Boat

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 is sailed using a specifically designed class of yacht known as the Volvo Open 70. 

Introduced prior to the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06, this relatively new class has rapidly established itself as one of the ultimate ocean racing designs: providing speed, versatility and safety.  The first generation of Volvo Open 70 boats experienced some problems with reliability, but many of these have been addressed in amendments to the design rule for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.

The Volvo Open 70 is faster and more dynamic than practically any other offshore monohull yacht.  

Volvo Open 70 boats lay claim to the top three distances sailed in 24 hours by a monohull yacht, with three world records being set before or during the last sailing of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2005-06.  The world record distance of nearly 563 nautical miles was claimed by ABN-Amro II in the closing stages of that race and still stands today.

Modifications to the design rules for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 have focused mainly on improving durability as well as reducing the number of channels available for teams to extract advantage by spending more.

The canting (swinging) keel system allowed by the Volvo Open 70 rule allows the boats to achieve a tremendous stability in the water but with significantly less weight than boats of comparable size but with conventional keels.

Typically the design differences between Volvo Open 70 boats are very slight, and primarily occur below the waterline where keel and rudder configurations can differ quite a lot.

Carbon Challenge looks forward to confirming details of its yacht in April 2008 following confirmation of its entry into the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.