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Tom Eman: Volvo Ocean Race is losing its reputation

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Former Oracle Director of External Affairs Tom Ehman believes the Volvo Ocean Race has discredited itself in light of recent events, namely the collision of Vestas 11th Hour Racing with a fishing boat 40 km from the finish line in Hong Kong.

The organizers of the Volvo Ocean Race have reported very little information about this tragic incident, which claimed the life of one person. « They deliberately excluded issues related to the collision from the press conference agenda»," Eman said. Thus, no representative of the Vestas team was present at the meeting with journalists and the mainstream media were not given the right to vote:

«They held a press conference in which Vestas wasn't even mentioned, and questions were asked exclusively by moderator Andy Green. Only much, much later did they release a statement that contained only quotes from the skippers of the other six teams».

«Many believe that the round-the-world organizers were withholding information and possibly even fudging the results of the event in order to remain attractive in the eyes of the title sponsor, Volvo»," believes Eman.

He stresses that all management of the Volvo Ocean Race is concentrated in the hands of the title sponsor rather than an independent sailing organization, which seriously undermines the credibility of the event:

«It's getting harder and harder to take this race seriously. Every year it looks more and more like a gang of mercenaries who are paid to carry billboards around the globe».

Veteran «America's Cup» is convinced that the Volvo fleet only ended up in Hong Kong because the Volvo Motor Corporation is owned by the Chinese, and they are represented by two teams at once.

«And how convenient that these two teams came to Hong Kong first»," adds Eman.
During stage four from Melbourne to Hong Kong Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag took a route that would have inevitably resulted in a reef collision, but the race committee broke protocol and warned the crew so Scallywag got away with it. The team ended up winning the stage and it got a lot of people talking about «contracted race»:

«Many of us were shocked that the boat first got outside help and then won».

«Conspiracy theories have emerged... Team Brunel has Peter Burling, star of New Zealand sailing, and is now leading, so many think Brunel will win this stage with an Auckland finish simply because they have Burling on board»," he continues.

«My respect for the Volvo Ocean Race, which is considered one of the biggest races in sailing, is shaken," Eman concludes. - They have to act fast if they want to regain their confidence».

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