mesoregion, on the right bank of the Itajaí-Açu river mouth. It lies at th ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, and finally

. The race consisted of nine ocean races and ten in-port races.

Participants

Six teams started and finished the race. Of the teams only Team Sanya raced a second-hand boat, ''Telefónica Blue'', which had taken third place in the 2008-09 race.

Team Telefónica

*Team Telefónica announced their participation in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 on 12 April 2011. The company will sponsor Pedro Campos’ team for the third consecutive time. The team could not use the former Telefónica boats as training boats, because the deadline for using second generation boats as training boats ended in March 2011. Their new boat was built at the King Marine shipyard in Valencia, Spain and is skippered by Iker Martinez.

Groupama

*Groupama was a French team skippered by

Franck Cammas Franck Cammas (born 22 December 1972 in Aix-en-Provence) is a French yachtsman. He has lived in Brittany since his victory in the Challenge Espoir Crédit Agricole in 1994. After completing a two-year maths course for the ‘Grandes écoles’, ...

. The team acquired ''Ericsson 4'', the second generation Volvo Open 70 that won the 2008-09 event, for training purposes. Their new boat ''Groupama 4'' was built at the Multiplast shipyard in Vannes, France.

Team Abu Dhabi

*Team Abu Dhabi acquired ''Puma Avanti'' (formerly ''ABN Amro Two'', a first generation Volvo Open 70) as a training boat was led by Ian Walker. Their new boat ''Azzam'' was built at the Persico Marine shipyard in Bergamo, Italy.

Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg Propulsion

*Puma Ocean Racing, powered by BERG Propulsion was skippered again by

Ken Read Kenneth John Read (born November 6, 1955) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada. He was a specialist in the downhill and a two-time Olympian. He won five World Cup races during his ten-year international career, all in downhill. ...

. Their training boat, ''Il Mostro'' is Puma's boat from the 2008-2009 race, which placed second in that event. Their new boat ''Mar Mostro'' was built by New England Boatworks in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand

*Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand was skippered by Chris Nicholson with a new Volvo Open 70 boat that was built by Cookson Boatbuilders in Auckland, New Zealand.

Team Sanya

*Team Sanya was skippered by

Mike Sanderson Mike Sanderson (born 29 May 1971) is a New Zealand sailor. Perhaps best known for being awarded the prestigious ISAF World Sailor of the Year Award for winning the 2005–06 Volvo Ocean Race as skipper of '' ABN Amro I''. At the age of 35, h ...

(skipper of ''ABN Amro One'', 2005-06 event winner). This team announced their entry on 17 June 2011 and are racing in the refitted second generation boat ''Sanya Lan'' (formerly ''Telefonica Blue'').

Route

The race used a scoring system where the overall winner was the team with the most points at the end of the race. All races counted with no discards allowed. The boats were awarded points in every race, six to one in in-port races and 30 to 5 points (30, 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5) for ocean races (legs). The race had a total of nine ocean legs and ten in-port races. Due to

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

the legs to and from

were given two scores with the same total as the other legs. The scores were to be divided 80+20% and 20+80% respectively. In addition to the ocean and in-port races, there were no-score pro-am races in every port where sponsors and guests were given an experience as close to that of true professional sailing as possible.

Summary

The race began in Alicante on 29 October 2011 and ended in Galway on 7 July 2012.

Alicante In-Port Race

On 29 October 2011 Abu Dhabi won the first In-Port race with Puma second and Camper third. The winds were very light on the race day.

Alicante to Cape Town

The 6,500 NM leg started 5 November 2011 at 1300

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand led the fleet out of Alicante and through the Gibraltar straits. On 5 November 2011, ''Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing'' lost its mast within hours of the race's beginning during heavy winds and high seas near Alicante. On 6 November 2011 ''Team Sanya'' was forced to head to port after damaging its hull. Team Sanya withdrew from the first leg on 7 November after an assessment of the damage. The fleet were led round the turning mark near the archipelago of

Fernando de Noronha Fernando de Noronha (), officially the State District of Fernando de Noronha () and formerly known as the Federal Territory of Fernando de Noronha () until 1988, is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, and ...

by ''Puma Ocean Racing, powered by BERG Propulsion'' on 17 November. Several days later at 1500 hours on 21 November their mast failed, splitting into three bits. They retired from the first leg on 22 November and headed to

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...

