Volvo Ocean 65

The Volvo Ocean 65 is a class of monohull racing yachts. It is the successor to the Volvo Open 70 yacht used in past editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. It was announced at a conference in Lorient, France, during a stopover in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race. The yacht was used for the 2014–2015, the 2017–2018 and the 2023 editions. The 2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race was the first one-design event.^[1]

The Volvo Ocean 65 Mapfre and Azzam at the start of the 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante in October 2014
Development
Designer	Farr Yacht Design
Boat
Draft	4.78 m (15.7 ft)
Hull
LOA	22.14 m (72.6 ft)
LWL	20.00 m (65.62 ft)
Beam	5.60 m (18.4 ft)
Rig

Design

The yacht was designed, by Farr Yacht Design, to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the expensive and highly-stressed Volvo Open 70.

After many safety concerns in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, many began doubting the safety of the Volvo Open 70, due to many designers opting for fast designs while failing to meet safety requirements.^[2][3] Former Volvo Ocean Race CEO, and four time competitor Knut Frostad hinted at a new boat design to address the current safety concerns in a statement he made during a press conference on April 4, 2012 stating: "It's important that we don't leap to any conclusions about why these breakages have happened. Some of them are clearly not related. However, we will take the current issues into account as we make decisions on rules and technology we will be using in the future." Frostad also went on to say "We have already put in a lot of work, discussing with teams, designers and all other stakeholders about the boats and the rules we will use in the future, and we expect to be in a position to announce a decision on that before the end of the current race."^[4]

On June 28, 2012, Knut Frostad revealed the design at a press conference in Lorient during a stopover in the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race. In becoming a one-design event, the new boats are hoped to "significantly reduce the cost of mounting a campaign and bring the size of the fleet to 8–10 boats for future editions."^[1] Frostad went on to state an entire campaign for future editions of the race would be around €15 million, and a "ready to sail" boat, including pre-race and race sails would be around €4.5 million in comparison to the €30–40 million region a current campaign can fall into.^[5]

Construction

It takes 7 months and 36000 man hours to build, assemble, and paint a Volvo Ocean 65. There are 120 boatbuilders who work with 70 suppliers to outfit the boat.^[6]

Yachts

There are currently eight Volvo Ocean 65's. They have all been brought to the same standard between the 2014–2015 and the 2017–2018 race at an estimated upgrade cost in the €1 million range.^[7]

Volvo Ocean 65's and teams

Yacht MMSI[8]	2014–2015 Team	2017–2018 Team	2021 Team*	2023 Team
224530860	Mapfre	Mapfre	Sailing Poland
470437000	Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing	Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag	Viva México	Viva México
235101548	Team SCA		Ambersail II	Ambersail II
319081500	Team Vestas Wind	Turn the Tide on Plastic
319060300	Dongfeng Race Team	Dongfeng Race Team	Mirpuri Foundation Racing	Mirpuri Foundation Racing
244780246	Team Brunel	Team Brunel	Team Childhood I	Team JAJO
367616310	Team Alvimedica	Vestas 11th Hour Racing	Austrian Ocean Racing	Austrian Ocean Racing p/b Team Genova
319119500	N/A (built new for 2017)	Team AkzoNobel		WindWhisper Racing Team [9][10][11]

*The Ocean Race Europe

Changes for 2017–2018 race

The yachts featured a 500W Watt & Sea hydrogenerator to reduce emissions and wear on the Volvo Penta Marine engine.^[12][13][14]

