Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009

Eighty-eight men set off from beneath the ramparts of Alicante's Castle of Santa Barbara, but only 36 would journey the full 37,000 miles to finish in the White Nights of St Petersburg.

Photographing Wildlife

Photographing Wildlife

Ericsson 4's media crew, Guy Salter, wrote about the frustrations of photographing wildlife from a racing yacht: "We have seen eight turtles in the last two hours and I have been trying to get pictures of them, but as soon as you press the record button and wait for the red light to say everything is go, you've passed them by. Then I was told I had missed the whale ... I asked if anyone had picked up the camera and filmed it - but no one had, even though I had left everything ready ... Just heard we have had some dolphins visit while I've been writing this - so much for my lookouts!" This one, at least, didn't get away - but the picture was taken by Green Dragon's media crew, Gho Chuan

Taking Shelter

Taking Shelter

Taking shelter aboard PUMA as a wave comes back at pace.

The ropes in the top left of the picture are the sail controls; each one exits on to the deck through a clutch, which will grip the rope under the load while it is guided on to one of the winches behind it to be tensioned or eased.

Around the Mountain

Checking Medical Supplies

Checking Medical Supplies

Telefonica Black's navigator and medic, Roger Nilson, checks his medical supplies.

There are two medics on board each boat, and the equipment includes staple guns, needles and glue to stop bleeding; antibiotics to deal with infections; and splints for fractures, including equipment to stabilise the neck and immobilise a patient in a bunk in case of a spinal injury.

While Race management stipulated and provided training, Nilson was previously a doctor.

Green Dragon fends off Ericsson 3

Green Dragon fends off Ericsson 3

Green Dragon fends off Ericsson 3 on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

A big swell and not much wind made the start of leg six particularly unpleasant as the fleet sailed to a mark off Copacabana Beach, and then east to Cabo Frio.

Spinnaker down

Spinnaker down

A spinnaker comes down on the windward side of Ericsson 3, being pulled through the main hatch by the crew below.

The job of the man on the deck is to try and guide it down, freeing any snags before they turn into rips.

Dropping spinnakers

Dropping spinnakers

Ericsson 4 and PUMA both prepare to drop spinnakers by letting them fly loose in the wind shadow of the mainsail, so that there is less resistance to the crew pulling them down.

The replacement sail is the headsail, which you can just see starting to fill at the front of Ericsson 4.

Under the Bridge

Volvo Open 70

£35 buy now

It's a story of endurance, deprivation and adventure, a story of winners and losers, those who made it and those who didn't. Also includes a DVD containing 2 hours and 35 minutes of spectacular footage of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, produced by Volvo Event Management.