October 22 - 28, 2017: Issue 334

Stacey Jackson Among Australian Sailors In Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018: Focus On Ocean Health And Plastic Pollution Being Taken Global By 13th Edition Of Classic Race

Stacey Jackson, 11th Hour Racing - photo by Jen Edney/Volvo Ocean Race
Stacey Jackson, a Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast) and frequent Pittwater sailor, more recently teaming up with Katie Pellew (Spithill) ventures out on her second Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018 today, October 22nd, as part of the crew of Vestas 11th Hour Racing, one of seven yachts on a 45,000 nautical mile race course, through some of the most challenging waters in the world, including more miles in the extremes of the Southern Ocean.

This edition, the 13th, will see the renowned race employ its capacity to connect sailors and environment to focus on positive environmental change worldwide. The Volvo Ocean Race has used the first of seven Ocean Summits it is hosting around the world in 2017-18 to launch a unique programme that will gather data from parts of the oceans that are otherwise inaccessible to scientists.

On Wednesday October 18 an Ocean Summit in Alicante – held four days before the start of the 2017-18 edition of sailing’s 45-year-old race around the world – brought together politicians, scientists, business and sport to tackle the problem of ocean health, with a specific focus on plastic pollution.

The Spanish government pledged its backing for UN Environment’s Clean Seas campaign. As the world's 14th largest economy, Spain's declaration of support is a significant boost to the UN's global campaign, which now boasts 32 member states and aims to 'turn the tide on plastic' by inspiring action from governments, businesses and individuals.

'Over the past six years we have been developing Spain's new Marine Strategy, and one of its main goals is to tackle marine litter,' said Raquel Orts Nebot, Spain's Director General for Coast and Sea Sustainability. 'In this regard, I confirm that Spain is joining the UN Clean Seas Campaign, with the firm purpose of supporting this global initiative and contributing to its impact worldwide.'

Head of UN Environment, Erik Solheim said: “Spain's engagement in this campaign sends an important message across the Mediterranean region and the world. Our oceans are fundamental to our survival that we must do everything we can to protect them.”

Mayor of Alicante Gabriel Echávarri promised that there would be no plastic bottles at any event he attends in an official capacity. He also announced an education campaign on plastic in all schools in the city.

Wendy Schmidt, President of The Schmidt Family Foundation and Co-founder of 11th Hour Racing, told the Ocean Summit that the oceans were ‘under attack’.

“11th Hour Racing has been working since 2011 to engage sailors and the maritime industries to become advocates for a healthy ocean and we’ve seen a lot of conferences where people tell each other what they already know,” said Schmidt.

“What was special about this Volvo Ocean Race Ocean Summit is that this was a conference full of very creative thinkers. We’re all looking for answers. There are large companies here, small start-ups, NGOs and philanthropists, and everybody is trying to explore how to intervene with an innovative approach.

“We have to create a new plastic economy, develop new strategies, new technologies and new industries. Our goal is to make sure that this conversation happens everywhere. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, the oceans are our life support system.”

This sentiment was echoed by Kerstin Stranimaier, Director, Planet Possible for AkzoNobel: “We all need to open our eyes to new opportunities.”

The Science Programme is key to that goal of creating action to tackle plastic pollution, based on accurate data.

The Programme – made possible thanks to the support of Volvo Cars, and a consortium including NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), JCOMMOPS (UNESCO-IOC), GEOMAR and SubCtech – is comprised of three elements:

Maximise our IMPACT
To maximise the race’s impact using its global communications platform to spread awareness, an educational programme to change views, and a science programme, using the Volvo Ocean 65 racing yachts to capture data while at sea and contribute to our understanding of the oceans in the most remote areas of the planet.

Minimise our FOOTPRINT
To minimise the race’s own footprint with a particular focus on reducing and where possible eliminating the use of single-use plastic by the teams, and in the Race Villages – a challenging task but one that will help to change behaviour by making it a focus.

Leave a positive LEGACY
To leave a positive legacy wherever it goes, through many actions but in particular the creation of Ocean Summits to bring together science, government, sport and business, with an objective of getting attending parties to commit to new positive actions in this area.

All of the racing yachts in the 2017-18 edition will send data back from the oceans every 10 seconds – recording temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction. This data will be passed on to NOAA and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts. It will contribute to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models.

Secondly, during the four most isolated legs in the race, all seven yachts will carry drifter buoys equipped with satellite communications to transmit information on ocean composition and currents.

Thirdly, the Turn the Tide on Plastic team skippered by British yachtswoman Dee Caffari will carry instruments onboard to test salinity, dissolved CO2 and Chlorophyll-a (algae), and for the first time ever, microplastics, directly in the sea water around them.