Partners and equipment

Suppliers and Equipment

Supplier	Equipment
North Sails.[15]	Sails
Southern Spars[16]	Mast
Future Fibres Rigging Systems [17]	ECsix carbon rigging
Future Fibres Rigging Systems [18]	TorqueLite 2.0 Furling cables
North Technology Group [19]	Forestays in the removable furling sail
Inmarsat [20]	data and voice transmission equipment
Gottifredi Maffioli[21]	3000 meters of running rigging
Equiplite[22]	Main halyard block, barberhaul blocks, and lead blocks
Mastervolt[23]	alternators, regulators, batteries, chargers and power management systems
Diverse Yacht Services[23]	system integrator for electrical systems
Cariboni [24]	Keel Canting mechanisms and keel bearings
Harken[24]	Winch systems
Iron Brothers[24]	Keel and bulb
Volvo Penta Marine Engines[25]	75 horsepower Volvo Penta D2-75
KZ Racefurlers[26]	furlers
Spinlock [27]	Clutches and jammers
Watt & Sea	Hydrogenerator

Specifications

Features[28]	Measurements / Notes
Hull length	20.37 m (defined as 66 ft)
Length waterline (design)	20.00 m (defined as 65 ft)
Length overall (incl. bowsprit)	22.14 m (defined as 72 ft)
Hull beam	5.60 m (18.4 ft)
Max draft	4.78 m (15.8 ft)
Boat weight (empty)	12,500 kg (27,557 lb)
Keel arrangement	Canting keel to ±40° with 5° of incline at axis
Daggerboards	Twin, reversible, retracting asymmetric daggerboards
Rudders	Twin under hull with spare that may also be transom hung
Aft Water Ballast	Twin 800L ballast tanks under cockpit sides at transom
Forward Water Ballast	Single centerline 1000L ballast tank forward of mast
Rig Height	30.30 m (99.4 ft)
Rig Arrangement	Deck stepped, twin backstays with deflectors
Bowsprit Length	2.14 m (7 ft)
Mainsail Area	163 m2 (3 reefing points, 6 battens)
Working Headsail (J1) Area	133 m2 (Fixed with hanks on the permanent forestay; horizontal battens)
Upwind Sail Area	296–451 m2 (Mainsail and Jib 1 or Masthead Code 0, plus Jib 2 or Jib 3)
Downwind Sail Area	578+ m2 (Mainsail and A3 gennaker, additional staysails are permitted)

Comparison to Volvo Open 70

Features[29]	Ocean 65	Volvo Open 70
Length	19.80 m (65 ft)/20.37 (66 ft)	21.50 m (70.5 ft)
Beam	5.60 m	5.70 m
Max Draft	4.78 m	4.50 m
Boat Weight	12,500 kg	14,000 kg
Righting moment (RM 25) including stacking and Water Ballast	33,000 kg/m	40,000 kg/m
Cant Angle	40°	40°
Rig Height	30.30 m (99.4 ft)	31.50 m (103.3 ft)
Freeboard at Mast	1.72 m	1.60 m
Mainsail Area	151 m2	175 m2
Working Headsail Area	135 m2 (J1)	200 m2 (G1)
Bowsprit length	2.15 m (7 ft)	1.82 m (6 ft)
Number of sails (including storm sails)	7	10
Water Ballast	1x1000L (Centerline, Fwd) 2x800L (Aft Wing Tanks)	1x1600L (Centerline, Aft)

Reception

After unveiling the boat design, the reception was mostly positive.

Positive

Former competitor and skipper, Grant Dalton stated the new design "attacks the single problem that surrounds our sport at the moment, and that is ridiculous cost."^[1]

Negative

The most negative feedback to the announcement of a one-design came from yacht designer Juan Kouyoumdjian whose designs had won the previous three editions of the race (2005–06, 2008–09 and 2011–12).^[30] He stated his disapproval of the Volvo Ocean Race becoming a one-design event. Juan addressed the main issue of Volvo Open 70's being expensive stating that he could "definitely confirm" the boats he designed fell into the €5 million range, and that despite trying to make the race more accessible to sponsors and more of a testament to a sailors skill, rather than budget, "the richest will always win." Despite his criticism, he also went on to confirm that in the event that the Volvo Ocean Race became a one-design event, he had already been approached to optimize the Volvo 65 design for a "potential future team."^[31]

Further information

Class Rules and Specifications.^[32]

Refit Scope for 2017.^[33]

See also

• IMOCA 60