1997–98 Whitbread Round the World Race

The 1997–98 Whitbread Round the World Race was the seventh edition of the around-the-world sailing event Whitbread Round the World Race. The Whitbread Round the World Race ran for the first time with all W60 boats and to a "points vs time" (instead of aggregate leg time) scoring system to enhance the value of the shorter race legs.

Also, in an effort to attract additional media coverage, the Whitbread race committee divided the race into no less than 9 legs for the 1997 to 1998 race, therefore increasing the number of ports visited.

Volvo had its first major association with the race in 1997 to 1998 by sponsoring the trophy (thus the race was officially known as the Whitbread 'round the world race for the Volvo Trophy) and some of the media coverage. For the first time running to W60-only specification, this year's Whitbread attracted just 10 entries—the fewest to date.

Legs

Southampton

Cape Town

Fremantle

Sydney

Auckland

São Sebastião

Fort Lauderdale

Baltimore

La Rochelle

Ports visited

1. Southampton – Cape Town
2. Cape Town – Fremantle
3. Fremantle – Sydney
4. Sydney – Auckland
5. Auckland – São Sebastião
6. São Sebastião – Fort Lauderdale
7. Fort Lauderdale – Baltimore
8. Baltimore – La Rochelle
9. La Rochelle – Southampton

Results

Results of individual races

Pos	Boat	Crew	Country	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	Tot
1	EF Language	Cayard, Paul Paul Cayard	Sweden	125	72	105	70	135	101	81	55	92	836
2	Merit Cup	Dalton, Grant Grant Dalton	Monaco	110	48	70	105	78	66	50	66	105	698
3	Swedish Match	Krantz, Gunnar Gunnar Krantz	Sweden	36	125	92	60	91	89	92	44	60	689
4	Innovation Kvaerner	Frostad, Knut Knut Frostad	Norway	97	110	60	40	65	77	70	33	81	633
5	Silk Cut	Smith, Lawrie Lawrie Smith	Great Britain	84	84	40	50	26 DNF	115	60	101	70	630
6	Chessie Racing	Collins, George George Collins & John Kostecki	United States	72	60	81	81	105	55	40	89	30	613
7	Toshiba	Conner, Dennis Dennis Conner & Paul Standbridge	United States	60	97	50	92	0 DSQ	44	20 PEN	115	50	528
8	Brunel Sunergy	Bouscholte, Hans Hans Bouscholte & Roy Heiner	Netherlands	12	24	30	30	119	33	105	22	40	415
9	EF Education	Guillou, Christine Christine Guillou	Sweden	24	36	20	20	26 DNF	22	30	77	20	275
10	America's Challenge	Field, Ross Ross Field	United States	48	0 DNS	0 DNS	0 DNS	0 DNS	0 DNS	0 DNS	0 DNS	0 DNS	48

Full details of finishing positions can be found in: Media Guide: 5. History

• Toshiba was originally skippered by Chris Dickson. Dickson was fired after Leg 1.^[1] Hans Bouscholte was also replaced by Roy Heiner after leg 1. America's Challenge syndicate withdrew prior to the start of leg two for financial reasons.^[2]

Leg Winners:

References