Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09

Skippers of the Volvo Ocean Race boats attend a news conference a day before the first in-port race in Alicante yesterday. Left to right: Ger O'Rouke, of Delta Lloyd, Anders Lewander, of Ericsson Racing Team-Ericsson 3, Torben Grael, of Ericsson Racing Team-Ericsson 4, Ian Walker, of Green Dragon Racing Team, Ken Read, of Puma Racing Team, Fernando Echavarri, of Telefonica Black Racing Team, Iker Martinez, of Telefonica Blue Racing Team, and Team Russia's Andreas Hanakamp. The race around the world is held every three years. The 2008/09 route has been altered from previous years to include stopovers in the Middle East and Asia for the first time. This latest route covers nearly 39,000, will take over nine months to complete.