Volvo Ocean Race overhaul

Chief Executive Helge Alten says radical changes for the next event will be decided by the end of the year

Now we're talking..! The giant multihulls from The Race are the fastest on the water - possibly too fast - and they're spectacular. But might this be too radical a step for Volvo?
One possibility is that the sprint legs, which were introduced in the last Whitbread and developed further for this year's race, may well be dropped in favour of longer ocean legs with the exception of a final sprint to the finish which helps attract media interest. However Alten cautioned that once you get into talk about fewer stopovers, shorter stopovers and faster boats, you come up against constraints with the weather and the likelihood that part of the race will end up being held in the winter. "It is difficult to have compatibility between shorter stopovers, fewer stops and quicker boats, and the weather," he said.

Alten has little doubt that Volvo will be around for another race after this one, pointing out that the company's policy in sponsorship has always been to commit itself long term as it did in golf. But he is hopeful that another clash with the America's Cup can be avoided. "We are trying to discuss with the America's Cup, as regards the next America's Cup," Alten said. "But the America's Cup leads its own life and it all depends on who stages the next event, so it's not that easy to arrange it."