The announcement was made at a press conference in Göteborg - the finish port of the 2005-06 race. Glenn Bourke, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, was joined in unveiling plans for the 2008-09 event by Leif Johansson, President of AB Volvo and CEO of Volvo Group and Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation.

‘This is an exciting time in the long and proud history of the Volvo Ocean Race [formerly The Whitbread Round the World Race],’ Bourke said. ‘We felt it was prudent to add new territories to consolidate the race’s position as a truly global sporting spectacle.

‘We introduced evolutionary change in 2005-06 with the Volvo Open 70, in-port racing and an aggressive approach to our marketing communications with the clear intention of spreading the appeal and the fascination of the race to a broader audience. The race in 2008-09 will take that evolutionary process to the next level.’

Bourke added that there were at least two confirmed entries for the 2008-09 race. ‘It is unprecedented for us to be in a position to announce confirmed entries so far ahead of the start of the next iteration of the event. It underlines an overwhelming desire on the part of syndicates and sponsors to be part of the brave new world we have mapped out. We are at a more advanced stage with the planning and preparation for the next event than we have ever been.

‘In addition to the two confirmed entries we have had positive discussions with a number of potential syndicate sponsors. We fully expect some of the existing syndicates to confirm their participation over the coming months. Furthermore, we are a long way down the road in negotiations with ports in the new territories we plan to visit - that includes Asia and the Middle East.

‘We will also announce the start port for the 2008-09 race shortly.’

Referring to the break in the traditional four-year cycle of the race, Bourke said : ‘The feedback we have had from existing and prospective syndicates and sponsors has shaped our thinking on the time frame of the race.

‘We have brought the race forward in order to capitalize on the momentum that has been built up during the 2005-06 race and the excitement generated among non-sailing audiences by the Volvo Open 70. These stunning boats have captured the imagination of a whole new set of fans.’

Bourke said that the general feeling among race stakeholders was that four years was too long a break between events if a wider awareness of the race was to be sustained and sponsors were going to be able to maximise their involvement.

The speeds of the Volvo Open 70s, Bourke added, made it feasible to take the race to regions outside of the traditional route.

He said : ‘These boats have proven to be amazingly fast - cutting many days off some legs relative to previous races. For instance, the winning boat in 2005-06 completed the entire race in about 25 days less than the winning boat in 2001-02. That puts us in the luxurious position of being able to pick and choose which territories we earmark for future races.

‘We know that these boats are capable of covering vast distances in a short space of time. That has given us more options in choosing port stopover venues and has brought Asia and the Middle East into play. The die was cast to some extent because we started the 2005-06 race in Spain rather than in England, the traditional home of the Volvo Ocean Race start.’

The massive appeal of the race - the world’s premier round the world sailing challenge - has grown to such an extent that television coverage of the 2005-06 event (up to mid-May 2006) broke through the 1 billion audience barrier. To date the total cumulative television audience for the race stands at 1.3 billion. This compares to an audience of 811 million for the entire 2001-02 race. It is expected that once a comprehensive evaluation has been completed the figure for 2005-06 will approach 2 billion.

It puts the event into the top echelon of global sports coverage with exposure in over 200 countries around the world and represents a compelling commercial opportunity for race partners and syndicate sponsors.

In a joint statement, Leif Johansson, President of AB Volvo and CEO of Volvo Group and Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, added that Volvo was delighted with the return the race had generated. It read : ‘The Volvo Ocean Race has been a great success for us. Nearly two billion viewers have followed the race on TV and surveys confirm that it continues to strengthen the Volvo brand. Expanding the race to include Asia feels totally correct and we are looking forward to continuing to develop the Volvo Ocean Race competitively and commercially’.

Representatives from Ericsson and Team ABN AMRO were also in attendance to underline the commercial benefits of involvement in the Volvo Ocean Race. Bert Nordberg, Executive Vice-President and Head of Sales and Marketing at Ericsson, said : ‘We are very excited by the prospect of a new race and applaud the race organisation Organisation #organisation for enhancing the race further and adding new, commercially interesting territories to the course while maintaining the integrity of the yacht race.

‘Of course, formal decisions need to be taken but as Head of Sales and Marketing at Ericsson, I will definitely work to ensure that we do this again. Based on the commercial success of our current campaign, I think it is very hard to find a better and more efficient platform for meeting and spending quality time with our customers in an exciting environment. Our participation in this race has contributed to growing our business and we look very positively on giving it another shot.’

Speaking on behalf of the race-winning ABN AMRO ONE entry and the sister boat ABN AMRO TWO, Jan-Berent Heukensfeldt-Jansen, the Managing Director of Team ABN AMRO, said : ‘We have used our involvement in the event as a platform to promote the ABN AMRO brand around the world and unite our 105,000 employees. Through the extensive hospitality programme we have undertaken and the global media coverage that has been achieved, thousands of people have been able to experience this unique race and be part of TEAM ABN AMRO’s success.

‘It has always been our intention to undertake a full evaluation of the effectiveness of the campaign and take some time to reflect on the project prior to making a decision about whether ABN AMRO will sponsor a team in the next Volvo Ocean Race. Meanwhile, I am pleased to say that we will continue to campaign both ABN AMRO ONE and ABN AMRO TWO at a series of regattas and corporate sailing events over the next 18 months, the schedule for which will be announced in due course.’

The cornerstone of the race television coverage has been the 30-minute weekly programmes. These are complimented by hourly summaries and daily news feeds which have been distributed since the start of the race in November 2005. A documentary series is planned for release at the conclusion of the race. Countries where the half hour programmes have been seen range from North America to China and Japan to Finland and include such diverse territories as South Africa, Australia, Canada, Britain, Argentina, Holland, Brazil, Russia, Ireland, India and Paraguay.

The weekly programmes focus on the daring feats of the world’s elite band of ocean yachtsmen who put themselves at the mercy of some of the most extreme conditions nature can throw at them.

In order to deliver the action as it happens, there are 10 cameras on board each of the Volvo Open 70 boats which make up the fleet. Each boat has two media specialists designated to film and edit interviews with fellow crew members and capture the drama as it unfolds. Fixed cameras also bring to life the amazing speeds achieved by the world’s fastest monohull ocean going yachts.

Bourke attributes the increase in audience figures to a number of key elements of the 2005-06 race, not the least of which is the sailing challenge presented by the Volvo Open 70 and the widespread public appeal of the new generation of ocean racer.

‘The Volvo Open 70 does a lot of the talking for us,’ he said. ‘We are all in awe of their speed and performance. Thrown in the fact that you have 10 guys on board attempting to tame this beast in hostile weather conditions or cajole every last ounce of speed from them in the lighter airs, on a race track of over 31,000 nautical miles, and you have all the ingredients for cutting edge drama.’