The first Whitbread Round the World Race, conceived ‘over a pint’ of beer nearly 30 years ago by Colonel Bill Whitbread of the brewing family and Admiral Otto Steiner, of the Royal Naval Sailing Association, got underway in September 1973 and featured yachts which were little different from those cruising around the Mediterranean at that time. Since then, the ocean racing yacht has developed into a high-tech state-of-the-art speed machine, with little comfort spared for the crew but with leading-edge technology. In the past, skippers and navigators had little idea of where their rivals might be as they ploughed day in day out through the vast oceans. During the first race, communication between the fleet and organisers was based on a weekly position report to a local coast guard, but from 1993-94, satellite equipment enabled the yachts to file their position every six hours.
→ 1973-74 The first Race
17 boats of sizes ranging from 80 to 32 foot from seven countries crossed the start line just east of Portsmouth Harbour, but only 14 were to complete the circumnavigation.
The race was won on handicap by the smaller 65 foot Mexican entry, Sayula II, skippered by Ramon Carlin but with a multi-national crew, which took 152 days to complete the course (133 days on corrected time). This first race was not without its tragedies. In the Southern Ocean, where no man had raced yachts before, three yachtsmen were lost.
→ 1977-78
The race was a huge success, and one of the main lessons learnt for the next race was that survival in these conditions was just as important as speed. The next race ran from August 1977 to March 1978 and again staged four legs, only this time the port of Auckland was used instead of Sydney. Once again, Portsmouth hosted the start and finish. 15 yachts from six countries embarked on the circumnavigation and all completed the course. Victory on handicap went to a Dutchman, Cornelis van Rietschoten, on the 65 foot ketch Flyer, which took 136 days to complete the voyage but 119 days on corrected time. This race was notable for the fact that Clare Francis became the first woman to skipper a Whitbread entry, ADC Accutrac.
→ 1981-82
Cornelis van Rietschoten returned on a new Flyer, which was 76 foot in length, with the specific aim to win the race and he achieved it, crossing the finish line 119 days after the fleet had set out from Portsmouth in August 1981. Four legs were once again staged but instead of Rio de Janeiro, the third port of call was Mar de Plata, in Argentina. Twenty-nine yachts from 20 countries competed in the 1981-82 event, but nine failed to complete the course.
→ 1985-86
A smaller entry of 15 yachts from 10 countries entered the fourth Whitbread, but lack of quantity was more than made up for in quality with all the yachts, including the new 80 foot maxis, being specifically built for this or an earlier race. Once again four legs were staged but Mar del Plata was replaced by Punta del Este in Uruguay. This was also the last time for some years that a South African port, Cape Town, was used, although it was reinstated as a stopover port in the 1997-98 race.
Of the 15 yachts, seven were maxis but it was to be one of the smallest boats in the race, the 58 foot French sloop, L’Esprit d’Equipe, skippered by Lionel Pean, which won the Race on handicap, crossing the line on corrected time 111 days after leaving Portsmouth (132 days elapsed time). Pierre Fehlmann, on the 80 foot maxi, UBS Switzerland, proved to be the fastest boat round on elapsed time, finishing 117 days after the start. This race was last time the Whitbread Trophy was awarded on corrected time.
→ 1989-90
For the first time six legs were staged, and all were dominated by the 84’ Bruce Farr designed ketch Steinlager, skippered by New Zealand’s Peter Blake. Tracy Edwards skippered the first all-women entry, on the 58’ sloop, Maiden. Twenty-three boats from 13 countries crossed the start line at Southampton and, for the first time, the fleet sailed across the Atlantic on the first leg to the South American port of Punta del Este. From there it went down into the Southern Ocean to Fremantle, from Fremantle to Auckland, then back to Punta del Este, up to Fort Lauderdale and, finally back to Southampton.
→ 1993-94
Maxi yachts were still permitted and raced as a class, with the new Whitbread 60 (W60) yachts also racing as a separate division. The course remained the same as the previous race. Five Maxis and ten of the new Whitbread 60 class crossed the start line. The W60 class was won by Yamaha, skippered by Kiwi, Ross Field. Also among the W60 class was the second all-female boat to compete in a Whitbread - Heineken, skippered by Dawn Riley.
→ 1997-98
For the first time, the fleet was made up of one class only, in this final race under the Whitbread name. The class was the Whitbread 60, and a fleet of 10 set off from Southampton on the morning of Sunday 21st September 1997, vying for the Volvo Trophy. A complicated points scoring system replaced elapsed time. Each leg carried more or less points depending on the difficulty of the stage. This race comprised of 9 legs, stopping in six countries in the space of just over eight months.
→ 2001-2002
Eight teams were on the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line on 23 September 2001 for the 2001-2002 edition of the race. The Whitbread had successfully been transformed into the Volvo Ocean Race and the 32,250-mile race around the world that started from Southampton on the south coast of England finished in style in Kiel Germany.
→ 2005-2006
A new boat, the canting keel Volvo Open 70 (VO70), a new course with stops in Galicia, Melbourne and Rotterdam, pit stops in Wellington and New York, and the totally new In Port race series, this race shaped up to be a vintage edition of this round the world race.
