Volvo Ocean Race off the blocks, will end in June 2018

There is no prize money for the winners, but seeing one’s name etched into one of the silver rings of the Volvo Ocean Race Trophy is a prize beyond compare.

Volvo Ocean Race, the world’s longest professional event, got off the blocks in Alicante, Spain on Sunday. Considered as a test of endurance and skills, the Volvo Ocean Race is considered as one of the world’s biggest sporting competitions alongside the Olympics and America’s Cup.

Teams pass the start-line during the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, a yacht race around the world, to Lisbon, in the south-eastern city of Alicante, Spain October 22, 2017. (REUTERS)

The Volvo Ocean Race sees seven yachts race across four oceans to reach 12 ports in six different continents over eight months. The 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race features three times as many Southern Ocean miles (12,000 nautical miles) than its previous edition and will end in The Hague by June 2018.

For the 2017-18 edition, the race has introduced rules that give teams a major incentive to include women as well as men.

There is no prize money for the winners, but seeing one’s name etched into one of the silver rings of the Volvo Ocean Race Trophy is a prize beyond compare. More than 1.5 billion cumulative audience follows the race .