Volvo Ocean Race Starts Tomorrow

Seven teams will start the 39,000-mile around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race tomorrow in Alicante, Spain, bound for Cape Town, South Africa. The first leg will take the fleet out into the possibly stormy Med to the North Atlantic, south across the equator, and into the South Atlantic. The leg will be 6,487 miles long and is expected to take about 23 days. Tomorrow’s start is scheduled for 1400 CET (sorry, but that’s 5:00 a.m. PDT).

The American/Turkish Team Alvimedica won the Alicante in-port race on Saturday. "We haven’t done anything that counts for the overall trophy yet, but it’s a confidence builder – it gives us the feeling that we can do well again," said 30-year-old skipper Charlie Enright. The boats in this edition are new one-design 65-footers.

You may not be among the 66 sailors attempting the "Everest of Sailing," but you can play along in the virtual race. See www.volvooceanrace.com/en/game.html.