Volvo Ocean 65

Design

The yacht was designed by Farr Yacht Design, to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70. After many safety concerns in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, many began doubting the safety of the Volvo Open 70, due to many designers opting for faster designs, while failing to meet safety requirements. Current Volvo Ocean Race CEO, and four time competitor Knut Frostad hinted at a new boat design to address the current safety concerns in a statement he made during a press conference on April 4, 2012 stating: "It's important that we don't leap to any conclusions about why these breakages have happened. Some of them are clearly not related. However, we will take the current issues into account as we make decisions on rules and technology we will be using in the future." Frostad also went on to say "We have already put in a lot of work, discussing with teams, designers and all other stakeholders about the boats and the rules we will use in the future, and we expect to be in a position to announce a decision on that before the end of the current race."

On June 28, 2012 Knut Frostad revealed the design at a press conference in Lorient during a stopover in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race. In becoming a one-design event, the new boats are hoped to "significantly reduce the cost of mounting a campaign and bring the size of the fleet to 8-10 boats for future editions." Frostad went on to state an entire campaign for future editions of the race would be around €15 million, and a "ready to sail" boat, including pre-race and race sails would be around €4.5 million in comparison to the €30-40 million region a current campaign can fall into.

Construction

It takes 7 months and 36000 man hours to build, assemble, and paint a Volvo Ocean 65. There are 120 boatbuilders who work with 70 suppliers to outfit the boat.

Yachts

There are 8 Volvo Ocean 65's. They have all be brought to the same standard between the 2014-2015 and the 2017-2018 race. This is estiamted to cost 1,000,000 euros.

Changes for 2017-2018 race

The yachts will feature a 500w Watt & Sea hydrogenerator to reduce emissions and wear on the Volvo Penta Marine engine.

Reception

After unveiling the boat design, the reception was mostly positive from sailors who have been involved in the race in the past. Although there has been some criticism from fans, and yacht designer Juan Kouyoumdjian, whose designs have won the last 3 editions of the Volvo Ocean Race (2005–06, 2008-09 and 2011-12, respectively).

Positive

Former competitor and skipper, Grant Dalton stated the new design "attacks the single problem that surrounds our sport at the moment, and that is ridiculous cost."

Negative

The most negative feedback to the announcement of a one-design came from yacht designer Juan Kouyoumdjian. Having had tremendous success with all of his previous entries in the race, he has stated his disapproval of the Volvo Ocean Race becoming a one-design event. Juan addressed the main issue of Volvo Open 70's being expensive stating that he could "definitely confirm" the boats he designed fell into the €5 million range, and that despite trying to make the race more accessible to sponsors and more of a testament to a sailors skill, rather than budget, "the richest will always win." Despite his criticism, he also went on to confirm that in the event that the Volvo Ocean Race became a one-design event, he had already been approached to optimize the Volvo 65 design for a "potential future team."

Further Information

Class Rules and Specifications.

Refit Scope for 2017.