National Geographic and Volvo Car Corporation, have signed a one-year deal valued at $9.7 million to provide global coverage of the Volvo Ocean Race. The media includes original television programming for the National Geographic Channel in at least 129 countries, Internet-based coverage and four special advertising sections in National Geographic magazine.

The 32,700-nautical-mile Volvo Ocean Race, formerly known as the Whitbread Round the World Race, will leave Southampton, England, 23 September 2001, and will finish in Kiel, Germany, around 9 June 2002.

National Geographic Channel’s coverage of the Volvo Ocean Race will include international television broadcasts over the nine months of the race to more than 110 million households. Programming kicks off with “Science of Sailing,” airing globally in September 2001. Other Channel programs will highlight the race and draw attention to the science of the oceans, and special features will focus on survival at sea and the culture and attractions of some of the port cities the yachts will visit. Ports en route include Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland, Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Baltimore, La Rochelle, France, and Göteborg, Sweden.