1989-90 WHITBREAD ROUND THE WORLD RACE

The full index of our ship stamp archive
Post Reply
aukepalmhof
Posts: 7762
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

1989-90 WHITBREAD ROUND THE WORLD RACE

Post by aukepalmhof » Tue Jun 10, 2014 3:38 am

For the 1989-1990 race in which the yachts two times had a stopover in Punta del Esta, Uruguay Post issued one stamp of 1.500N$ in 1991 which depict a ocean sailing yacht which is not identified. Most probably a composition design of several yachts.
In that race 9 boats took part under which one fully crewed by women the MAIDEN, which took 167 days and 3 hours to finish the race in the 8th place.
The race was won by New Zealand yacht STEINLAGER 2 under skipper Peter Blake which finished the race in 128 days and 9 hours.
About the history of the race Wikipedia gives:
The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. It is named after its current owner, Volvo. At this moment the Netherlands holds the record of three wins with the Dutch skipper Conny van Rietschoten being the only skipper to win the race twice.
Though the route is changed to accommodate various ports of call, the race typically departs Europe in October, and in recent editions has had either 9 or 10 legs, with in-port races at many of the stopover cities. The 2008-2009 edition of the race started in Alicante, Spain, on October 11, 2008. The route for the 2008-2009 race was altered from previous years to include stopovers in India and Asia for the first time. The 2008-09 route covered nearly 39,000 nmi (72,000 km), took over nine months to complete, and reached a cumulative TV audience of 2 billion people worldwide.
During the nine months of the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain in October 2011 and concluded in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012, the teams were scheduled to sail over 39,000 nmi (72,000 km) of the world’s most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajaí, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient.
Each of the entries has a sailing team of 11 professional crew who race day and night for more than 20 days at a time on some of the legs. They each have different jobs on board the boat, and on top of these sailing roles, there are two sailors that have had medical training, as well as a sailmaker, an engineer and a dedicated media crew member.
No fresh food is taken on board, so the crew lives off freeze-dried fare; they will experience temperature variations from -5 to +40 degrees Celsius and will only take one change of clothes.
History
In 1972 England's Whitbread company and the British Royal Naval Sailing Association agreed to sponsor a globe-circling regatta, which would be called the 'Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race'.
17 yachts and 167 crew started the first race of 27,500 nmi (50,900 km), which began from Portsmouth, United Kingdomon September 8, 1973. Approximately 3000 spectator boats set out to witness the historic start.
The original course was designed to follow the route of the square riggers, which had carried cargo around the world during the 19th Century.
From 2001 the ownership of the race was taken over by Volvo and Volvo Cars and the race was renamed the ‘Volvo Ocean Race’. Stopover ports were added in Germany, France, and Sweden being Volvo's three biggest car markets in Europe.
Winning the race does not attract a cash prize, as the feat of competing is presented as sufficient reward.
Many of the contestants in the Volvo Ocean Race tend to go into other professional teams after the race, such as certain members of Oracle Team USA.
The worst weather conditions are usually encountered in the Southern Ocean where waves sometimes top 100 feet (30 m) and winds can reach 60 knots (110 km/h).

Uruquay 1991 1.510N$ sg2040, scott1391.
Attachments
Image (78).jpg

Post Reply