We were fortunate to visit Auckland during the same week that the Volvo Ocean Race was in town.

Whilst I’m not a seafaring lad, I couldn’t help getting caught up in the excitement that such an event brings to a city.

1.42 million people, or 31% of New Zealand’s population reside in Auckland, and although it’s not the country’s capital, it appears to be the hub of business, nightlife and sport. In addition to the Volvo Ocean Race, the ICC Cricket World Cup is currently being hosted here.

The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Race) is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. In the current race, seven teams are competing, with each team comprising nine members. Traditionally, the race covers 39,000 nautical miles (72,000 km) and takes nine months to complete. The current fleet of boats are all the same design- “The Volvo Ocean 65” – a little over 20m long. The reported cost of each boat is 4.5 million Euro, and the cost for a team to compete is said to be in the vicinity of 15 million Euro.

An interesting point to note……no fresh food is taken on board during the race, with the crew living on freeze dried fare. I’m guessing that’s a weight, space and refrigeration issue?

A funny coincidence this week – WordPress is running a photo challenge, with “Orange” as the theme. How nice to capture the Volvo Ocean Race in this colour 🙂