Team AkzoNobel has finished second on the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race around the world to claim fourth place in the overall standings, after Leg 11 from Gothenburg, Sweden came to a thrilling conclusion in front of huge crowds on the beachfront of The Hague in the Netherlands.
The 45,000-nautical mile (83,000-kilometer) ocean racing marathon took eight months of gruelling legs from port to port around the world.
The AkzoNobel crew also set a new outright 24-hour distance time for the Volvo Ocean Race on Leg 9 from the United States to the United Kingdom when they clocked up 602.51 nautical miles (1,115.8 kilometers), making them the fastest Volvo Ocean Race crew ever in the 45-year history of the race.
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“It’s been an unbelievably hard journey and we have been through some ups and downs around the world, so we are very proud to finish on the podium as the first Dutch boat in our home port at The Hague,” said team AkzoNobel skipper Simeon Tienpont.
All the boats competing in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race were coated with the company’s International® and Awlgrip range of products shown in unique custom colors for every team in the race. The Volvo Ocean Race is a test of performance and skill. The boats had to deal with extreme weather conditions, from freezing cold and raging gales to sweltering heat, so the coatings needed to be as tough and durable as the sailors. The company’s market-leading products and technical expertise in marine and yacht coatings made AkzoNobel the performance partner of choice.