Today has been champagne sailing - 25 knots of wind, 20-25 knots of boat speed, under control but close to the edge at all times - this is what I signed up to the Volvo for. It feels good to be back in the race and gaining rather than losing miles. This boat seems to like hard running conditions.

Ian Walker - skipper.

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The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with in-port racing, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race.

Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews.