The Volvo Ocean Race, formerly the Whitbread Race, has this week started the second leg of the race which sees the eight contestants sail from Cape Town to Cochin in India.  It is the first time in 35 years that Cochin has been on the race route and maybe for good reasons, along with navigating crushing seas, icebergs and fishing vessels the crews will have to use their common sense and avoid the danger of piracy off the East coast of Africa.
This previously uncharted territory for sailboat racing may make the crews realise that they may need to work together as well as racing each other adding a new edge to the race, though whether adding this edge to the race will be a good idea or not will be something we shall have to wait and see.  The second leg lasts 4,450 miles with the leader expected to arrive in Cochin around the 3rd December.

Some information courtesy of the The New York Times Online.

The Vendée Round the World Yacht Race, which famously became the first defining moment of Dame Ellen MacArthur’s sailing career when she became the fastest woman to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe and also the youngest contestant, has this year already shown its harsh intensity to contestants.  The race is considered by some to be the toughest the sailing world has to offer; the route takes competitors along the old clipper route, from Les Sables d’Olonne on the Atlantic coast of France, down past the Cape of Good Hope, clockwise around Antartica before finally returning to the starting point after waving goodbye to Cape Horn. The rules dictate that competitors may stop at anchor but cannot draw alongside other vessels or quaysides or gain from outside assistance, hence its ‘non-stop’ nature and gruelling physical and psychological effects on the contestants. The only exception to this rule, and one that has already been used by the two Swiss entries Wavre and Stamm, is that if you experience a problem within the first 10 days you may return to the start point to get repairs and re-start the race.  Wavre experienced electrical problems soon after the races start and Stamm’s yacht unfortunately collided with a Maltese cargo ship and so was forced to turn back.

Taking the lead from early on are a small fleet of French men, the first of whom is currently Sebastien Josse in the BT vessel. What will happen over the following two to three months and 27,000 nautical miles could completely change the table rankings currently swelling with 30 contestants and looking back through the races history, anything could happen.
Some information courtesy of Swissinfo.ch, Wikipedia, ESPN.