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On Wednesday October 18 an Ocean Summit in Alicante – held four days before the start of the 2017-18 edition of sailing’s 45-year-old race around the world – brought together politicians, scientists, business and sport to tackle the problem of ocean health, with a specific focus on plastic pollution.

'Over the past six years we have been developing Spain's new Marine Strategy, and one of its main goals is to tackle marine litter,' said Raquel Orts Nebot, Spain's Director General for Coast and Sea Sustainability. 'In this regard, I confirm that Spain is joining the UN Clean Seas Campaign, with the firm purpose of supporting this global initiative and contributing to its impact worldwide.'

Head of UN Environment, Erik Solheim said: “Spain's engagement in this campaign sends an important message across the Mediterranean region and the world. Our oceans are fundamental to our survival that we must do everything we can to protect them.”

Mayor of Alicante Gabriel Echávarri promised that there would be no plastic bottles at any event he attends in an official capacity. He also announced an education campaign on plastic in all schools in the city.

Wendy Schmidt, President of The Schmidt Family Foundation and Co-founder of 11th Hour Racing, told the Ocean Summit that the oceans were ‘under attack’.

“11th Hour Racing has been working since 2011 to engage sailors and the maritime industries to become advocates for a healthy ocean and we’ve seen a lot of conferences where people tell each other what they already know,” said Schmidt.

“What was special about this Volvo Ocean Race Ocean Summit is that this was a conference full of very creative thinkers. We’re all looking for answers. There are large companies here, small start-ups, NGOs and philanthropists, and everybody is trying to explore how to intervene with an innovative approach.

“We have to create a new plastic economy, develop new strategies, new technologies and new industries. Our goal is to make sure that this conversation happens everywhere. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, the oceans are our life support system.”

This sentiment was echoed by Kerstin Stranimaier, Director, Planet Possible for AkzoNobel: “We all need to open our eyes to new opportunities.”

The Science Programme is key to that goal of creating action to tackle plastic pollution, based on accurate data.

The Programme – made possible thanks to the support of Volvo Cars, and a consortium including NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), JCOMMOPS (UNESCO-IOC), GEOMAR and SubCtech – is comprised of three elements:

Maximise our IMPACT

To maximise the race’s impact using its global communications platform to spread awareness, an educational programme to change views, and a science programme, using the Volvo Ocean 65 racing yachts to capture data while at sea and contribute to our understanding of the oceans in the most remote areas of the planet.

Minimise our FOOTPRINT

Leave a positive LEGACY

To leave a positive legacy wherever it goes, through many actions but in particular the creation of Ocean Summits to bring together science, government, sport and business, with an objective of getting attending parties to commit to new positive actions in this area.

All of the racing yachts in the 2017-18 edition will send data back from the oceans every 10 seconds – recording temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction. This data will be passed on to NOAA and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts. It will contribute to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models.

Secondly, during the four most isolated legs in the race, all seven yachts will carry drifter buoys equipped with satellite communications to transmit information on ocean composition and currents.

Thirdly, the Turn the Tide on Plastic team skippered by British yachtswoman Dee Caffari will carry instruments onboard to test salinity, dissolved CO2 and Chlorophyll-a (algae), and for the first time ever, microplastics, directly in the sea water around them.

These key metrics for ocean health will be logged in order to create a complete snapshot of parts of the world’s oceans scientists rarely, if ever, get to study.

“Volvo Cars is proud to support the Volvo Ocean Race Science Programme and help improve our understanding of the health of the oceans,” said Niklas Kilberg, Volvo Cars’ Senior Manager for Sustainability. “This innovative project means that the boats are not just sailing in a top-level sporting competition, but they’re also undertaking scientific research.

“By collecting data from the remotest parts of the oceans they’ll be collecting vital information which can be used to help improve marine health, including tackling the growing problem of plastic pollution.”

Paulo Mirpuri, Founder of the Mirpuri Foundation commented: “The Volvo Ocean Race, besides being a sport competition, also attracts a lot of people and attention on to the sustainability problem. The Mirpuri Foundation is very proud to be a principal partner of the sustainability programme of the Volvo Ocean Race.”

“We believe that the Race is a global platform that allows us to communicate simultaneously our message and the message of the Ocean Summits to millions of people around the world. The Volvo Ocean Race Ocean Summits are a very powerful tool for the Mirpuri Foundation and for all of the sustainability partners here today.”

The next Ocean Summit is scheduled for 7 December at Cape Town. The race will then head further south, to Melbourne! 

“Partnering with the Volvo Ocean Race is a great opportunity, to accelerate ocean understanding through sport, science and innovation,” Schmidt concluded. “In this race, which crosses 45,000 nautical miles and touches 12 iconic Host Cities, the sailors can bring stories of the ocean everywhere, giving us a strong platform to engage new audiences all over the world.”

A RPAYC member, Stacey Jackson was honoured in September at the CYCA's Quiet Little Drink Cocktail Party. Her name will go on the CYCA board which recognises yachtswomen who have done their 10th Hobart races and yachtsmen or yachtswomen who achieved their 25th Hobart. 

Stacey was unable to accept her award due to another exciting project (the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-2018) though she assures us she will return to work her way onto the 25th board as well!

Stacey is a graduate of the RPAYC Youth Development Program and has gone onto collect many accolades and Regatta wins in both Match Racing and Fleet Racing as well as being a member of Team SCA who competed in the last Volvo Around the Work Race. With over 15 years of sailing experience, both inshore and offshore, Stacy has sailed 11 Sydney Hobart Yacht races (including line honours onboard the Maxi yacht Wild Oats), TP52 regattas, Mumm 30 World Championships and one Fastnet.

Here's how to follow the five day race down the coast of Spain, through the Gibraltar Strait and into the Portuguese capital:

Watch it on the website

Head to www.volvooceanrace.com to catch a live stream of the action.

Check out Facebook Live

The race will go live at 1330 local time (1130 UTC) – you can go here to schedule a reminder so you don't miss it.

Read the live blog

All the moves and news from the racetrack on our live blog, including the best of clips and social content, from 1200 local (1000 UTC). You can find it at www.volvooceanrace.com

On Twitter

Download the app

It's all-new, full of great content and fits on your mobile phone. Why wouldn't you want the official Volvo Ocean Race app? Head to the App Store or Google Play to download it. It's called Volvo Ocean Race.

The 2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race will be the 13th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It will start in Alicante, Spain, and will conclude in The Hague, Netherlands. GAC Pindar provides logistic support for the race. At the stoppovers, teams will have premium bases for better fan interaction. 

Volvo have made a number of changes to this edition. Sailors will be able to provide social media updates, new male/female ratios have been introduced, Onboard Reporters will rotate between teams, a new scoring system will be used, and the yachts have been upgraded with Hydro generators for back-up power.

For the second edition running, the race will be one-design, racing the Volvo Ocean 65. The VO65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design to be a cheaper and safer alternative to the ageing and expensive Volvo Open 70.