{"id":13497,"date":"2017-10-21T11:01:20","date_gmt":"2017-10-21T11:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/10\/21\/one-of-new-zealands-best-sailors-aims-for-triple-crown-in-round-the-world-race\/"},"modified":"2017-10-21T11:01:20","modified_gmt":"2017-10-21T11:01:20","slug":"one-of-new-zealands-best-sailors-aims-for-triple-crown-in-round-the-world-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/one-of-new-zealands-best-sailors-aims-for-triple-crown-in-round-the-world-race\/","title":{"rendered":"One Of New Zealand's Best Sailors Aims For Triple Crown In Round-The-World Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nishant Dahiya<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Team New Zealand America’s Cup helmsman Peter Burling waves during a welcome home parade through the streets of Auckland, New Zealand, in July. This month, he’ll begin a round-the-world race with eight team members.<\/p>\n

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Greg Bowker\/AP<\/p>\n

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Greg Bowker\/AP<\/p>\n

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It’s considered one of the world’s most grueling races: a nine-month, 45,000-nautical-mile marathon around the globe, with 11 stops including Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Newport.<\/p>\n

This Sunday, seven identical boats \u2014 each is a 65-ft. monohull with nine team members aboard \u2014 will set sail from Alicante, Spain, for the Volvo Ocean Race<\/a>, now in its 13th edition. Lisbon will be the first stop, before the teams head south to Cape Town.<\/p>\n

When the teams \u2014 from countries including Spain, the Netherlands, China, and even one from the U.N. \u2014 finish in The Hague next June, the boats and the sailors will be battered. This year, the race \u2014 which has been run since 1973 \u2014 is returning “back to our roots”<\/a> and sailing the Indian and Pacific oceans in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

That means the teams will battle some of the world’s biggest waves and roughest waters, and contend with freezing temperatures and icebergs.<\/p>\n

In past editions, boats have crashed<\/a>, sails have been ripped to shreds and sailors swept overboard and killed<\/a>. Yet the Volvo race remains one of the most prestigious in the world, attracting the best talent.<\/p>\n