. Telefónica won the first leg, followed by Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand. Groupama placed third, several days after the leaders, as they missed the lowpressure system Telefónica and Camper used to cross the southern Atlantic at high speed.

Cape Town In-Port Race

On 10 December 2011 Telefónica won the In-Port race with Camper second and Puma third.

Cape Town to Abu Dhabi

The 5,430 NM leg started on 11 December 2011. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing led the fleet out of Cape Town. Team Sanya were forced to suspend racing following a rigging failure and missed the cargo ship from the secret port to Abu Dhabi. Due to the threat of piracy around Somalia, the fleet headed from Cape Town to a secret port, later revealed to be

Malé Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...

, and were then transported by ship to Abu Dhabi, closer to the finish line for a sprint into Abu Dhabi. The first part of the leg gave 80% of the points (24, 20, 16, 12, 8 and 4 points) and the second part 20% (6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points) for the same total of 30 to 5 points as the other ocean legs. Team Telefónica were the first boat into the secret port while Groupama Sailing Team won the sprint leg. Telefónica won overall points on the leg. Team Sanya resumed racing on 6 January with a six-man crew and finally finished the first part of leg 2 on 19 January, also scoring points for the sprint part of leg 2 and the in port race that they had missed.

Abu Dhabi In-Port Race

Was held on 13 January 2012 and was won by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, with Groupama coming second, and Camper third.

Abu Dhabi to Sanya

The 4,600 NM leg started on 14 January 2012. Due to the threat of piracy around Somalia, the fleet was transported once again by ship to Male from where the third leg of the race began. From the new port they will then head through the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

and then pass the

Malacca Strait The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

. The first part give 20% of the points (6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points) and the second part 80% (24, 20, 16, 12, 8 and 4 points) for the same total of 30 to 5 points as the other ocean legs.

Sanya In-Port Race

On 18 February 2012 Team Telefónica took their second in-port victory in perfect sailing conditions with flat waters and winds gusting up to 20

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot or knots may also refer to: Other common meanings * Knot (unit), of speed * Knot (wood), a timber imperfection Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Knots'' (film), a 2004 film * ''Kn ...

. Team Puma came in second, followed by Abu Dhabi, Camper, Groupama and Sanya.

Sanya to Auckland

The 5,220 NM leg started on 19 February 2012.

Auckland In-Port Race

Held on 17 March 2012 and won by Camper.

Auckland to Itajaí

The 6,705 NM leg started 18 March 2012. This leg, the longest in the race, included safety waypoints which were designed to keep the boats north of the main areas of

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

risk. Team Sanya suffered rudder and hull damage on 22 March and were forced to return to New Zealand. They rejoined the race in Miami. Both Team New Zealand and Abu Dhabi stopped in

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Team New Zealand repaired the boat and continued on while Abu Dhabi was shipped from there to Itajai, Brazil. After 17 days at sea, with 677 nautical miles to go to the finish line, Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA) dismasted 60 nautical miles (nm) south of Punta del Este. Groupama motored to Punta del Este and following the creation of a jury rig rejoined the race and was placed third.
"volvooceanrace.com", 9 May 2012

Itajaí In-Port Race

Was held on 21 April 2012 and won by Groupama.

Itajaí to Miami

The 4,800 NM leg started on 22 April 2012 and was won by Puma.

Miami In-Port Race

Was held on 19 May 2012 and won by Abu Dhabi.

Miami to Lisbon

The 3,590 NM leg started on 20 May 2012.

Lisbon In-Port Race

Was held on 9 June 2012.

Lisbon to Lorient

The 1,940 NM leg started on 10 June 2012. From Lisbon the fleet travelled to a turning point at

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; ), nicknamed "The Green Island" (), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta D ...

before heading to Lorient.

Lorient In-Port Race

Was held 30 June 2012.

Lorient to Galway

The 485 NM leg started on 1 July 2012. This leg was the shortest offshore leg in the race.