These key metrics for ocean health will be logged in order to create a complete snapshot of parts of the world’s oceans scientists rarely, if ever, get to study.

“Volvo Cars is proud to support the Volvo Ocean Race Science Programme and help improve our understanding of the health of the oceans,” said Niklas Kilberg, Volvo Cars’ Senior Manager for Sustainability. “This innovative project means that the boats are not just sailing in a top-level sporting competition, but they’re also undertaking scientific research.

“By collecting data from the remotest parts of the oceans they’ll be collecting vital information which can be used to help improve marine health, including tackling the growing problem of plastic pollution.”

Paulo Mirpuri, Founder of the Mirpuri Foundation commented: “The Volvo Ocean Race, besides being a sport competition, also attracts a lot of people and attention on to the sustainability problem. The Mirpuri Foundation is very proud to be a principal partner of the sustainability programme of the Volvo Ocean Race.”

“We believe that the Race is a global platform that allows us to communicate simultaneously our message and the message of the Ocean Summits to millions of people around the world. The Volvo Ocean Race Ocean Summits are a very powerful tool for the Mirpuri Foundation and for all of the sustainability partners here today.”

The next Ocean Summit is scheduled for 7 December at Cape Town. The race will then head further south, to Melbourne

“Partnering with the Volvo Ocean Race is a great opportunity, to accelerate ocean understanding through sport, science and innovation,” Schmidt concluded. “In this race, which crosses 45,000 nautical miles and touches 12 iconic Host Cities, the sailors can bring stories of the ocean everywhere, giving us a strong platform to engage new audiences all over the world.”

The official start of the 2017-18 edition commences with a Leg 1 sprint from Alicante to Lisbon. It's going to be 1,450nm of flat out action, with the teams fighting for every inch as they aim to get some points on the board early on in this edition.

A RPAYC member, Stacey Jackson was honoured in September at the CYCA's Quiet Little Drink Cocktail Party. Her name will go on the CYCA board which recognises yachtswomen who have done their 10th Hobart races and yachtsmen or yachtswomen who achieved their 25th Hobart. 

Stacey was unable to accept her award due to another exciting project (the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018) though she assures us she will return to work her way onto the 25th board as well!

Stacey is a graduate of the RPAYC Youth Development Program and has gone onto collect many accolades and Regatta wins in both Match Racing and Fleet Racing as well as being a member of Team SCA who competed in the last Volvo Around the Work Race. With over 15 years of sailing experience, both inshore and offshore, Stacy has sailed 11 Sydney Hobart Yacht races (including line honours onboard the Maxi yacht Wild Oats), TP52 regattas, Mumm 30 World Championships and one Fastnet.

Stacey loves surfing, skating and stand-up paddle boarding. She's also a skilled Sailmaker, putting in over four years at Northsails Sydney. Clearly a lady who loves the water and the environment, this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will combine many of her passions. 

Here's how to follow the five day race down the coast of Spain, through the Gibraltar Strait and into the Portuguese capital:

Watch it on the website
Head to www.volvooceanrace.com to catch a live stream of the action.

Check out Facebook Live
The race will go live at 1330 local time (1130 UTC) – you can go here to schedule a reminder so you don't miss it.

Read the live blog
All the moves and news from the racetrack on our live blog, including the best of clips and social content, from 1200 local (1000 UTC). You can find it at www.volvooceanrace.com

On Twitter
At @volvoooceanrace...  live tweeting the action, as well as sharing the best content from the teams, stakeholders and fans on our feed.

Download the app
It's all-new, full of great content and fits on your mobile phone. Why wouldn't you want the official Volvo Ocean Race app? Head to the App Store or Google Play to download it. It's called Volvo Ocean Race.
Prologue on-board Vestas 11th Hour. Upwind heading to gibraltar. Photo by Martin Keruzore/Volvo Ocean Race. 10 October, 2017. 
The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race will be the 13th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It will start in Alicante, Spain, and will conclude in The Hague, Netherlands. GAC Pindar provides logistic support for the race. At the stoppovers, teams will have premium bases for better fan interaction. 

Volvo have made a number of changes to this edition. Sailors will be able to provide social media updates, new male/female ratios have been introduced, Onboard Reporters will rotate between teams, a new scoring system will be used, and the yachts have been upgraded with Hydro generators for back-up power.

For the second edition running, the race will be one-design, racing the Volvo Ocean 65. The VO65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70.  

Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018 Legs
Alicante to Lisbon - Leg 1
Lisbon to Cape Town - Leg 2
Cape Town to Melbourne - Leg 3

After an absence of 12 years, Cape Town to Melbourne is back. Like Leg 6, Leg 3 is part of the route from the original Whitbread Round the World Race, and as such it carries the heavy weight of history with it – and double points.

