Volvo Ocean Race - anyone following?

[Huntsman]

I work for the headline sponsor of one boat, so following it with great interest.

Anyone else?

http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html

[krusty]

I read Matt Sheahan's reports most days...........

[CrutyRammers]

Yeah, I've been surprised there wasn't more interest on here actually.
Never sailed myself but I'm finding it fascinating to follow. Looks like it's going to get interesting today...

[AlexIT]

I follow it, but mostly for the images than for the race itself.

My interest in this race stated a long time ago when it was named Whitbread Round the World race and IIRC it was divided in 4 legs:

Southampton - Cape Town
Cape Town - Sydney
Auckland - Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro - Auckland

and the results were based on the actual racing time, not by points.

Then things changed in the 90s after Chris Dickson dismasted on one of the last legs (IIRC by then there were 6 or 7 legs) when he had a huge time advantage over the second and lost the race.
The organization decided to award points for each leg to avoid such situations and imho they've lost one of the biggest thrills, i.e. keeping the race totally open until the very finish.

I must say that at current stage I have no idea how points are awarded for each win and what happens in case of an accident, so that says a lot about my current involvement