Cape Town Hosts the Volvo Ocean Race

Cape Town harbour was colonised by the car, truck and bus brand Volvo, taking over the quayside in a spectacular display of the world's most gruelling sailing race.

It can be referred to as the Formula 1 even of sailing, where the one design yacht is raced around the world in an even that should take around eight months.

Volvo pulled out all the stops with an amazing race village and a world-class spectator opportunity for the start of the Cape Town to Melbourne leg of this international event.

It was a spectacle of yachting enthusiasts, the most technologically advanced sailboats in the world and the beautiful mother city of Cape Town. Volvo Cars took the opportunity to reveal their latest model offerings, including the new XC40 that drew a lot of attention, and my favourite, the XC90 Excellence.

The seven teams, AkzoNobel, Dongfeng, Mapfre, Vestas, Scallywag, Clean Seas and Brunel lined up for the start on a perfect Cape Town Sunday afternoon with 20 to 25 knots of wind.

As they set out for their six thousand five hundred nautical mile race to Melbourne , Australia, a flotilla of spectator boats raced alongside in a festive send off.

As they came into the wind shadow of Table Mountain we were able to catch up and say our last goodbyes before they caught the wind in their massive sails and streaked away towards the open sea.

You can follow the Volvo Ocean Race on https://www.volvooceanrace.com and explore the amazing world of this incredible sport.