2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race boats with embedded media

Q: Do you expect the 2008-09 race to be tougher than its predecessor?

A: It will be an even greater sporting challenge than the 2005-06 race. We will still have in-port races and point-scoring gates, but we have introduced shorter port stopovers and the fleet will encounter a myriad of wind conditions with the new route.

It's a complex sporting test. Having shorter stopovers introduces another level of urgency into the whole program. In some cases, there might not be the chance to make the boat absolutely pristine during a stopover for the next leg. Shore crews will have to rationalize their job lists and focus on major work issues to have the boat ready for in-port racing and leg re-starts. Once on the water, the navigators will have plenty on their plates.

Q: What is the latest on port destinations and entries?

A: We are working hard with a number of the 'new' ports to include boats from those regions - adopting the model which was so successful for movistar and the region of Galicia in 2005-06. The new markets in Asia, the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East have huge potential. How many boats will come from these ports is yet to be determined, but I am optimistic that there will be a few. I am content with our progress at this stage.

We had an early announcement from Ericsson and Peter de Ridder's Mean Machine and we can expect some announcements fairly soon from Spain. There is a tremendous amount of work going on behind the scenes and the signs are very positive even though we've sliced a year off the race cycle.