Briton Neal McDonald is anticipating a rollercoaster ride over the next eight months with the Volvo Ocean Race beginning in Spain on Saturday. The premier round-the-world race for crewed monohulls features seven boats racing eastabout over nine legs.
Seven in-port races, bigger, faster boats and a points scoring system have been introduced from 2002.
"The race is challenging enough but the new format makes it more entertaining, if more difficult," said McDonald.
"The new Volvo 70 boats are a big leap in technology. They are faster, more powerful and more complicated."
McDonald skippered Swedish entry Ericsson to victory in the first in-port race in Galicia last week.
But with some boats set up for stronger winds, the fleet knows the real race begins when they leave Vigo, Spain, for Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday.
Hamble's McDonald, 42, is a veteran of four round-the-world races and guided Assa Abloy to second in the last event three years ago.
He is the only British skipper in the fleet but one of a handful of his countrymen competing on various boats.
"Its going to be tougher than previous races for a number reasons," he said.
"The format with in-port racing means we've got to wear two hats - keep our inshore racing heads on and retain offshore thoughts.
"It's the difference between sprint and an endurance race.
"When you start an inshore race you can be confident that it will be over in three hours so you give it your all.
"There's no sitting down, eating or idly chatting. You get stuck in and then it's all over. Offshore races can go on for three weeks and you are at it day and night."
The points system, albeit complicated, has replaced the accumulated time method to level the playing field and help early losers claw back ground.
 Cayard was the winning skipper in the 1997-98 Volvo Ocean Race |
Broadly, points will be available at the end of both inshore and offshore races, while boats can also score points for the order in which they pass certain waypoints at sea.
"I haven't really got a total grip on it myself yet," said McDonald.
"But it should allow places to change very quickly and make it more exciting to watch."
The fleet is made up of two entries from the Netherlands (ABN Amro One and Two) and one each from Australia (Premier Challenge), Spain (Movistar), Brazil (Brazil 1) and the USA (Pirates of the Caribbean).
The American entry, a vehicle to publicise a Disney film, will be skippered by America's Cup legend Paul Cayard, who won the last race to be sponsored by Whitbread in 1997-98.
The first Whitbread Round-the-World Race, crewed largely by adventure-seeking amateurs, began in 1973.
From Cape Town the route then takes in Melbourne, Wellington, Rio de Janeiro, Baltimore, New York, Portsmouth, Rotterdam before finishing in Gothenburg, Sweden, in mid June 2006.
MMIX
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I haven't really got a total grip on it myself yet