It’s 6,500 nm, and none of them will be easy. The fleet will start on 10 December, and head south from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope, before turning left and heading east across the Southern Ocean. They will go deep into the storms and waves of the Westerly Storm Track before arcing back to the north to cross the Great Australian Bight, enter the Bass Strait and so into Melbourne. 

Melbourne to Hong Kong - Leg 4
It’s 6,000 miles of racing; north from Melbourne to Hong Kong starting on 2 January 2018. A quick glance at a map will tell you that there’s plenty of land between those two spots. At this point, we don’t know if the race officials will limit the course options, so we’ll deal with it in general terms – and this is another north to south leg passing through multiple...
Melbourne has a temperate climate, lying as it does on a latitude that puts it on the border between the Westerly Storm Track (low pressure systems circulating west-to east around Antarctica and the Arctic) and the Subtropical High Pressure Zone (a stable, semi-static area of High Pressure lying between 30 and 38 degrees) for the Pacific.
THe fleet may also encounter a few straggler yachts heading south in the Sydney to Hobart!

Hong Kong to Guangzhou - Leg 5
Guangzhou is another first for the Volvo Ocean Race.
The cosmopolitan city of Guangzhou has been around for over 2,200 years and has developed into one of China’s four Tier 1 cities. It is the third most populous city in mainland China after Beijing and Shanghai. It’s a major trading port, its key coastal location making it one of the most well-connected cities in the country and it’s a growing tourist centre with a cultural diversity that adds to its appeal.

Hong Kong to Auckland - Leg 6
Auckland to Itajaí - Leg 7: 
Itajaí to Newport - Leg 8
Newport to Cardiff - Leg 9
Cardiff to Gothenburg - Leg 10
Gothenburg to The Hague - Leg 11

As well as featuring Southern Ocean Legs the 13th edition will also have a fair amount of Southern Ocean sailors aboard the yachts - * indicates an Australian and ** is a New Zealand sailor. Among these elite athletes is Peter Burling who comes into the Volvo Ocean Race fresh from a whirlwind 12 months in which he's won Olympic gold and the America's Cup as the driver on Emirates Team New Zealand. He now lines up against long-term sailing partner Blair Tuke as the pair battle it out to become the first sailor to win the sport's Triple Crown.

Crew line-ups for the Leg 1 sprint from Alicante to Lisbon (1,450nm).

Vestas 11th Hour Racing:
Charlie Enright (skipper)
Simon Fisher
Mark Towill
Damian Foxall
Nick Dana
Tom Johnson*
Tony Mutter**
Stacey Jackson*
Hannah Diamond

James Blake (OBR)

Dongfeng Race Team:
Charles Caudrelier (skipper)
Pascal Bidégorry
Stuart Bannatyne**
Jérémie Beyou
Daryl Wislang**
Marie Riou
Carolijn Brouwer
Jackson Bouttell*
Chen Jinhao (Horace)

Richard Edwards (OBR)

team AkzoNobel:
Brad Jackson (skipper)**
Jules Salter
Joca Signorini
Nicolai Sehested
Emily Nagel
Martine Grael
Luke Molloy*
Rome Kirby
Brad Farrand**

Konrad Frost (OBR)

Team Brunel:
Bouwe Bekking (skipper)
Carlo Huisman
Alberto Bolzan
Kyle Langford*
Andrew Cape*
Maciel Cicchetti
Peter Burling**
Annie Lush
Abby Ehler

Martin Keruzoré (OBR)

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag:
David Witt (skipper)*
Alex Gough*
Annemieke Bes
Ben Piggott*
John Fisher
Luke Parkinson*
Steve Hayles
Tom Clout*

Jeremie Lecaudey (OBR)

Turn the Tide on Plastic:
Dee Caffari (skipper)
Nico Lunven
Martin Strömberg
Liz Wardley*
Annalise Murphy
Francesca Clapcich
Bianca Cook**
Lucas Chapman*
Bleddyn Mon
Bernardo Freitas

Jen Edney (OBR)

MAPFRE:
Xabi Fernández (skipper)
Joan Vila
Pablo Arrarte
Rob Greenhalgh
Antonio "Ñeti" Cuervas-Mons
Blair Tuke**
Willy Altadill
Sophie Ciszek*
Támara Echegoyen

Ugo Fonollá (OBR)
Blair Tuke and Sophie Ciszek during a watch. Leg Zero, Departure delivery Sanxenxo to Gosport,day 2. Photo by Ugo Fonolla/Volvo Ocean Race. 26 July, 2017