Back to basics

One thing that does seem to be unanimously agreed upon is that the demands on the teams at each stopover have become too much – too many stopovers that were too short, with too many pro-am races and sponsor activation events during the ‘break’.

The route will be largely determined by the class, but certainly some felt that the fleet rounded Cape Horn dangerously late in the season this time around.

“I think we will probably simplify the route a bit,” commented Salén, “both in terms of logistics and demands on the sailors. It’s important people really enjoy an event like this.”

The M32s catamarans used for in-port racing were widely decried as an unnecessary sideshow. “[The catamarans] are one element we can probably do better without. It’s a big undertaking to run that programme and ship those boats around the world,” Salén said.

“I think our organisation has probably taken on a bit too much,” he comments.

As part of plans to reduce the event’s overall costs and logistics, some central infrastucture will go. The Boatyard refit facility is likely to be reduced, or perhaps replaced with a centralised sail loft. This would also have the knock-on effect of requiring longer stops to keep boats in the race.

“The key thing for us is to get more strong teams to enter the event, and teams that can be completely financially self-sustainable,” says Salén, clearly working towards a world without Volvo – or possibly without an event sponsor at all.

“I don’t think [a title sponsor] is needed. Our thinking at the moment is that it’s probably better for the event long term to have a neutral name, that can create a bigger, stronger event.”